Wallowa Land Trust Inc

OR-OFWO-FA-WALLOWA LAND TRUST SPALDING'S

WALLOWA LAND TRUST SPALDING'S CATCHFLY

AFTER EXTENSIVE FEDERAL REVIEW, SPALDINGS CATCHFLY (SILENE SPALDINGII), A HERBACEOUS PERENNIAL WILDFLOWER NATIVE TO GRASSLAND PRAIRIES OF THE INLAND PACIFIC NORTHWEST, WAS FEDERALLY LISTED AS THREATENED UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT IN OCTOBER 2001. THIS SPECIES WAS ALSO OREGON STATE-LISTED AS ENDANGERED IN 1995. IF NO ACTION WERE TAKEN, THE CONTINUED DECLINE OF PLANT POPULATIONS IN THE REGION WAS EXPECTED.IN 2007, USDI FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (THE SERVICE) COMPLETED THE FINAL SPALDINGS CATCHFLY RECOVERY PLAN (THE RECOVERY PLAN), WHICH IS THE SOLE TARGET SPECIES OF THIS PROJECT. THE GOAL OF THE RECOVERY PLAN IS TO RECOVER THE SPECIES TO THE POINT OF DE-LISTING. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVES TO MEET THIS GOAL ARE TO 1) REDUCE OR ELIMINATE THE THREATS TO THE SPECIES, AND 2) PROTECT AND MAINTAIN MULTIPLE REPRODUCING, SELF-SUSTAINING POPULATIONS DISTRIBUTED ACROSS EACH OF THE FIVE DISTINCT PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS WHERE THE PLANT RESIDES, SUFFICIENT TO ENSURE THE SPECIES LONG-TERM PERSISTENCE.THE RECOVERY PLANS FIVE PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS ARE DIVIDED INTO KEY CONSERVATION AREAS (KCAS) WITH UNIQUE AREA MONITORING POPULATION TRENDS AND HABITAT CONDITIONS. EACH KCA IS DEFINED BY SEVERAL FACTORS, INCLUDING A MINIMUM PLANT THRESHOLD AND QUALITY HABITAT TO SUSTAIN CATCHFLY POPULATIONS. THE WALLOWA LAKE AREA IS ONE OF THE KCAS WITHIN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN BASINS PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGION AS DESCRIBED IN THE RECOVERY PLAN. THE PROPOSED ACTIVITIES OF THIS PROJECT INCLUDE THE CONTINUED MONITORING OF SPALDINGS CATCHFLY POPULATIONS ON BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LANDS IN THE WALLOWA LAKE KCA. THIS MONITORING WILL INCLUDE DEMOGRAPHIC CENSUS MONITORING AND SUBSAMPLE MONITORING. MONITORING TO EVALUATE EXTANT POPULATIONS IN KCAS IS IDENTIFIED AS AN IMPORTANT RECOVERY TASK IN THE RECOVERY PLAN.AT THIS PROJECTS CONCEPTION IN 2010, A LARGE PLANT POPULATION WAS DEFINED AS A MINIMUM OF 500 PLANTS. HOWEVER, EVEN WITH TOTAL CENSUS MONITORING (COUNTING EVERY KNOWN PLANT ON THE SITE), THE KNOWN POPULATION AT THE WALLOWA LAKE KCA WAS FEWER THAN 500 PLANTS. WITH AN UNDERSTANDING THAT HABITAT WITHIN THE WALLOWA VALLEY IS HIGHLY DISSECTED BY URBAN AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS, PARTNERS BEGAN CONSIDERING MONITORING ON PRIVATE LANDS TO CAPTURE MORE DATA ON SPALDINGS CATCHFLY PLANTS IN THE WALLOWA LAKE KCA. AS OF 2019, SURVEYS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED ON APPROXIMATELY 1,600 ACRES OF PRIVATE LANDS. THROUGH THE PRIVATE LAND SURVEYS, PREVIOUSLY UNDOCUMENTED SPALDINGS CATCHFLY PLANTS WERE IDENTIFIED. THESE SURVEYS BROUGHT THE TOTAL POPULATION IN THE AREA TO OVER 1,400, WELL OVER THE 500-PLANT THRESHOLD FOR A LARGE POPULATION.THE PROPOSED MONITORING OF SPALDINGS CATCHFLY AT WALLOWA LAKE HAS RESULTED IN THE COLLECTION OF VALUABLE CENSUS, TREND AND DEMOGRAPHIC DATA THAT AIDS IN THE MANAGEMENT AND RECOVERY OF THIS SPECIES FOR THE WALLOWA LAKE KCA WITHIN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN BASINS. AFTER BEING COMPILED AND ORGANIZED, THE DATA WILL BE ARCHIVED AND INTEGRATED INTO DATABASES FROM OTHER CO-MANAGER MAND E ACTIVITIES, MAKING THE DATA ACCESSIBLE BOTH LOCALLY AND REGIONALLY.THIS PROJECT IS PART OF A LARGER, ONGOING SPALDINGS CATCHFLY MONITORING EFFORT THAT IS OCCURRING IN MONTANA, WASHINGTON, OREGON, AND IDAHO. A SPALDINGS CATCHFLY TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP (WITH MEMBERS FROM THESE FOUR STATES AND MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS) MEETS ANNUALLY TO DISCUSS RECOVERY ACTIONS INCLUDING A CONSISTENT RANGE-WIDE MONITORING APPROACH FOR THIS SPECIES. THE TEAM HAS NOT ESTABLISHED A SPECIFIC MONITORING APPROACH BECAUSE THE RECOVERY AREA IS TOO DIVERSE. HOWEVER, IT HAS DECIDED UPON SPECIFIC INFORMATION THAT EACH KCA MUST ANNUALLY COLLECT.DATA COLLECTED BY THIS PROJECT WILL BE COMPATIBLE WITH PAST SPALDINGS CATCHFLY POPULATION TREND AND HABITAT DATA PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED IN THE WALLOWA LAKE KCA. OUR DATA, WHEN COMBINED WITH OTHER DATA IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN BASINS AND ELSEWHERE IN THE RECOVERY AREA, WILL BECOME MORE POWERFUL AND INFORMATIVE FOR SPALDINGS CATCHFLY TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP MANAGERS.

SPALDING'S CATCHFLY MONITORING AT WALLOWA LAKE, 2021-2022

RIPARIAN HABITAT RESTORATION, LOSTINE/ WALLOWS RIVER CONFLUENCE