Poster Abstracts

Reclamation Planning for Energy Development Projects

Brad Teson et al. — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 11:00:00 PDT

Successful reclamation of disturbances associated with energy development can lessen the severity and duration of environmental impacts. Challenges to reclamation in the Rocky Mountain west include limited soil resources, lack of precipitation, and invasive plants. Pre-construction reclamation planning, focusing on salvage of soils suitable for plant growth, is the most beneficial component of the reclamation planning process. The reclamation planning process begins with a pre-disturbance site characterization including an inventory of soil resources and vegetation communities. This information allows development of reclamation plans that specify soil salvage depths, soil treatments, seed mixes, weed management, and monitoring for each site. Implementation of these plans maximizes the amount of suitable soil available for reclamation, which increases re-vegetation success rates. Results from case studies show significant reductions in the time required to meet reclamation goals and restore disturbed land to support prior uses.

Brad Teson, KC Harvey Environmental, LLC, 376 Gallatin Park Drive, Bozeman, MT, 59718, bteson@kcharvey.com

Development of a Conservation Management Plan for the Idaho National Laboratory Site

Quinn R. Shurtliff — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:00:00 PDT

Conservation planning is most likely to have a positive impact on natural resources when the product helps managers take action to ameliorate the root causes of threats and to monitor appropriate indicators that will inform adaptive management. Multiple stakeholders are often involved in plan development, and it can be difficult to achieve consensus in identifying the greatest threats to conservation targets, the drivers of those threats, and the best strategies for ameliorating such. The Wildlife Conservation Society led a multi-stakeholder team in applying a relatively new, yet widely used method know as Open Standards for Conservation (OS)

to assist the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office (DOE), in developing a conservation management plan for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site. The INL Site serves as a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory that supports DOE missions in nuclear and energy research, science, and national defense. The planning team identified nine conservation targets and 10 threats that directly impact those targets. Resource experts helped develop conceptual models that explicitly outline drivers of threats

(i.e. contributing factors) on the INL Site. Strategies were then developed to address contributing factors and an explicit theory of change (i.e. results chain) was created to show managers the team’s hypothesis about how strategy implementation would produce measurable results. The conceptual model and results chain also provided a framework for developing a plan to monitor (1) strategy implementation, (2) threats, and (3) status of conservation targets. I show how this method forms the basis for improved decision making, and share lessons learned while trying to balance DOE mission needs with biodiversity conservation.

Quinn Shurtliff, Wildlife Conservation Society, 120 Technology Dr., Idaho Falls, ID 83402 qshurtliff@wcs.org

SER-Great Basin: A new chapter for the Society for Ecological Restoration

Matt Germino et al. — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 09:00:00 PDT

The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) is the largest professional organization dedicated to restoration, internationally (www.ser.org). SER promotes ecological restoration through establishing regional chapters, biannual conferences, advising international organizations with policy and legislation, and publications such as peer-reviewed journals. Until 2011, there were 12 geographic chapters globally, including 7 chapters in the

continental US alone. The Great Basin contains some of the most endangered ecosystems and restoration factors relatively prominently in land management, and so the need to have representation for the Great Basin in SER was evident. The Great Basin Chapter is focused on the portions of the western states of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California that comprise the Great Basin geographical – ecological province. The Chapter will promote the science of ecological restoration and information exchange among practitioners, researchers and the general public in the Great Basin.

Lexine Long, Quinney College of Natural Resources, Utah State University, 5200 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, lexine.long@gmail.com

Adaptive Grazing Management Using Surface Cover Change Detection on Shrub-Steppe

Tipton D. Hudson — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 08:00:00 PDT

The Wild Horse Coordinated Resource Management group developed a unified grazing plan designed to maintain or improve rangeland health on the Puget Sound Energy wind facility and adjacent public land. Committed to adaptive management, the group selected two trend monitoring methods for measuring results of grazing: Land EKG® and the line-point intercept as described by Herrick, et al 2005. These would serve as an early warning system for negative trend, as objective documentation of positive changes, and as a guide for adjusting management inputs, primarily grazing timing, intensity, and duration of use, to achieve the landscape goals set by the group during its formation in 2006. WSU Kittitas County Extension has been responsible for collecting and interpreting this long-term monitoring data with the objective of establishing a model approach to sustainable rangeland grazing and rangeland health monitoring for other large grazing areas in the Intermountain West. This poster provides a comparison of the ability of two different monitoring methods, Land EKG and the line-point intercept as described by Herrick, et al, to detect change in surface cover attributes (percent basal area, litter, and bare soil) on high-condition shrub-steppe sites in central Washington. Land EKG relies on an ocular estimate to assign surface cover percentages within two or four 4.8 ft2 hoops on

a transect line coupled with repeat photography. The line-point intercept uses point sampling at every meter on three 50-meter transect lines per site to collect canopy and surface cover data. Data were collected from 2007 to 2011 on six different sites within two large (~5000-acre) pastures managed with light stocking rates (<20% utilization). We have evaluated the two methods’ ability to detect change rather than comparing the absolute values derived from the two methods. The direction of change in basal area was consistent across methods. Although the degree of change was not consistent, this is a notable finding as basal area is notoriously difficult to estimate. Percent litter was relatively inconsistent across methods, we suspect due in part to the high spatial heterogeneity of this plant community, annual changes in litter distribution at the microsite level based on the timing and severity of precipitation events that move litter, and the significant difference between the methodologies for measuring litter. Bare soil values were consistent more often than not; new technology for image analysis could be used to make quantitative measurements from Land EKG photographs. This data will be collected approximately every three years and used to guide grazing plans.

Tipton D. Hudson, Rangeland & Livestock Management Faculty, Washington State University Extension, 507 Nanum Street, Suite 2, Ellensburg, WA, 98926, hudsont@wsu.edu

Gas Energy Development and Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) Site Occupancy in Wyoming

Steve Germaine et al. — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:00:00 PDT

More than 2,200 mi2 of land in southwestern Wyoming is currently covered by operational gas fields, and further development is projected for at least 25 years. Gas field development fragments landscapes, primarily through conversion of native vegetation to roads, well pads, and pipeline corridors. Pygmy rabbits are a Wyoming Species of Greatest Conservation Need, but little information exists on the relationship between gas field development and pygmy rabbit distributions. In 2011, we began a three year examination into the relationship between gas field development density and pygmy rabbit site occupancy patterns on four major Wyoming gas fields (Creston/Atlantic Rim, Jonah, Moxa Arch, Pinedale Anticline Project Area). In Arc/Info, we overlaid digital gas well, well pad, road data, and NAIP imagery on the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database’s (WYNDD) pygmy rabbit habitat map. We constrained our study to areas identified in the WYNDD map as optimal pygmy rabbit habitat, then distributed ≥26 survey plots on each gas field in a random-stratified manner such that plots were well distributed across the gas well pad density gradient on each gas field. We surveyed each plot for pygmy rabbit occupancy twice in each summer (2011-12), and are modeling occupancy status as a function of gas well, well pad, and road density. Preliminary analysis of year-one data suggests a negative relationship between pygmy rabbit site occupancy and gas well pad density, and pygmy rabbit site occupancy and gas field road density. Results using two years of data will be presented.

Steve Germaine, USGS Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Ave, Bldg. C, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, germaines@usgs.gov

Raptor Nest Use in Relation to Coal-bed Methane Development in Wyoming

Lindsey E. Sanders et al. — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:00:00 PDT

More than 15,000 coal-bed methane (CBM) wells have been constructed over the past ten years in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming, USA. This development overlaps breeding territories of at least 19 raptor species, with largely unknown consequences to raptor nest use and success. Our objectives were to determine 1) temporal and spatial trends in raptor nest occupancy in relation to CBM development, and 2) local habitat characteristics that may mitigate disturbance caused by energy development. Using nest locations for 19 raptor species and the locations of CBM wells constructed in the Powder River Basin from 2003-2011, we quantified the level of energy development impact to each nest. Then, using associated nest use data, we compared the

nest use of impacted and non-impacted nests. Preliminary analysis showed that raptor nest use (for all species pooled) decreased as CBM well development occurred at closer proximities to the nest, and nest use gradually increased with time since initial well construction. At the species level, red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis), great-horned owls (Bubo virginianus), golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) and ferruginous hawks (Buteo regalis) exhibited patterns similar to those described above; however, the effect of CBM development may be influenced by local topography and habitat type. Our results will assist land managers seeking to balance the needs of raptor populations with energy extraction activities, and provide insight into species-specific tolerance levels for disturbance associated with energy development.

Jason Carlisle, Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Dept. 3166, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071 jason.d.carlisle@gmail.com

Accessing Information about Plants in the Region’s Herbaria

Mary Barkworth — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:00:00 PDT

Herbaria are working together to providing online access to the information in their collections. The process involves databasing label and annotation data from individual specimens, georeferencing the collection locations, and (often) imaging the specimens themselves. The Intermountain Region portal (http:// intermountainbiota.org) currently provides access to information from over 2.3 million specimens located in 30+ herbaria. The data can be freely downloaded for use in other programs. The portal can also be used to obtain a species list for a region; view images of living examples of a species; make teaching/training checklists available to field technicians and students; and peruse species descriptions. Teaching checklists are automatically associated with flash card quizzes and games of “hangman.” Herbaria are committed to making their specimen information more accessible, the primary limitations being time and money. There is also concern about our ability to provide future generations with verifiable information about what is growing in the region now. If the names of plants are important enough to mention in a report, representative specimens should be deposited in one of the region’s herbaria, preferably one committed to contributing to the regional portal. Fortunately, the developments that make providing access to herbarium information possible also make it easier to record and transmit the information associated with specimens. For information on how, go to http:// herbarium.usu.edu/symbiota/default.html. Help us help you and future generations by depositing specimens from your studies in a participating herbarium and by drawing attention to the regional web site.

Mary Barkworth, Intermountain Herbarium, Department of Biology, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-5305, mary.barkworth@usu.edu

Reclamation of Abandoned Oil and Gas Well Pads in Arid Environments

Paul Gross et al. — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 08:00:00 PDT

The Roosevelt Oil Field region (Duchesne and Uintah Counties, Utah) is the 4th oldest Utah oil field in continuous production. As a result there are a large number of plugged and abandoned (P&A) well sites. While restoration has been attempted at these sites, most attempts have failed. This is problematic because it limits the amount of available habitat for native plant and wildlife species. To identify the factors that were limiting restoration success, several sites of various ages and geology were randomly selected. Y-transects were established at each of the sample sites. Vegetation cover was identified at each every foot along the 200 foot transect, and soil samples were collected every 40 feet. The soil samples were analyzed for salinity, carbon content, bulk density, trace elements, and pH. The primary factors that appear to be limiting restoration success are climate, geology and soil compaction. Secondary factors affecting the success of revegetation include soil salinity and weed invasion. By understanding these limiting factors, we hope to develop improved management practices that will result in effective oil pad reclamation.

Shannon Babb, Utah State University, 4820 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, s.babb@aggiemail.usu.edu