Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. Decaying and legacy wood management on Xxxxx River Project lands will be prescribed on a site-specific basis following the guidelines presented in this plan. Decaying and legacy wood management will be a secondary objective on all Project lands, and will occur only where it does not conflict with or detract from the primary objective of a given parcel of Project lands, present a safety hazard, or otherwise interfere with Project operation. The plan reflects the view that human safety and reliable project operation are paramount at all times. All live tree, snag and log criteria are subject to modification where needed to maintain the safety of persons working and recreating on project lands, and to provide for the reliable and cost-effective operation of the project. Decaying and legacy wood consists of residual live trees, snags and logs. The rates at which these habitat features will be retained and created on Project lands will be guided by the USFS DecAID model (Xxxxxx-XxXxxx et al. 2008). DecAID provides two alternate methods of determining target snag and log densities for managed forestlands. Targets can be based on the estimated needs of wildlife species, as described in the scientific literature, or they can be based on observed densities of snags and logs in natural (unmanaged) forest. The former method is considered the least reliable because it is based on observational (rather than experimental) studies of varying designs, few of which measure the survival and productivity of wildlife and compare these to snag and log density. It was common practice in the past to base legacy wood targets on the anticipated snag needs of primary cavity nesters (Neitro et al., 1985), but a recent assessment of the issue by Rose et al. (2001) suggests that the minimum functional sizes and densities for primary cavity nesters may not be sufficient to account for the habitat needs of all wildlife species that rely on decaying wood. To avoid this potential pitfall, legacy wood targets for Project lands will be based on observed snag and log densities in unmanaged forest. The snag and log data set employed in the DecAID model consists of several thousand long-term monitoring plots maintained by the USDA and Bureau of Land Management throughout the Pacific Northwest. The subset of plots used for the Project area will be either the Westside Lowland Conifer-hardwood Forest or the Montane Mixed Conifer Forest, depending on the elevation and forest type of the lands in q...
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. SA 109 provides for the transport of LWD from Xxxxx Lake and Xxxx Xxxxxxx to stockpile areas. For the purposes of the LWDMP, wood to be transferred to stockpile areas will be over 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter and over 8 feet (244 cm) long. The transport target by the end of license year 20 is 3,660 pieces of LWD consisting of: 2,960 pieces of LWD 12-23.6 in (30-60 cm) diameter; 540 pieces of LWD 23.7-35.4 in (61-90 cm) diameter; and 160 pieces greater than 35.4 in (>90 cm) diameter. This 20-year transport target is equivalent to an annual average of 183 pieces of LWD. An estimated 773 pieces of LWD are annually delivered to the reservoirs from all sources (R2 2003). However, recruitment of LWD to the reservoirs will vary considerably from year to year depending on the frequency and magnitude of storm events. Elements of the SA 109 implementation process are described in greater detail in the following sections.
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. 6.5.1 Bald Eagle Nest and Communal Winter Night Roost Management
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. Implementation of the BRGMP involves identifying measures that could be implemented to augment gravel, defining channel conditions that will trigger the need for augmentation, and monitoring to determine when, where and if gravel augmentation is warranted. Elements of the implementation process are shown in figure 2 and described in greater detail in the following sections. Submit BRGMP to FERC FERC Approval Implementation Plan • Identify Potential Augmentation Measures • Develop Monitoring Procedures • Identify Augmentation Triggers The BRGMP provides for the monitoring of conditions in the Skagit River below the Xxxxx River confluence, and implementation of gravel augmentation measures if monitoring identifies such actions are warranted. During plan implementation, gravel augmentation will be implemented using best management practices and according to guidelines identified through the permitting process and consultation with the ARG. Changes to the standards and criteria will be reported in the annual report consistent with SA 102. Monitoring No Does Monitoring Show Trend of Reduced Gravel Recruitment ? Yes No Gravel Augmentation Warranted? Yes Develop Gravel Augmentation Proposal Review and Approval Permitting Implement Gravel Augmentation Develop Gravel Augmentation Proposal Implement Gravel Augmentation Review and Approval Permitting Review and Approval Permitting FERC Approval Submit BRGMP to FERC Implementation Plan • Identify Potential Augmentation Measures • Develop Monitoring Procedures • Identify Augmentation Triggers Figure 2. Process flow chart for the Xxxxx River Gravel Management Plan, SA 108.
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. 6.5.1 Platform Construction, Installation and Maintenance Puget Sound Energy will construct, install and maintain loon floating nest platforms according to the following standards and criteria: By October 1, 2009, Puget Sound Energy will design, construct and install three loon floating nest platforms on one or both Project reservoirs. The placement of one platform on Project reservoirs may be substituted by providing funds to a third party for the purpose of placing and maintaining a platform on non-project lands. Nest platform design will consider designs successfully deployed in western Washington and elsewhere. Final design for each nest platform will be determined in consultation with the TRIG. Locations for platform installation on Project reservoirs will be selected according to the following criteria, in consensus with the TRIG: Platform locations should provide as much protection from wind, waves, and human activity as possible and be in the vicinity of natural stream confluences or natural islands if available. Platform locations should provide underwater access (preferably 1.6 to 16 feet deep) for adult loons through August. Consideration will be given to locations that receive spring and early summer use by loons. Platform areas should have loon brood habitat (emergent vegetation or areas with exposed logs and/or root wads) if possible. Platforms will be placed away from eagle foraging areas when possible. Platforms placed near eagle foraging areas may be adjusted to protect loons from predation by eagles. Nest platforms on Project reservoirs will be in place from April 1 through July 31 of each year. Platforms may be removed and stored when not required to be in place.
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. The FCIP will be implemented to meet SA 104 objectives in a manner that minimizes detrimental effects on other environmental resources. Near-term implementation activities consist of active fish collection and transport that includes collecting tissue samples and PIT-tagging native char in Xxxx Xxxxxxx to enable recaptured native char to be transported upstream or downstream or returned to the collection site according to established protocols. If future plan modifications are deemed necessary and require design, construction, and operation of structural fishway facilities, these facilities will be constructed using best management practices and according to guidelines identified through the permitting process and through consultation with the ARG. Standards and criteria will be reviewed in consultation with the USFWS, NOAA Fisheries, WDFW, and other members of the ARG as part of an annual protocol meeting held each spring. This process will allow procedures, standards, and criteria to be modified through adaptive management as additional information is developed or if local conditions change. Procedures, standards, and criteria for SA 104 will be described in the annual report and may include the following.
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. 6.5.1 Construction and Maintenance of Artificial Nest Structures Artificial nest structures will be placed and maintained on Xxxx Xxxxxxx according to the following criteria. By October 1, 2009, Puget Sound Energy will provide and maintain a minimum of 10 artificial osprey nest structures at Xxxx Xxxxxxx. The 10 nest structures will consist of up to nine of the artificial structures in place at the time of license issuance, and one or more new artificial structures to be installed at the site of a former natural snag nest or artificial nest structure. Structures will be placed in a manner that is designed to provide a sufficient number of suitable osprey nest sites at Xxxx Xxxxxxx to support an estimated seven breeding pairs.
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. 6.5.1 Habitat Acquisition The acquisition of wetland habitat parcels by Puget Sound Energy and the other members of the TRIG will be guided by the criteria described in TRMP section 4.1.1, “General Acquisition Criteria” and TRMP section 4.1.4, “Criteria for Wetland Habitat Acquisition.” The evaluation of potential acquisitions will be based on information collected in accordance with TRMP section 4.2, “Identification and Selection of Habitat Parcels.” Selection of parcels will be based on the geographic criteria outlined in Article 505(b), “Aquatic-riparian Habitat,” which states: The location of sites for the purpose of implementation shall be used to aid in prioritization in the following order: i) within the Xxxxx River Basin, ii) within the middle Skagit River and tributaries immediately downstream of the Xxxxx River (from the confluence with the Xxxxx River to the Pipeline Crossing at RM 24.3.), iii) within the lower Skagit River and estuary, and iv) elsewhere in the Skagit River Basin, or as may otherwise be established in the (Wetland Habitat Plan).
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. The FPFP will provide for the construction and operation of fish propagation facilities in a manner that minimizes detrimental effects on other environmental resources. During Plan implementation, construction, and operation of facilities will be conducted using Best Management Practices and according to guidelines identified through the permitting process and through consultation with the ARG. Changes to standards and criteria will be reported in the annual report for SA 101. Elements of the implementation process are described in greater detail in the following sections.
Procedures, Standards, and Criteria. 6.5.1 Habitat Acquisition The acquisition of forest habitat parcels by Puget Sound Energy and the other members of the TRIG will be guided by the criteria described in TRMP section 4.1.1, “General Acquisition Criteria” and TRMP section 4.1.2, “Criteria for Forest Habitat Acquisition.” The evaluation of potential acquisitions will be based on information collected in accordance with TRMP section 4.2, “Identification and Selection of Habitat Parcels.”
