Contract Modification Description (5 Sept 2012):

Contract modification was requested for a two month no cost time extension.  The extension will allow more time for work on the annual report and Legacy Springs Management plan.  Extension will also provide more time for the development of the FY2013 contract and move the end date from October reducing the end of FY load on BPA staff.  

Contract Modification Description (17 February 2012):  

Contract modification was requested to add $75,000 and extend the contract to 30 September 2012.  The additional funds were necessary because the acquisition of a tractor and implements planned for FY11 was delayed until FY12 because delivery was slower than expected.  This resulted in funds left in the FY11 contract and a large unexpected expense in FY12.  Extending the contract to 30 September will put the contract in line with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Fiscal Year and simplify internal contract issues.  The budget has been modified to add $75,000.  $43,000 are added to capital equipment under supplies and equipment to cover the cost of the tractor and implements. The budget was also modified to fund the Wildlife Biologist for only 6 months as we are working on hiring the position but do not plan to have someone until April at the earliest.  Substantial funds from the FY11 carryover and savings from the biologist position are added to vehicles line item.  Fuel costs and vehicle maintenance have been higher than expected so additional funds were needed.  

The only modifications to the contract is extending the end date of WE A, D, E, F, K, L, M, O, and U to match the new end date.  


The Southern Idaho Wildlife Mitigation Program (SIWM) was created to to mitigate for habitat losses in Southern Idaho caused by hydropower development in the Middle and Upper Snake Provinces.  In the Middle Snake Province identified habitat losses include Anderson Ranch (9,619 HU), and Black Canyon (2,170 HU).   In the Upper Snake Province habitat losses were identified at 37,070 HU for the Palisades Dam (Sather-Blair and Preston 1985) and 10,503 HU for the Minidoka Dam (Martin and Meuleman 1989).  The program was created in 1996 with the formation of a working group composed of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDF&G), and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes (SBT).  The Shoshone-Paiute Tribes joined the program in 2002.  

(The NW Power and Conservation recognized Deadwood (7,413 HU) (Martin and Ablin-Stone 1986) as part of its Fish and Wildlife Program wildlife losses in Southern Idaho..  BPA does not recognize this dam's losses as appropriate for BPA mitigation because BPA has determined the facility does not have any power purposes assigned to it under the Federal Columbia Power System - it is an irrigation only facility according to BPA. This is noted to ensure that while work under this contract will directly result in ensuring BPA continues to receive credit for wildlife mitigation for existing properties currently protected under the program and new properties scheduled to be secured in 2011, the HU's secured are not associated with Deadwood.)

SBT SIWM was created to meet the objectives for wildlife mitigation outlined in the Fish and Wildlife Program (NPCC 2000):  

• Quantify wildlife losses caused by the construction and inundation of the Federal hydropower projects (Operational losses for these dams have not been fully determined.)
• Develop and implement habitat acquisition and enhancement projects to fully mitigate for identified losses.
• Coordinate mitigation activities throughout the basin and with fish mitigation and restoration efforts, specifically by coordinating habitat restoration and acquisition with aquatic habitats to promote connectivity of terrestrial and aquatic areas.
• Maintain existing and create habitat values
• Monitor and evaluate habitat and species responses to mitigation actions.

Mitigation by the SIWM program has resulted in the mitigation of 22,435 HU to date.  Mitigation of 10,992 HU can be attributed to efforts by SBT SIWM.  SBT continues to work toward acquiring additional properties to mitigate for habitat losses.  The acquisition of habitat to mitigate for losses due to hydropower development is the cornerstone of the NPCC Fish and Wildlife Program (NPCC 2001).  This is accomplished through the protection of either existing high quality habitat areas or sites with a high potential for restoration.  The process of protecting habitat is a multistep process outlined by the NPCC Fish and Wildlife Program (NPCC 2000) and SIWM MOA (SBT and BPA1997).  All easement and fee-title acquisitions must also be consistent with tribal land acquisition policies and agreed to by the tribal council.  

SBT also has management responsibility for three mitigation properties Rudeen Ranch and Soda Springs Hills acquired in the late 1990's , and Bannock Creek acquired in 2009.  Without management activities, habitat values would deteriorate over time and rate-payer investments in mitigation would be lost.  Management entails Operations and Management (O+M) to maintain and enhance acquired lands, monitoring habitat and wildlife populations to allow for adaptive management, and collaboration with other wildlife management entities to protect wildlife habitats and populations both on acquired lands and in southern Idaho as a whole.  SBT SIWM O+M responsibilities will increase with additional mitigation.    

O+M on Rudeen Ranch and Soda Hills has included fence construction and signage to control OHV use and exclude cattle, planting previously cultivated agricultural fields with native plant species, and noxious weed control following management direction put in place following acquisition.  

Monitoring in the past three years has focused on habitat mapping and HEP or follow-up HEP.  The monitoring information will be used to develop new management plans for all three properties.  Management plans will include proposed projects, weed control, vegetation restoration/improvement and effectiveness monitoring.  Management plan will also include access plan including travel management, fencing, and monitoring.

In addition to the creation of the management plans an overall habitat monitoring program will be developed.  The plan will describe the purpose, need, and methodology of monitoring techniques to accurately capture data on habitat conditions.  Data to be collected will include overstory inventory and ground/shrub cover point count methods outlined in Unnasch (2003) Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for Idaho Wildlife Mitigation Projects and/or the monitoring protocols under development by CBFWA.  Data will be added to long term vegetation data-sets to be analyzed after 5 years of data collection to measure changes in relative cover over time.

Following development the management and monitoring plans will be implemented on project lands.  Implementation will include grazing and and OHV control, weed management, vegetation restoration, and long term management.