2010-088-00: Proposals

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Proposals

A Proposal is an application to continue existing work or start new work. While historically the Program solicited for all types of projects at once, starting in fiscal year 2009, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and BPA are reviewing and soliciting for projects that are similar in nature and intent. These "categorical" reviews started with Wildlife projects and continue with Research, Monitoring, & Evaluation (RME) and Artificial Production (Hatchery) projects.

Project 2010-088-00 - Upper and Lower Lemhi Acquisition/Easements

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	Proposal Number	Proposal Version	Type	State	Project	Title	Description	Creator	Percent Complete	Proposal Budget Limit	Create Date	Last Updated	Primary Contact	Proponent	Purpose	Emphasis	Solicitation	Portfolio	Biop Fish Accord
		Proposal Version 1	Existing Project	Pending BPA Response				Amy Hines


	GEOREV-2010-088-00	Proposal Version 1	Existing Project	Pending BPA Response	2010-088-00	Upper and Lower Lemhi Acquisition/Easements	A broad range of partners have worked together to establish conservation objectives that will benefit Endangered Species Act-listed Chinook salmon and steelhead trout as well as resident cutthroat, redband, and bull trout found on properties located within the Lemhi watershed. Conservation partners include staff from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR), Bureau of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Upper Salmon Basin Watershed Program (USBWP), Idaho Governor’s Office of Species Conservation (OSC), and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). The Lemhi watershed encompasses over 803,000 acres and includes some of the most important spawning and rearing habitat within the Upper Salmon watershed. The Lemhi River is a major tributary of the Upper Salmon and historically a major spawning and rearing tributary for Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook and Snake River steelhead. The Lemhi River Acquisitions Project (2010-088-00) seeks to permanently protect in-stream and riparian habitat, improve river flow in the Lemhi River, and assist in reconnecting tributary streams to the Lemhi River to benefit all life stages of Snake River spring/summer-run Chinook and Snake River steelhead. Conservation easement and fee simple acquisitions are being pursued on approximately 9,086 acres of the Leadore Land Partners, LLC Ranch (formerly known as Tyler Ranch) and similar properties whose land values can positively address limiting factors for Chinook and steelhead in perpetuity. Acquisitions will ensure that these properties will maintain their current biological integrity while improving the quality of habitat for all salmonid species using several prescribed conservation actions. Negotiations are expected to result in a combination of donated water transactions, water leases, and irrigation infrastructure/efficiency changes. OSC plans to utilize The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Lemhi Regional Land Trust (LRLT) as subcontractors in order to complete acquisitions and achieve conservation outcomes that follow. Roles and responsibilities of TNC/LRLT will be detailed in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). OSC has active projects in the Lemhi watershed, including 2007-394-00, Idaho Watershed Habitat Restoration, designed to improve habitat condition and support the recovery of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed Chinook salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat, redband, and bull trout. This proposal covers work elements that OSC will undertake through 2010-088-00 Lemhi River Acquisitions. The objective for this project is to acquire an interest in land and/or water to obtain a number of water related outcomes as well as habitat improvements in the Lemhi River and its tributaries; these outcomes and improvements are a result of easement negotiations on each property. Conservation easement and fee simple acquisitions will provide strong legal protection and conservation outcomes, such as grazing restrictions or commitments to restore degraded river habitat and non-functioning tributary habitat. The acquisitions will address the following limiting factors identified in the Federal Columbia River Power System (FCRPS) planning process which include: 1. Stream flow; 2. Migration barriers; 3. Entrainment; 4. Riparian condition, sediment, and temperature. Conservation strategies resulting from acquisition agreements will be implemented at a variety of scales ranging from specific reaches of the Lemhi River and its tributaries to addressing threats to Chinook salmon and steelhead habitat across entire watersheds such as the Big Timber Creek watershed. Idaho and its partners have selected areas in the Lemhi watershed having the highest densities of active Chinook salmon spawning, and have prioritized tributaries having the highest intrinsic potential to support spawning and rearing to maximize the biological benefits for anadromous fish. The acquisitions and subsequent habitat actions that target low stream flows, high stream temperatures, fish passage barriers, degraded riparian reaches, and associated sedimentation are expected to improve the productivity of Lemhi River Chinook salmon and steelhead. Specifically, these actions are projected by NOAA to increase egg to smolt survival by 16% for Chinook and 5% for steelhead (see problem statement section for Expert Panel egg-smolt survival rate estimations).	Amy Hines			12/18/2012	11/26/2013	Amy Hines	Idaho Governor's Office of Species Conservation, Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Lemhi Regional Land Trust, Nature Conservancy, Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR)	Habitat	None	2013 Geographic Category Review	2013 Geographic Review	BiOp, Fish Accord