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| | A | 165 | Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation | Provide Environmental Compliance Documentation to BPA | All applicable NEPA, ESA and Cultural Resources consultation will be completed and submitted to the BPA Environmental Lead for review and approval. This work will be performed for Road Decommissioning, Installing Fish Passage Structures Plantings, and addition restoration work as necessary. Any Project requiring HIP IV coverage will be brought to the BPA Environmental Lead with adequate time to review.
The PNF and BNF may have already completed comprehensive CE's, EA's or EIS's for some areas, and some of the environmental compliance requirements may have already been met. All environmental compliance documents will be provided to EC lead. | | |
| | B | 119 | Manage and Administer Projects | Project Management, Coordination, and Administration | Project management and administration for Nez Perce Tribe Watershed Division (NPT-WD) includes contract preparation, statements of work, provide cost share, monthly invoicing, status reports and budgeting. | | |
| | C | 99 | Outreach and Education | Public outreach and education | As a steward of the land and resource, NPT-WD strives to provide educational opportunities and outreach materials on environmental issues and restoration work implemented by the Nez Perce Tribe and funded by BPA. Educating Nez Perce people about the importance of the South Fork Salmon River (SFSR) , Big Creek (BC) and Little Salmon River (LSR) project areas and its resources remains a specific goal of the NPT-WD. Although younger generations may lack knowledge of the area’s historical significance to their culture, they will play a vital role in preserving its ecological integrity in the future. The NPT-WD has been successful in procuring and administering grants to educate youth. Furthermore, the NPT-WD uses interpretative media at restoration sites to inform multiple user groups about the anthropogenic alterations to the project watersheds and explain the importance of restoration efforts. Project personnel participate in community outreach through hosting symposiums and training's, as well as participating in local classrooms, collaborative settings, and field trip outings.
As with past years, in FY24 we will continue our public outreach and education in regards to the LSR, BC and SFSR watersheds.
Regarding the SFSR watershed, our goals are to work with local McCall students to bring awareness to environmental issues regarding anthropogenic impacts to anadromous fish. There are identified educational opportunities to present to students and teachers at the McCall grade/high school this spring. As in years past we will work with teachers to teach Trout in the Classroom, this is a program aimed at educating students on the ESA listed fish species present in their area. We will also work in cooperation with the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS) a satellite campus at the University of Idaho's College of Natural Resource. Educating NPT students about resource issues in our watershed continues to be one of our priorities. In the past we have had students from the Student Conservation Association work with our field crews, we are examining opportunities for this in 2024 as well. | | |
| | D | 199 | Remove Vegetation | Treat Invasive Weeds from the South Fork Salmon River, Big Creek, and Little Salmon River Watersheds | The NPT-WD will continue to treat roadside invasive vegetation with herbicide. Invasive vegetation reduces native plant abundance, increases erosion, and depletes soil moisture and nutrient levels. Within the SFSR, BC and LS watersheds, the Forest Service and Valley County spray for invasive weeds along system roads. However, remote system and non-system roads are routinely missed during invasive weed treatment, due to difficult access. During road surveys, our crews document the locations of invasive weeds along hundreds of miles of system and non-system roads. Between 2019-2023, the NPT-WD sprayed weed-infested areas that were not being treated by Valley County or the Forest Service. We will continue these herbicide treatment efforts in 2024. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) |
| | E | 47 | Plant Vegetation | Plant Riparian Vegetation along the Little Salmon River | Critical issues in the LSR watershed include riparian ecological degradation resulting in water quality issues, such as excess sediment and high water temperatures and nutrients as documented by Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. There are Total Daily Maximum Loads (TMDL) for elevated stream temperatures, bacteria and nutrients in the reach we are planting in. Many acres of riparian habitat have been degraded from their historical condition, primarily through development or conversion to agriculture. There is limited riparian vegetation helping to shade the Little Salmon. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) instream temperature data showed that elevated stream temperatures occurring above the falls at Round Valley Creek are creating potential thermal barriers to anadromous Chinook and steelhead trying to reach Boulder and Hazard creek. Reducing water temperatures in the Little Salmon from upstream (above Round Valley Creek) reaches will benefit downstream areas occupied by Chinook and steelhead.
The Nez Perce Tribe purchased 35.5 acres along the LSR that was lacking riparian habitat. This property is 6 miles upstream of anadromous fish passage barriers. Due to the length of the Little Salmon River in the property boundary (roughly 0.6 miles) we developed a 5 year planting plan for this project, where every year we would plant roughly 500 plants in a new section. In 2021, we partnered with Idaho Fish and Game and planted 437 riparian plants adjacent to the LSR within this property boundary. In 2022, we planted 486 and in 2023 we planted 461 riparian plants along the Little Salmon. In 2024 we will plant roughly 500 plants to continue these planting efforts for a total of 5 years (1 years after 2024 planting). We want to use this property to showcase riparian restoration to the surrounding landowners to encourage similar work.
There are ESA listed Adult and juvenile Chinook, steelhead and bull trout found 6 miles downstream of our planting site based on recent eDNA samples taken by the NPT in 2020 and numerous IDF&G snorkel surveys that are publicly downloadable. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) | |
| | F | 47 | Plant Vegetation | Warm Lake Road Obliteration Planting | Background:
The NPT-WD, in partnership with the Boise NF, obliterated approximately 47 miles of roads in the Warm Lake area from 2013-2016. The vegetation on the obliterated roads is recovering slower than similar projects, possibly due to a wildfire that burned the area prior to obliteration and hillslope aspects facing largely south and west with little shading. Grasses and forbs are growing on the obliterated roads, but trees and shrubs are sparse and small, especially on exposed aspects. The obliteration scars on the landscape are glaringly obvious and especially visible from the Warm Lake Highway.
During the 2021-2023 field season the NPT-WD partnered with the Boise NF to plant 2,000 ponderosa seedlings per year to accelerate vegetation recovery on the hillside aspects that are recovering slowly. In the 2024 field season, an additional 2,000 ponderosa seedling are scheduled to be planted. The NPT-WD suggests planting 2,000 ponderosa pine seedlings per year until we reach our desired planting plan of 10,000 trees, focusing on south and west-facing obliterated sections. Ponderosa pine was chosen because it is the dominant tree species observed in the area. Roughly 20 miles of the total 47 obliterated miles are on south and west-facing aspects. The obliteration disturbance is about 15 feet wide on average and areas identified as priorities for planting total approximately 36 acres. The proposed planting rate would be 278 trees per acre, or 500 trees per linear mile. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) |
| | G | 33 | Decommission Road/Relocate Road | Secesh Face/Cow Creek Road Decommissioning of 25-33 Miles of Forest Roads | Historic high-density logging road construction coupled with the erodible geology of the SFSR watershed results in instream sedimentation that causes deleterious effects on aquatic ecosystem health. Higher road densities are correlated to lower abundance of Chinook parr. Road densities in the Project area are as high as 3.1 (mi/mi2), and road decommissioning is the only way to reduce road densities. Decommissioning has a significant positive correlation with reduction of fine sediment in stream substrate cores. Decommissioning in this area will further reduce road density, the associated risk of landslides and result in a reduction of sediment delivery to the Secesh River and its tributaries.
In 2023, the Tribe partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to decommission 24.5 miles of road in the Secesh Face area. Due to additional costs of installing temporary bridges and time limitations only 3.3 miles were decommissioned in 2023, so the remaining 21.2 miles in the Secesh Face area will be decommissioned in 2024. Considering the entire Secesh Face area burned in 2007, decommissioning will help reduce the risk of additional landslide sediment delivery to streams with listed fish species. The U.S. Forest Service conducted road surveys in the Cow Creek area in 2020 to prepare for future road decommissioning efforts. In 2024, 12.1 miles of roads have been identified for road decommissioning in the Cow Creek area. With the Secesh Face and Cow Creek area combined, 33.3 miles of roads were identified for road decommissioning of which 5.6 miles are in the Riparian Conservation Area (RCA) and 65 stream crossings will be restored. Both steelhead and cutthroat trout have been documented in the Project area using Environmental DNA (eDNA) and snorkel surveys. Juvenile Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout are documented in the Secesh River adjacent to the Project area. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) |
| | H | 184 | Install Fish Passage Structure | Install Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) structure on Six-Bit Creek | The NPT-WD and Boise NF will replace an undersized culvert that is acting as a fish passage barrier during low flow conditions with an AOP structure. Six-Bit culvert is undersized and perched and acting as a fish passage barrier. Six-Bit creek is critical habitat for steelhead and bull trout. Bull trout are present above and below the culvert but steelhead are only observed below the culvert. Juvenile Chinook salmon and Chinook redds are documented at the mouth of Six-Bit Creek. In addition to being a fish passage barrier should this undersized culvert ever be washed out there would be sediment delivery that could impact downstream fisheries. To replace this fish passage barrier, an AOP structure was designed in 2018 and is scheduled to be installed in 2024.
This AOP project was prioritized based on stream habitat data collected and summarized in a AOP Passage Priority Report. To aid in the prioritization process we walked upstream of the current culvert and collected stream gradients, median wetted widths, median pool depths and sampled for fish species present. Six-bit ranked the highest of remaining culverts needed to be replaced to benefit listed fish species as documented in our AOP priority report specific to the Boise National Forest. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi) |
| | I | 115 | Produce Inventory or Assessment | GRAIP road inventory surveys | Background:
The NPT-WD conducts surveys to locate and map roads, quantify the extent to which these roads are negatively impacting habitat of ESA-listed fishes, and prioritize restoration efforts. Numerous roads in the SFSR are undocumented, as they were built for historic logging which has not occurred in the SFSR watershed in more than 50 years. Legacy effects of road networks for historic timber harvest continue to be a chronic source of excess fine sediment, which is identified as a limiting factor for the recovery of Chinook salmon and steelhead populations in the SFSR watershed. Road surveys identify chronic sediment sources as well as acute, episodic events such as landslides. The NPT-WD uses road surveys to prioritize future road decommissioning and improvement efforts, through quantifying sediment delivery points and landslides. All road decommissioning and improvement actions implemented in 2024 are a result of planning facilitated by road surveys conducted in previous years.
The NPT-WD surveys roads using the Geomorphic Road Analysis and Inventory Package (GRAIP) protocol (Black et. al., 2015). This protocol requires collecting individual road segment data based on locations where flow is directed off of the road. Surveyors document key attributes such as road surface material, flow path vegetation, and length of each road segment. The GRAIP model then uses these surveyed attributes and the base erosion rate and slope to estimate road-to-stream sediment delivery.
In 2024 we will continue to survey roads in the Johnson Creek, Six-Bit and Landmark subwatersheds which are part of the larger SFSR watershed, and surveys in the Little Salmon River Watershed. Because there are over a hundred miles of road in these areas this will be a multi-year effort. Roads surveys will help us prioritize future road decommissioning/improvement projects.
Because the results of these surveys are geospatial we can overlay them to prioritize areas with known Chinook spawning based on NPT redd data, steelhead and bull trout eDNA samples taken by the Tribe over the last 9 years. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) |
| | J | 184 | Install Fish Passage Structure | Replace an undersized culvert with an AOP on Jeanette Creek | The NPT-WD and Payette NF are partnering to install an AOP structure in Jeanette Creek. Jeanette Creek is a tributary to Lake Creek, which is critical spawning habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead. The Jeanette Creek culvert is undersized and a barrier to juvenile Chinook, steelhead and bull trout that have been documented in Jeanette Creek below the culvert (NPT 2011 snorkel data). Further, steelhead sometimes occupy habitat above the culvert (NPT-WD 2016 eDNA data and 2019 electrofishing data). Through this project, we will install an AOP box culvert to replace the existing 77-foot long, 3-foot diameter corrugated metal pipe culvert. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi) |
| | K | 122 | Provide Technical Review and Recommendation | Review of Proposed Partner Actions | The US Forest Service is a federal government agency that maintains a trust responsibility to the NPT. The NPT periodically reviews projects proposed on lands within its treaty territory. Review of proposed projects may be at the technical level by Watershed personnel or elevated to formal consultation within the NPT Executive Committee . The NPT also submits comments on proposed projects pursuant to the NEPA process. This may include analysis of data, participation in field visits and or production of maps. A large gold mine (Stibnite Gold) is being proposed in the headwaters of the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River. The NPT is participating in the NEPA project of this proposal to ensure that treaty resources and BPA habitat restoration projects are not compromised by this mine. | | |
| | L | 114 | Identify and Select Projects | Identify and Select FY2025 Restoration Projects | Data from road inventories, fish passage barrier surveys, fish presence and absence surveys and other watershed resource assessments, will be used to prioritize restoration implementation projects for 2025. A five year implementation plan has also been developed with the Payette and Boise National Forests and uploaded to BPA. The appropriate restoration methods are identified, and the preliminary designs and cost estimates developed. In addition, the long-term restoration plans for the South Fork Salmon River, Big Creek and Little Salmon Watersheds will be updated.
The location and type of our restoration work is also based on guidance documents from various agencies including the Recovery Plan from the United States Fish &Wildlife Service (USFWS, 2015), Northwest Power Conservation Council (NWPCC, 2010) and the Recovery Plan from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, 2017). Secondly, we based all of our decisions on field data collected and analyzed from on the ground surveys. Thirdly, we met with members of our expert panel who possess years of local knowledge and expertise to discuss this data in relation to the location and type of restoration work being performed. | Chinook (O. tshawytscha) - Snake River Spring/Summer ESU (Threatened), Steelhead (O. mykiss) - Snake River DPS (Threatened) | Cutthroat Trout, Westslope (O. c. lewisi), Trout, Bull (S. confluentus) (Threatened) |
| | M | 191 | Watershed Coordination | Coordinate with other agencies on watershed restoration projects | Project management and administration for the NPT- WD includes a high level of planning/coordinating and data sharing with the Payette National Forest (PNF); the Boise National Forests (BNF); other state, federal, local agencies; non-government organizations; and private citizens on project activities, completing environmental and cultural compliance requirements, attending meetings, seeking additional funding, prioritizing and scheduling of projects, preparing statements of work, managing budgets, attending trainings, and completing reports. Travel between the Lapwai, Sweetwater, McCall, Cascade and Boise areas will be required for interagency coordination and planning meetings. The NPT -WD will continue to follow the activities at the Stibnite Mine and Thunder Mountain mine restoration project areas for potential restoration projects; coordinate with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) on monitoring and restoration activities for the Wapiti Meadows Conservation Easement; and plan and implement restoration projects in partnership with the PNF and BNF. As necessary, Project Supplements will be developed for the Master Participating agreement between the NPT and PNF/BNF to cover additional project activities. | | |
| | N | 132 | Produce Progress (Annual) Report | Submit Progress Report for 4/1/2024 - 3/31/2025 | Progress report documenting our restoration activities under our FY24 contract will be turned in no later than 3/31/25. | | |
| | O | 185 | Produce CBFish Status Report | Periodic Status Reports for BPA | The Contractor shall report on the status of milestones and deliverables in CBFish. Reports shall be completed either monthly or quarterly as determined by the BPA COR. Additionally, when indicating a deliverable milestone as COMPLETE, the contractor shall provide metrics and the final location (latitude and longitude) prior to submitting the report to the BPA COR. | | |
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