Identification of Conservation Measures and Management Activities Property owner and the Service should o Describe the nature, extent, timing, duration, and other pertinent details of the conservation measures that the property owner is willing to undertake to address the threats and conserve the covered species o Explain how the conservation measures are appropriate for the covered species and are expected to eliminate or reduce the threats to the species on the enrolled property Must identify five listing factors o Present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of the species habitat or range o Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; o Disease or predation o The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanism o Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence CCAA should clearly demonstrate how the proposed conservation measures would reduce or eliminate the threats to the covered species on the enrolled property o The CCAA needs only to address those specific threats that apply to the covered species on the enrolled property If specific threat does not apply to the covered species, the CCAA needs merely to state this fact The CCAA should describe the conservation measures in the context of the threat factors the conservation measures will address and the habitat and/or species population conditions that the property owner agrees to maintain through CCAA implementation o CCAA should describe the threat and the reasons why conservation measures to address the threat are not provided, are impractical, or are unnecessary o CCAA should specify the types of land uses that will be allowed on the enrolled property and those that will not Example LO agrees to implement a delayed haying schedule to protect a ground-nesting bird species from this activity, future conversion of the enrolled property to cultivated agriculture will not likely be a land use that would be consistent with meeting the CCAA standard Grazing on the enrolled property might be consistent with the CCAA standard, depending on the seasonal grazing schedule that is proposed Expected Benefits CCAA should describe the benefits to the covered species that are expected to accrue as a result of the implementation of the conservation measures o Can be described in terms of the expected increase in population numbers, the expected Unforeseen circumstances Additional conservation measures may be required even if the CCAA is properly being implemented o These measures will not involve the commitment of additional land, water, or financial compensation, or additional restrictions on the use of land, water, or other natural resources available for development or use under the original terms of the CCAA without permittee consent Boiler plant language
Gunnison Sage Grouse (2006) Primary threats to be addressed under a CCAA o Habitat loss o Fragmentation and degradation from urban/human population growth o Roads o Energy development o Invasive weeds o Grazing o Conversion to agriculture o Fire o Power lines o Fences Conservation measures included in the CCAA o Reclaiming disturbed areas from any threats listed above, or other activates, with plants native to the sagebrush communities o Protecting habitat from permanent loss o Protecting, enhancing, and restoring habitat linkages for interchange of Sage-grouse between populations o Where appropriate and necessary, limiting or avoiding housing or structural development in Sage-grouse habitat o Encouraging and obtaining conservation easements with Sage-grouse management plans incorporated o Avoiding or minimizing placement of roads in important areas of Sage-grouse habitat, and where necessary, relocating or closing roads that are impacting Sage-grouse o Developing and implementing control measures for invasive weeds in areas of impact to Sage-grouse habitat o If possible, incorporating suggested management practices for energy development on non-federal land from Appendix L of the RCP, including applying a.6 mile radius no surface occupancy stipulation near lek sites for energy development, avoiding or limiting human disturbance associated with energy development, and incrementally reclaiming habitat impacted by energy development activities o Managing livestock grazing using various techniques to meet habitat guidelines for the Sage-grouse o Prescribing fire in small mosaic patterns to reduce encroachment of trees and shrubs, preventing catastrophic fire and rejuvenating sagebrush communities, and suppressing wildfires where they may increase the abundance of cheatgrass or other weeds o Avoiding or minimizing power line placement near lek or other important habitats, burying power lines, marking overhead power lines to reduce collision, and retrofitting power lines to limit raptor predation o Placing new fences outside of leks or other important areas of Sage-grouse habitat, marking fences to reduce risk of collision by Sage-grouse, removing unused fences, and reducing facilitation of raptor predation with fencing materials for modification o Managing lek viewing by not allowing access for such viewing or reducing lek viewing impacts through incorporation of lek viewing protocols o Monitoring and minimizing disease through vector control, to the extent feasible o Reducing recreational impacts to Sage-grouse populations and habitat o Developing additional water sources for wildlife and livestock during drought, to reduce impacts to riparian, wetland, and we meadow areas important to Sage-grouse.
o Managing invasive vegetation to improve water tables. Adjusting grazing management, prescriptive fire, and vegetation management to reduce additive impacts of drought Implementing habitat treatments to enhance, maintain, or restore Sage-grouse habitat. Possible techniques include Removal of pinyon, juniper and gamble oak trees or encroaching shrubs Reduction in density of sagebrush if understory forbs and grasses would benefit Planting of native or beneficial non-native forbs, grasses, and sagebrush and other shrubs Methods to reduce trees, shrubs or competition from other vegetation may include Chaining Hydro-axing Chainsawing Bulldozing Using harrows, shredders, mowers, aerators, plows, disks, herbicides, and fire
Southern Idaho Ground Squirrel Primary Threats o Habitat deterioration o Invasion of exotic annuals has changed the species composition of vegetation and has altered the fire regime in a perpetuating cycle throughout much of the range Cheat grass and mudshead rye are of limited forage value to the ground squirrels, have highly variable annual productivity, and now dominate much of the range o Human-related land use impacts Ranch corrals Fence lines, and equipment storage areas o Recreational shooting and other direct killing o Efforts to control ground squirrel populations Use of pesticides o Disease outbreak o Predation o Competition with Columbian ground squirrels o Habitat destruction Conservation Measures o Land owners Implement habitat maintenance or enhancement measures on the enrolled lands at all southern Idaho ground squirrel-occupied sites. Measures include Maintenance of vegetation currently providing adequate ground squirrel habitat Reducing noxious weeds Seeding suitable plant species Fertilizing, prescribed burning, and providing rock jacks, woody debris or other material suitable for ground squirrel escape cover Prohibit southern Idaho ground squirrel shooting, trapping, or poisoning to protect individual ground squirrels and ground squirrel populations Implement measures to minimize the effects of land use activities on southern Idaho ground squirrels at occupied sites and translocation/reintroduction sites to protect ground squirrel populations. Measures include Eliminating use of rodenticides in a manner likely to harm southern Idaho ground squirrels Modifications in pesticide application Modification of mechanical ground cultivating activities Allow translocation of southern Idaho ground squirrels into unoccupied, suitable habitat if necessary for ground squirrel population conservation purposes If appropriate, control use of occupied southern Idaho ground squirrel sites by Columbian ground squirrels and badgers Allow agency access to Participating Landowner s property to identify occupied southern Idaho ground squirrel sites and document habitat conditions, implement conservation measures, and monitor effectiveness and compliance with the Agreement and site-specific plan Actively pursue funding to implement the site-specific plan o Idaho Department of Fish and Game
o o Hold the permit Develop mutually agreeable site-specific plans in cooperation with Participating Landowners, the Service, and OSC Carry out any responsibilities for implementing conservation or other measures assigned to the IDFG Translocate southern Idaho ground squirrels form water impoundment dikes in order for a landowner to comply with State law requiring removal of burrowing animals from these sites to ensure dike integrity Carry out responsibilities for effectiveness and compliance monitoring assigned to IDFG under this agreement Provide necessary available state funding to support implementation of the Agreement Prepare annual reports Governor s Office of Species Conservation Develop mutually agreeable site-specific plans Actively pursue funding Translocate U.S. FWS Develop mutually agreeable site-specific plans Issue the permit Carry out any responsibilities for implementing conservation or other measures agreed to by the Service under this Agreement Translocate southern Idaho ground squirrels Carry out responsibilities for effectiveness and compliance monitoring assigned to Service Provide necessary available Service funding to support implementation of the Agreement and any site-specific plan
Lesser Prairie Chickens Potential Threats o Conversion of native sand sagebrush and shinnery oak rangeland to improved pastures and cropland o Degradation Insufficient amount of lightly grazed or ungrazed habitat o Fragmentation due to Cultivation Roads Structural development Oil and gas exploration Wind energy development Brush encroachment o Drought Conservation Measures o Prescribed Grazing Duration and intensity of grazing must be balanced to increase or maintain good nesting and brood-rearing habitats, in addition to creating planned patterns of patchiness on the landscape Long-term (5-10 year) prescribed grazing plan must be prepared for all pastures Provide pasture rest periods for vegetational response, prairie chicken food species and nesting cover Utilize patch-burning methods in which 20-30% of an area is burned annually Grazing schedule and stocking rate in sand shinnery oak habitat that produces greater than 65% vertical screening cover in the first foot above ground level and 50% overhead cover will benefit lesser prairie chicken nesting habitat Certain circumstances, large pastures and fewer livestock water sources used in combination with patch burning, will result in a diversity of grazing pressures Utilization of flash grazing Late winter-early spring burns are the preferred timing for LPC and many other nesting grassland birds Conduct planned prescribed burns form late winter through early spring every 4-5 years to increase green forage and insect availability in subsequent spring and summer seasons Implement patch burning techniques to provide structural, compositional and spatial diversity of habitat requirements Burn approximately 20-35% of combined property rangeland and CRP should be burned each year in order to preserve residual nesting cover Include deferment in the grazing management plan in order to build fine fuel in burn units o Brush Management Eliminate the regular use of broadcast herbicides Limit the use of herbicides to those areas where site recovery through the reduction of brush is required and planned Any brush management should result in a mosaic of treated and untreated areas. After management activities are complete, brush should be maintained in small low-stature patches to provide food and cover for LPC
o o o Brush control treatments should not reduce sand sagebrush or shinnery oak to less than 25-30% canopy within one year after treatment Care should be taken to protect sand plum thickets and areas of aromatic sumac Suppression, rather than eradication, should be the goal of brush management in most cases Mesquite should be eliminated using mechanical and/or herbicidal treatments, as applicable Conservation Cover Convert cropland, introduced grasses and other introduced forages, and other disturbed sites into native warm season grassed and forbs, based upon sitespecific recommendations Do not convert these sites to monoculture of grasses or use non-native species Management activities most beneficial to LPC will be site-specific, and tailored to the property through the FSA CRP contract administration Multi-species seeding Restore pastures with expired CRP contracts to a site-appropriate native plan community Use seeding mixtures and techniques to avoid creating monocultures of introduced species Lands to be re-established in native species should use a selected mixture of native grasses, forbs and shrubs that are warm season bunch varieties, deeprooted, drought-resistant, responsive to management with grazing and prescribed fire, and adapted to the appropriate ecological site Upland Wildlife Habitat Management Plowing or burning stubble fields during the fall and winter should be discouraged Food plots should be planted within 1 mile of leks, in areas adjacent to native prairie, and only in those areas where cropland or patches of native annual forbs are unavailable. Domestic livestock should be excluded Strip disking will stimulate growth of native foods Clear overgrown vegetation on leks to enhance their value and use The use and installation of fences should be coordinated with other practices to achieve prescribed grazing goals and minimize potential impacts to LPC Where feasible, barbed-wire fences should be marked to reduce potential collisions, and one- or two-wire electric fences should be substituted for barbed-wire fences if conditions permit Remove all upland trees from the lesser prairie-chicken management area including field windbreaks Population Management Predator control may be appropriate under certain circumstances to improve the viability of small and isolated populations Although not currently accepted or proven population management practice, trapping and transplanting of wild or captive-reared LPC in order to supplement or restore wild populations may be considered in the future
Speckled Pocketbook and Yellowcheek Darter CCAA Conservation Strategy Measures o Cooperator Control of Livestock Access Fencing Alternative water sources Protection, enhancement, or Restoration of Terrestrial Habitats Habitat easements Stream buffer establishment Stream buffer maintenance Installation and maintenance of erosion control measures Foregoing detrimental land use practices Protection, enhancement, or Restoration of Aquatic Habitats Stream easements Stream de-channelization Installation of in-stream habitat features Stream bank stabilization Road crossing stabilization Species Reintroduction Other Conservation Measures *May be time in the future when the FWS identifies other conservation measures, based on future research, that are critical to the conservation of either or both of the covered species. In such event, the Parties would allow a Cooperator, with the concurrence from all Parties, to choose such conservation measures as their voluntary management actions. Additionally, existing Cooperators under this Agreement would be allowed to add these other conservation measures to their existing POMA, subject to Part 11.0 of this Agreement.