CONSERVATION PLAN FOR THE CARTER PROPERTY BEAR LAKE COUNTY, IDAHO

Transcription

1 CONSERVATION PLAN FOR THE CARTER PROPERTY BEAR LAKE COUNTY, IDAHO Prepared By John Carter P.O. Box 280 Mendon, Utah

2 IINTRODUCTION In 1993, I began acquiring land in Paris Canyon, Idaho (Figure 1). Developers had surveyed 20-acre parcels in both Paris Canyon and Sleight Canyon to the North for recreational development. After purchasing the initial 20 acres along Paris Creek, I became concerned with other larger blocks of land being subdivided. In 1995, I acquired a second 20- acre parcel in Paris Canyon and began purchasing land to the north. By 2000, I had accumulated approximately 840 acres of contiguous land spanning Paris Creek and running north into Sleight Canyon, including Sleight Creek (Figure 2). The property borders Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands on the West (Figures 2 and Figure 3). My goal is to preserve the property to provide lasting protection for wildlife habitat; research and educational opportunities; and as a living demonstration of ecological potential. The property is already being used as a reference site for comparisons with land management and condition on public lands, including use in Power Point Presentations, reports, tours with Forest Service and other Agency personnel, environmental organizations and individuals. In order to achieve these goals, I am seeking funding to retire the development rights and place the property into a conservation easement. In addition, I am seeking assistance for active restoration of degraded areas. Research and educational opportunities will be offered to Universities and High Schools. Residential and educational facilities will be constructed for this purpose, for an on-site manager and for scientists, naturalists, artists and writers to reside in a natural setting to enhance their efforts. All facilities will be landscaped to minimize noise and visual impacts to wildlife. These facilities will provide lease income to assist with long-term management and maintenance of the property. They include the Office and Manager s Residence, which will also include an apartment for interns and/or temporary workers. It will be named The Clark Center for Josephine Clark, who has supported my research and environmental advocacy efforts. There will also be cabins for lease to scientists, artists, writers or naturalists. Driveways, new fences, wells and septic facilities have been installed for two of these. All will be solar-powered. Money acquired for development rights will be used to construct one or more of these facilities, repair and rebuild fences, provide signage, purchase equipment and address other ancillary needs. A trust or other suitable instrument will be established to include the property, with the remainder of the money to provide interest income for long-term management, maintenance, property taxes and other related costs. Upon my death, this will pass to a suitable environmental organization to carry on.

3 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION The property is located in Southeastern Idaho in Bear Lake County and is in the southernmost portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The Bear Lake region is rapidly being parceled out for recreational development and that development is accelerating in the Paris, Idaho area. Opportunities to protect larger blocks of land are becoming fewer with the subdivision of former ranches and open spaces, resulting in the construction of large numbers of second homes in the area. The subject property and its neighboring lands offer an opportunity to preserve open space and wildlife habitat as these have not yet been subdivided and the neighbors continue to engage in ranching. Bordering Public Lands and in an area where small parcels of BLM land are surrounded by private land, placing this property in a conservation easement adds integrity to overall protection by helping to block up this checkerboard effect. While the grazing of large numbers of livestock has compromised a number of the ecological values of these neighboring lands, they remain undeveloped at this time. Better stewardship can move these lands toward their potential for wildlife and watershed protection. The 840 acres I have acquired have been ungrazed by livestock since my purchase. Some areas such as Paris Creek are in their 10 th year of recovery. The remainder is in its seventh year. The property is in the sagebrushgrasslands or sage-steppe habitat type. It has a high level of biodiversity and contains stands of aspen, conifer, maple, mountain mahogany, mountain brush, wetlands, stream and riparian habitats, and meadows. Many varieties of native grasses, flowers and shrubs are present. To the west overlooking the property is Paris Peak (9575 ). Paris Peak crowns the National Forest lands in the adjacent Bear Paris Peak across Pine Flat River Range. The property ranges in elevation from about 6200 to over Views from the higher elevations include Bear Lake to the south, the Bear River Range to the west and the Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Preuss and Sublette Ranges to the east (Figure 4). It lies in the Bear River watershed. Both Paris Creek and Sleight Creek are tributaries of the Bear River. The Bear River Range is a critical regional wildlife corridor connecting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Yellowstone to Yukon Corridor to Utah and the Southern Rockies. The significance of my property is its location in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; The Trust for Public Lands Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Protection Area; The Nature Conservancy s Utah-Wyoming Rocky Mountains Ecoregional Planning Area (Figure 5); and in The Wildlands Project s Heart of the West 2

4 Conservation Planning Area. In addition, the Bear River Range and adjoining lands constitute the only high-elevation forested corridor providing for wolverine, wolves, bears, lynx and other wide-ranging species to move across the region (Figure 5). Recent sightings of gray wolf and wolverine in northern Utah in the Bear River Range and its foothills illustrate that these species are attempting to re-colonize areas to the south using this corridor. The bordering lands such as my property are the foothills and transitional habitats that are essential winter feeding grounds for deer, elk, moose and many other species, including their predators. Protection of these lands is essential to the future viability of these predators and their prey. Wildlife is plentiful year-round on the property. Moose, elk, mule deer, whitetail jackrabbits, short-tail weasels, badgers, marmots, numerous species of mice and voles and coyotes are common residents. A suspected sighting of Fisher was made two years ago at the same time porcupines were declining in numbers. Porcupines are prey for the Fisher. Habitat exists here for the pygmy rabbit, which have not yet been sighted. Sage grouse are seen throughout the year and in fall, large groups have been observed. Brood-rearing by sage grouse is common in sagebrush habitats and meadows across the property through the summer with plentiful food including flowering plants, lush grass and nearby water. Both sage grouse and pygmy rabbits have been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Ruffed grouse are commonly heard drumming in the aspen groves and along the streams and are seen feeding there and in the meadows during summer. Numerous warblers, woodpeckers, bluebirds, snipe, swallows, nighthawks, sapsuckers, chickadees, kingfishers, sandhill cranes, waterfowl, herons, sparrows, wrens, ouzels, bald and golden eagles, vultures, ravens, crows and a variety of hawks, including northern goshawk have been observed on the property. Frogs, reptiles and lizards are present including a population of lizards, yet unidentified, that exists in an isolated rock outcrop at the highest elevation on the property. Habitat exists for spotted frogs and other amphibians although no surveys have been conducted. Paris Creek contains a variety of trout including native Bonneville cutthroat trout, brook trout, rainbow trout and two species of sculpin. I am working with Idaho Fish and Game to enhance the Bonneville cutthroat trout populations in Paris Creek and reestablish them in Sleight Creek. These trout are State Sensitive Species. A healthy aquatic and terrestrial invertebrate fauna occurs on the property. 3

5 RECOVERY Observations, photographs and surveys have documented recovery of a variety of habitats on the property, although damage from past livestock operations is still visible. Some of these habitats include: Aspen: In the arid west, aspen are second only to riparian areas in their value for wildlife, providing habitat for a large number of species of wildlife. Aspen are declining throughout the Public Lands of the west primarily due to livestock grazing at excessive stocking rates. The Forest Service, in its recent Intermountain Regional Assessment and the Forest Service s research scientists have documented a decline in aspen across the Region with a 60% loss in Utah and 41% loss in Idaho National Forests. While the Forest Service engages in attempts to restore aspen through prescribed burns, a recent study on BLM lands in Nevada documented that aspen declines were due to livestock, not fire exclusion, wildlife or climate change the common reasons given by agencies. Aspen on my property are regenerating and expanding due simply to the removal of livestock and the reduction of that source of stress. The aspen groves are productive, green and lush with 100% ground cover. When the property was first purchased, the aspen were diseased and dying with a heavy infection of fungus. Now there is no sign of that infection and the aspen are healthy. See Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8 for photos of aspen habitats on the property. Riparian: Prior to my ownership, Paris Creek was heavily trampled and damaged by livestock with annual removal of most of the grasses and flowering plants, leaving little for wildlife food and cover. Seven species of willows occur along Paris Creek. These and river birch were heavily browsed and consisted of an interior live core surrounded by dead limbs. Dogwoods and alders were nearly eliminated, remaining only as relicts beneath piles of dead brush and in areas inaccessible to cattle. Other shrubs such as currant were not seen. Now the riparian area is covered with healthy birch, willow, dogwood, alder, twinberry, thimbleberry, currant, wild rose, oakleaf sumac and aspen. The ground and stream banks are covered with grasses and flowering plants. The stream, once widened and flattened by the annual trampling and grazing of large numbers of cattle, is gradually collecting sediment along its margins and rebuilding its banks. The channel is narrowing and providing a diversity of in-stream habitats with a high percent of canopy coverage from the trees and shrubs. See Figure 9 for photos of stream and riparian habitats along Paris Creek. Sleight Creek was more heavily damaged and in places is deeply incised and eroding. It is recovering, although some actual restoration work is needed to stabilize the areas of active erosion. Sleight creek has an overstory of aspen with a complement of willows, alder, currant and wild rose. Over much of its length, the stream banks are covered with vegetation. Pools and riffles have formed from what was originally a barren, silt-laden streambed. Once livestock were removed, the sedges and grasses were able to establish in the stream channel, collecting silt from the upstream grazed Public Lands, gradually building banks and a narrowing channel. Now there are overhanging banks, rocky substrate, pools, riffles and lots of canopy cover. In deeply incised sections covering a few hundred feet at the downstream extent of the property 4

6 the stream is continuing to actively erode at the outside bends. See Figure 10 for photos of Sleight Creek. Uplands: Sagebrush and mountain mahogany communities with intermixed meadows, conifer and aspen stands, isolated rock outcrops, seeps, springs and ephemeral streams cover hundreds of acres. These have sprung into life with the release from heavy grazing pressure by livestock, yet are used by large numbers of deer and elk throughout the year. A diversity of native grasses and flowers are expanding their cover. During the past 6 years, I have observed an increase in ground cover in these uplands from near 50% to between 75% and 100% as the grasses have been allowed to complete their life cycles and set seed, replacing a depleted soil seed pool. The shrubs are healthy with increasing amounts of chokecherry, bitterbrush and serviceberry. Some areas on steeper north and east-facing slopes continue to erode. These are areas where the snow collects and remains until late spring. The melting snow and resulting overland flow are hindering re-establishment of stable plant communities. Assistance in reseeding these areas will be needed. The understories of conifer stands are green with grasses during the summer. Species of conifer present include lodgepole pine, Douglas fir, Rocky Mountain juniper, limber pine, subalpine fir, and Engleman spruce. See Figure 11 and Figure 12 for photos of upland habitats. Pine Flat 5

7 Figure 1. Regional Location Map 6

8 Figure 2. Property Map showing proposed facilities and natural features. 7

9 Figure 3. Bear Lake County showing property location (red) and public lands. 8

10 Carter Property Figure 4. Local Features Map reproduced from website of Bear Lake County, Idaho. Figure 5. Map of Utah-Wyoming Rocky Mountains Ecoregion reproduced from The Nature Conservancy s Ecoregional Planning Document. 9

11 Figure 6. Upper Aspen and Sleight Creek. Lower Pine Flat from an aspen area 10

12 Figure 7. Upper Recovering aspen along Paris Creek. Note three mature aspen at right with dense, nine-year old regenerating clone after removal of livestock. Right Aspen understory along Paris Creek 11

13 Figure 8. Aspen along Sleight Creek during fall 12

14 Figure 9. Upper Left Paris Canyon with Paris Creek and Bear River Range from road to Pine Flat. Upper Dense canopy cover over Paris Creek in the property. Left Pool and regenerating dogwoods on Paris Creek. 13

15 Figure 10. Right Sleight Creek rebuilding its banks, channel narrowing, clean substrate at upper property boundary. Lower Left Deeply incised channel downstream showing channel re-establishment and continuing erosion at outside bends. Lower Right Closeup in early spring of eroding bend. 14

16 Figure 11. Upper Left Conifer grove and cottonwoods in Pine Brook Canyon. Right Pine Brook in spring. Lower Left Mountain Mahoganies on Pine Flat 15

17 Figure 12. Paris Canyon in spring, fall and winter 16