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ANNUAL REPORT FY93 STATEDCCUMEiJTSCOLLECTION MSo6n3t9a.Mn9a2OFW2NifldmTliwfAemNMmitA1ig9a9St3iTocn.A1PTroEgraLmI;aBnnRARY 30864000893019 MONTANA WILDLIFE MITIGATION PROGRAM ANNUAL REPORT FY93 PreparedBy HarveyE.Nyberg,WildlifeMitigationCoordinator DanielCasey,WildlifeBiologist JohnVore,WildlifeBiologist PatrickMalta,ResearchAssistant JerryBrown,WildlifeBiologist February25,1994 Introduction TwounitsoftheColumbiaRiverHydroelectricsystem,LibbyandHungryHorsedams, occurinwesternMontana.Togetherthesedamsfloodedover50,000acresofprimewildlife habitats(YdeandOlsen1984andCaseyetal1984).Anadditional2,100acresofproductive habitatswerelostduetoactivitiesassociatedwithhydroelectricdevelopmentincludingroad andrailroadrelocationsandnewroadconstruction.TheNorthwestPowerAct(1980)estab- lishedtheNorthwestPowerPlanningCouncilandchargeditwithdevelopingaprogramto protect,mitigateandenhancefishandwildlifeandhabitataffectedbyhydroelectricdevelop- ment. Montana'swildlifemitigationprogramwasdevelopedfollowingproceduresestab- lishedbytheCouncil. InDecember1988,theStateofMontana,MontanaDepartmentofFish,Wildlifeand Parks,and Bonneville PowerAdministrationsignedtheWildlife MitigationAgreementfor LibbyandHungryHorseDams(SettlementAgreement).Thisagreementestablishedatrust accountwhichwouldbeusedtofinancewildlifemitigationprojects. Thewildlifemitigationprogramisbeingimplementedundertheguidanceofafive-year operatingplan(Nyberg1992).ThreemitigationprojectswereundenwayinFY93:theLibby Habitat Enhancement Project, the Hungry Horse Habitat Enhancement Projectandthe HabitatProtectionProject.Thisreportsummarizesactivitiescompletedduringtheperiod July1,1992throughSeptember30,1993. WILDLIFEANDWILDLIFEHABITATLOSSES TheprocessusedtodeterminewildlifeandwildlifehabitatlossesatLibbyandHungry Horsedamswasdescribedinearlierreports(YdeandOlsen1984andCaseyetal1984, respectively).Thesereportsidentifiedthelossof52,600acresofproductivewildlifehabitats (Table1).Mostofthecurrenteffortisaimedatprovidingreplacementhabitatssimilarto those lostbyenhancing National Forest lands adjacentto the reservoirs. We are also evaluatingtheeffectsofthatworkonkeywildlifespeciesorgroupsofspecies. 1 Table1. AcresofHabitatMappingUnitsincludedinthelossestimatesforLibbyandHungryHorse Dams,Montana(Caseyetal1984andYdeandOlsen1984,respectively). HabitatMappingUnit HungryHorse Ubby Total Aquatic River/Stream 702 3,285 3,987 Pond/Lake 54 54 Marsh/Slougn 147 29 176 TotalAquaticHabitats 903 3,314 4,217 Terestrial GravelBar 532 955 1,487 UplandGrasslands 634 1,583 2,217 UplandShrub 5,713 159 5,872 RiparianHabitats DeciduousShrubRiparian 1,077 667 1,744 DeciduousTreeRiparian 100 873 973 MixedRiparianForest 3,619 2,511 6,130 Sub-in-igatedGrassland 179 3,404 3,583 TotalRiparian 4,975 7,455 12,430 ConiferousForest Warm,uryoonner 7,159 7,159 Cool/DryDouglasFir 448 448 oooi/Moisiuougiasrir 5,143 5,143 Cold/DrySubalpineConifer 60 60 warm/MOisioonirer 2,149 2,149 DenseSeraiLPPForest 229 229 OldGrowthConiferousForest 568 568 UnspecifiedConiferForest 10,126 10,216 1uiciiL>onncrs 10,9^3 14,959 25,882 Talus/ErodedSlopes 70 16 86 Developments 409 409 TOTAL 23,750 28,850 52,600 Islands* 32(307) 47(1,689) 79(1,996) *Dataarenumbers(acres)ofislands.Theacreagesofspecifichabitatsontheislandswereincludedabove. 2 LIBBYHABITATENHANCEMENTPROJECT Thisprojectwasdesignedprimarilytoimproveexistingbiggamewinterrangeson NationalForestlandsadjacenttoLakeKoocanusa.Historically,thelowersouthandsouth- westfacingslopesabovetheKootenaiRiverwhichprovidedbiggamewinterrangewere openPonderosapineforestsmaintainedbyfrequentwildfire.Between1940and1977,53 lightningfireswerereportedonthehistoricbighornsheepwinterrange.Beforetheadvent ofeffectivefiresuppression,theselightningcausedfireswouldhavecontinuedtoburn, haltingnormalplantsuccessionandmaintainingtheopenPonderosapineforest.These openforestswith agrasslandorshrubland understoryprovidedtheforage needed by winteringbiggameandalsoprovidedauniqueandvaluablehabitatforawidevarietyof adaptedwildlifespecies. Thewildlifelossesandmitigationgoal,projectsandschedulefromTable4intheFish andWildlifeProgram(NPPC1987)areasfollows: WILDLIFEORHABITATLOSS MITIGATIONGOAL,PROJECT/SCHEDULE 66bighornsheep,3,190acresofwinterrange,and BPAshallfundprojectstoenhanceandmaintainwinter/springrangeson 485muledeer,10,586acresofwinter/springrange KootenaiNationalForestlandsadjacenttoLakeKoocanusatosupport targetcarryingcapacitiesofanadditional66sheepand485muledeer. Totalnumberofacrestobetreatedwillbeestablishedwhentheincreasein carryingcapacityforhabitatenhancementisdetermined.Aninitiallimitof 3,190and10,586acres,respectivelyforbighornsheepandmuledeer,will vbaenecnehdaensciegnd.uYnteialrisn2c-r1e0asiemdplcaermreynitngancadpamcointiytoirs.determined.Year1,ad- ThisisacooperativeprojectbetweentheKootenaiNationalForestandtheMontana DepartmentofFish,WildlifeandParks(MDFWP).TheForestServicehasprimaryresponsi- bilityforimplementingindividualenhancementprojects.Thedepartment'sprimaryresponsi- bilityistoevaluatetheeffectivenessoftheenhancementproject.Theevaluationportionof theprojectisdesignedtodeterminewhentheprojected(33%)increaseincarryingcapacity isachieved andtoguidefutureenhancementefforts. Site specificdatawill be usedto determinethetotalnumberofacresofhabitatwhichneedtobeimprovedtoaccomplish mitigationgoals. Becausethesearecooperativeprojects, personnelfrombothagencies activelyparticipateinallphasesofprojectimplementation. Activitiesduring FY93focusedonimplementinghabitatenhancementprojectsand determiningthesizeandcompositionofthemuledeerandbighornsheeppopulations.The majoraccomplishmentsarelistedbelow. HABITATENHANCEMENT Habitatenhancementactivitieswereplannedon3,747andcompletedon2,711acres (Table2).Activitiesincludedinterdisciplinaryreview,layoutandculturalresources Table2. Annualworkplanandaccomplishments,LibbyHabitatEnhancementProject.FY93. TREATMEI^ ACRES TASK UNIT NAME ACRES TYPE ACTIVnY LAYOUT SLASH BURN 3.8' AX8 AlexanderCreek 129 Slash/Burn Burning 0 33..1129 WQBC84 WGarreleannsdBaCsrienek 32890 SUlnadesrhb/uBrunm LBauyronuitn/gSlash' 329 0 0 WC5 WarlandCreek 120 Slash/Bum Burning 0 44..89 MPCF9P2 PPaarrssnniippCCrreeeekk 8869 SSllaaashh//BBuurmn BBuumm 18367 4.12 F11 BlueskyCreek 100 Underburn Burn 0 4.14 F10 BlueskyCreek 104 Underburn Bum 0 5.2 CHI9 CrippleHorseCr 180 Slash/Bum Slash 180 5.3 BD1 BoulderCreek 303 Slash/Bum Slash/TimberSale 303 0 5.4 CB4 CBranch 235 Slash/Bum Slash 235 235 5.5 STH2 StoneHill 291 Slash/Burn Slash 291 5.6 COS CanoeGulch 125 Underburn Burn 125 5.7 CQ14 CanoeGulch 75 Underburn layout 75 6M CC6 CanyonCreek 97 Underburn Bum 97 CC7 CanyonCreek 50 Underburn Bum 50 62 BA2 BarronCreek 228 Slash/Burn Layout 228 BA3 BarronCreek 21 Slash/Burn Layout 21 66..45 RDnC3o RRaaiinnyyCCrreeeekk 14Ul7 UUnnddeerrbbuurrnn BDuurmniinngg 0Q 6.6 AX5 AlexanderCreek 57 Slash/Burn Layout/Slash 57 57 6.11 ToMn11*t TenmileCreek 7702 SSllaasshh//RBuurrnn LLaayyoouutt 7702 6.12 SP1 Sutton/Peck 169 Slash/Bum Layout/Slash 169 169 6.14 CQ8 CanoeGulch 254 Underburn Burn 254 6.15 WC1 WarlandCreek 112 Underburn Layout 112 6.16 GB1 GreensBasin 223 Slash/Burn Slash 223 Totals 3,747 1,671 1,155 749 21..TWaosrkknounmtbheirssunrietfearctcoomtpheliKsohoetdenianibRoitvherFYWi9l2dlainfedHFaYb9i3t.atEnhancementProject. 4 reviewon1,671 acresofproposedtreatmentareas,1,155acresofslashingand749acres ofprescribedburning(Table2). TIMBERHARVEST Habitatenhancementactivitiesoccurredonportionsof14timbersaleunits(Table3). Broadcastburningtoreduceloggingslashandstimulateforageproductionwasconducted on5unitsafterloggingwascompleted.Threeunitswereloggedand4additionalunitswere preparedforsale.PlanningforatimbersaleatunitZV1wasinitiated.Theseactivitieswere fundedbytheKootenaiNationalForestaspartoftheirongoingtimbersaleprogram. Table3. Summaryofwildlifehabitatenhancementactivityintimbersaleunitsincludedin theLong-termEnhancementPlanonKootenaiNFduringFY93.^ UNIT TASK UNIT LOCATION SALENAME AREA ACTIVITY 2.2 F1 FivemlleCreek 149 BurnedUnit2 2.5 BA1 BarronCreek ForeverettSalvage 147 BurnedUnit5 2.6 SI SouseGulch 98 2.7 ZV1 ZeiglerView WestKootHelic. 100 Burned 3.3 U3 LittleJacksonCr BuggedOut 25 BurnedUnit1 3.6 F33 FivemileCreek MineralSheep 44 LoggedUnit3 4.2 JC8 JacksonCreek FleetwoodJackson 22 LoggedUnit2 4.3 F19 FivemileCreek FivemileHelicopter 203 LoggedUnit6 5.1 WCT3 WartandCreek AntWildlife 136 SalePrepUnits2,3 WCT5 WarlandCreek 45 SalePrepUnit5 WCT6 WarlandCreek 125 SalePrepUnits6,7 6.3 2V3 ZeiglerView 71 Layout 6.16 GB1 GreensBasin Green'sDF 223 SalePrep 8.1 F6 FivemileCreek StenAgain 191 Burned TOTALS 1,581 1E.aTchhistatsakblmeaiyncilnuvdoelsvewomrokredothnaenionnFeY9t3r;eaottmheenrttuansitk.smayhavebeendoneinearlieryearsorremaintobedoneinsubsequentyears. EVALUATION Aconcertedeffortwasmadetocaptureandmarkmuledeerandbighornsheeptouse incalculatingmark-resightingpopulationestimates.Twenty-oneclovertrapsiteswereestab- lishedinthecoremonitoringarea.Wecaptured324muledeerand20bighornsheepduring 615trap-nightsofeffort(NybergandBrown 1994). Blueearstreamers(2x8inch)were placedon159muledeerand14bighornsheep.Inaddition,radiotransmittercollarswere placedon 17muledeerand4bighornsheep.Tenanimals (2.9%) diedduringtrapping operations. Animaldistributionandlimitedhabitatusedatawerecollectedduringmonthlyradio collarrelocationflights. Movementpatternsreflectedthosepreviouslyreported(Ydeetal 5 1991).Fifty-ninebighornsheepwereseenandclassifiedduringatotal-coveragesurveyof theherdrangeonJanuary6,1993.Thepopulationsizewasestimatedatabout148animals basedonanaverageobservabilityof42%duringearlywinter.Atotal-coveragehelicopter surveyofthecoremonitoringareawasconductedonApril20,1992.Atotalof164muledeer and9bighornsheepwereobserved.Themuledeerpopulationwasestimatedatapproxi- mately548animalsbasedonsightingof45of152blueearstreameredanimals.Wedidnot observeenoughbighornsheepduringtheAprilsurveytocalculateapopulationestimate. PLANNINGFORFY93PROJECTS Kootenai National Forest, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and MDFWP personnelconductedpre-treatmentfieldreviewsofunitsscheduledforFY's93and94. MAJORACTIVITIESPLANNEDFORFY94 HABITATENHANCEMENT Workisplannedonabout4,491acresofwildlifehabitatinFY94(Tables4and5).That totalincludesinterdisciplinaryteamreviewandlayouton3,245acres,1,647acresofslashing and2,382acresofprescribedburning. Pre-treatmentsurveysofunitsscheduledforcompletioninFY94and95willbecon- ductedbytheinterdisciplinaryteamduringFY94.