FY07-09 proposal 200705300

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Section 1. Administrative

Proposal titleUpper Lolo Creek Watershed Restoration
Proposal ID200705300
OrganizationUS Forest Service: Lolo National Forest
Short descriptionDecommission roads in the Upper Lolo Creek Watershed for resident fish benefit. The primary objective is to reduce cumulative effects associated with roads and road-related management activities, in large part fine sediment generation and delivery.
Information transferThis restoration effort can be used as a model for other Forest watersheds that are water quality impaired primarily from road related effect, and in need of remedial action. Results and potential benefits will help refine future water quality restoration plans and gage the value and feasibility of achieving current TMDL water quality targets. Lots of emphasis has been placed on the value of road decomissioning with data at regional and site specific scale indicating problems associated with roads. This project would help document watershed-scale benefits associated with road decomissioning.
Proposal contact person or principal investigator
Contacts
ContactOrganizationEmail
Form submitter
Scott Spaulding USDA Forest Service scottspaulding@fs.fed.us
All assigned contacts
Shane Hendrickson USDA Forest Service shendrickson@fs.fed.us
Arne "Skip" Rosquist USDA Forest Service arosquist@fs.fed.us
Scott Spaulding USDA Forest Service scottspaulding@fs.fed.us
Scott Spaulding USDA Forest Service scottspaulding@fs.fed.us
John Zelazny Montana Trout, Inc. mt@montanatrout.org

Section 2. Locations

Province / subbasin: Mountain Columbia / Bitterroot

LatitudeLongitudeWaterbodyDescription
46.7305 114.5307 stream Upper Lolo Creek Watershed. Lolo Creek is a tributary to the lower Bitterroot River, tributary to the upper Clark Fork River. The lat/lon is for the mouth of Granite Creek watershed a 6th-field HUC whose confluence with the West Fork Lolo Creek is the downstream extent of the project area

Section 3. Focal species

primary: Westslope Cutthroat
primary: Bull Trout

Section 4. Past accomplishments

YearAccomplishments

Section 5. Relationships to other projects

Funding sourceRelated IDRelated titleRelationship
Other: Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks [no entry] West Fork Lolo Creek Large Woody Debris Addition This project was jointly implemented by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Lolo National Forest and Montana Trout using funds from all three sources. Large woody debris clusters were experimentally added to an of over-simplified section of main Westork Lolo Creek. The project was experiemental in nature evaluating the benefit of added complexity on stream channel form, habitat diversity and quality, and sustainability, and fish density responses.
Other: MT DEQ TMDL Water Quality Restoration Plan and Total Maximum Daily Loads for the Upper Lolo Creek TMDL Planning Area This recent assessment of current stream condition and impairments provides much a good information base for channel geomophic and habitat condition, and sediment loads, that can be teired from for additional monitoring of this proposed project.

Section 6. Biological objectives

Biological objectivesFull descriptionAssociated subbasin planStrategy
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability Protect, enhance, and restore native fish habitat function to maintain or enhance ecological diversity and long-term viability of native fish species including bull and westslope cutthroat trout using a watershed-based approach. None Implement fish habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement measures including road decommissioning, road crossing removal, and stream crossing upgrades to allow for aquatic organism passage and proper stream function at the crossing location.
Protect and restore native resident fish Protect and restore native locally adapted resident species including the ESA threatend bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout. None Decommission and upgrade roads to 1) reduce delivery of fine sediments to a level equivalent to the fine sediment levels of reference streams, and 2) to improve channel stability to a level equivalent to that of reference streams identified in TMDL WQRP.
Protect and restore native resident fish Protect and restore native locally adapted resident species including the ESA threatened bull trout and Westslope cutthroat trout. None Replace 7 priority fish passage barriers in the upper Lolo Creek watershed to re-establish population segment connectivity and improve opportunities for increased life history diversity.

Section 7. Work elements (coming back to this)

Work element nameWork element titleDescriptionStart dateEnd dateEst budget
Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation Produce the Upper Lolo Watershed Restoration Environmental Analysis (EA) Includes internal and external scoping, issue identification, multi resource input for exisitng condition and environmental consequences specialist reports, response to comments, and producition of the decision memo 10/1/2007 12/31/2007 $55,000
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
Decommission Road Decommission approximately 22.3 miles of road in FY2009 in the West Fork Lolo Creek Subwatershed of the Upper Lolo Creek project area. Approximately 22.4 miles of road in the West Fork Lolo Creek sub-watershed (6th field HUC) will be decomissioned in FY2009. Approximately 80% of these roads will be decomissioned to a Lolo National Forest level III standard, that includes obliterating/recontouring the first 100 feet of the entrance, deep ripping the road prisim for improved infiltration and surface decompaction, removal and restoration of all drainage crossings, and reseeding with native seed mix. Approximately 15% of these roads will recieve a level IV treatment level that is like the level III described above but with locations of full recontouring where road segment is unstable or near a stream. The remainder of roads will recieve the highest standard of closure at the level V standard that includes complete recountour of the road prism and stream crossing restoration, and the addition of large woody material and native seed to facilitate surface stability and productivity. Approximately 12 large stream crossings will be removed. 7/15/2009 9/30/2009 $68,000
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
* # of road miles decommissioned : 22.3 miles
Decommission Road Decommission approximately 30 miles of road in FY2008 in the East Fork Subwatershed of the Upper Lolo Creek project area Approximately 30 miles of road in the East Fork sub-watershed (6th field HUC) will be decomissioned in FY2008. Approximately 80% of these roads will be decomissioned to a Lolo National Forest level III standard, that includes obliterating/recontouring the first 100 feet of the entrance, deep ripping the road prisim for improved infiltration and surface decompaction, removal and restoration of all drainage crossings, and reseeding with native seed mix. Approximately 15% of these roads will recieve a level IV treatment level that is like the level III described above, but with locations of full recontouring where road segment is unstable or near a stream. The remainder of roads will recieve the highest standard of closure at level V standard that includes complete recountour of the road prism and stream crossing restoration, and addition of large woody material and native seed to facilitate surface stability and productivity. Approximately 13 large stream crossings will be removed. 7/15/2008 9/30/2008 $100,000
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
* # of road miles decommissioned : 30.0 miles
Decommission Road Decommission approximately 32.4 miles of road in FY2007 in the Granite Creek Subwatershed of the Upper Lolo Creek project area. Approximately 32.4 miles of road in the Granite Creek sub-watershed (6th field HUC) will be decomissioned in FY2007. Approximately 80% of these roads will be decomissioned to a Lolo National Forest level III standard, that includes obliterating/recontouring the first 100 feet of the entrance, deep ripping the road prisim for improved infiltration and surface decompaction, removal and restoration of all drainage crossings, and reseeding with native seed mix. Approximately 15% of these roads will recieve a level IV treatment level that is like the level III described above but with locations of full recontouring where road segment is unstable or near a stream. The remainder of roads will recieve the highest standard of closure at the level V standard that includes complete recountour of the road prism and stream crossing restoration, and addition of large woody material and native seed to facilitate surface stability and productivity. Approximately 12 large stream crossings will be removed. 7/15/2007 9/30/2007 $108,000
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
* # of road miles decommissioned : 32.4 miles
Install Fish Passage Structure Replace 7 priority fish passage barriers Montana Trout in cooperation with the Lolo National Forest, the Lolo Watershed Group, and Plum Creek Timber is spearheading efforts to generate funds to replace 7 prioirty fish passage barriers in streams throughout the upper Lolo Creek Watershed area that encompasses the three subwatesheds (Granite, West Fork Lolo, and East Fork Lolo creek watershsheds) 10/1/2007 12/30/2008 $191,500
Biological objectives
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
* # of miles of habitat accessed: 12.5
Manage and Administer Projects Decommission approximately 22.3 miles of road in FY2009 in the West Fork Lolo Creek Subwatershed of the Upper Lolo Creek project area. Cover administrative costs of putting together contract packages and overseeing this contract on the ground. 1/1/2009 9/30/2009 $20,400
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
Manage and Administer Projects Decommission approximately 30 miles of road in FY2008 in the East Fork Subwatershed of the Upper Lolo Creek project area. Cover administrative costs of putting together contract packages and overseeing this contract on the ground. 1/1/2008 9/30/2008 $30,000
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
Manage and Administer Projects Decommission approximately 32.4 miles of road in FY2007 in the Granite Creek Subwatershed of the Upper Lolo Creek project area. Cover administrative costs of putting together contract packages and overseeing this contract on the ground. 1/1/2007 9/30/2007 $32,400
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
Manage and Administer Projects Grant and Agreement Administration Overhead Overhead at 20% for administering the grant for the amount of funds requested from the CRB for this project. Amount requested will be split up in 3 year segments. 10/1/2006 9/30/2009 $86,160
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data Collect field monitoring physical and biologiacal data for three years. Entails the establishment of 4 permanent sites at the mouths of major sub-watershedper to gather suspended sediment data monthly from April to the end of September. 9 sites accross the upper watershed to collect annually, stream channel metric data including channel cross sections, pebble counts, fines accumulation, and channel stability. This element also, includes monitoring permanent fish sites during the same project period and collection of data that includes fish population estimates, fish assemblage structure, and spawning surveys. We will use 2 GS-5 hydro techs for approx 8 weeks per year and 2 GS 5 fish techs at 5 weeks per year. Plus 1 GS 11 bio/hydro for oversight at two weeks per year. This also includes the $6k associated with pressure transducer acquisition and ISCO instrrucment calibration. 1/1/2007 12/31/2009 $83,499
Biological objectives
Enhance ecological diversity and spp viability
Protect and restore native resident fish
Metrics
Primary R, M, and E Type: suspended, bedload sediment and channel stability

Section 8. Budgets

Itemized estimated budget
ItemNoteFY07FY08FY09
Other Construction costs $108,000 $100,000 $68,000
Supplies suspended sediment sampling equipment refurbishing $6,000 $0 $0
Personnel 1 GS-11 engeneering contract generator and administrator $32,400 $30,000 $20,400
Personnel 4 GS 5 techs for monitoring field work and data entry (2 hydro and 2 fish), and 1 GS-11 hdyro/fish bio for monitoring oversight and training. $25,833 $25,833 $25,833
Personnel Completion of NEPA document $55,000 $0 $0
Capital Equipment Includes all details of pipe acquisitoin, project design, contractor selection, and design and oversight spearheaded by the partner of Montana Trout. Also, $2,500 for flow stage pressure transducer $191,500 $0 $0
Overhead Overhead for grant adminsitration $28,720 $28,720 $28,720
Totals $447,453 $184,553 $142,953
Total estimated FY 2007-2009 budgets
Total itemized budget: $774,959
Total work element budget: $774,959
Cost sharing
Funding source/orgItem or service providedFY 07 est value ($)FY 08 est value ($)FY 09 est value ($)Cash or in-kind?Status
EPA 319 acquisition of 7 new crossing structures $85,000 $0 $0 Cash Under Review
Forest Service NEPA EA that will cover all road decomissioning, improvement and passage improvement efforts $55,000 $0 $0 In-Kind Confirmed
Forest Service Survey, design, replacement, and monitoring of 7 new crossing structures. $68,000 $0 $0 In-Kind Under Review
Montana Trout remainger of funds needed crossing structe acquisition and replacement $50,000 $0 $0 Cash Under Development
Totals $258,000 $0 $0

Section 9. Project future

FY 2010 estimated budget: $383,000
FY 2011 estimated budget: $383,000
Comments: For upgrades on remaining 10 priority fish passage structures, full BMP compliance on a total of 34 open roads, and gravel surfacing on another 11 miles of road. Additional prioritzation will likely occur to make outyear implementation more feasible.

Future O&M costs: New crossing stucutrues will be the operation and maintenance responsibility of both the Lolo National Forest and Plum Creek Timber in perpetuity.

Termination date: FY 2011 or 12
Comments:

Final deliverables: Annual progress reports will be made on project implementation effectiveness and pre and on-going implementation monitoring of fish and water metrics. The final report will present a synthesis of physical habitat variables including watershed sediment generation and storage information, stream channel stability condition and trends, and fish population assemblage, density and spawning trends.

Section 10. Narrative and other documents

Response to_ISRP_commet_ULCWR Jul 2006
Decision_Notice_Upper_Lolo_Ck_Watershed_Rest_EA Jan 2006

Reviews and recommendations

FY07 budget FY08 budget FY09 budget Total budget Type Category Recommendation
NPCC FINAL FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Oct 23, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0 $0 $0 $0 Expense ProvinceExpense Do Not Fund
NPCC DRAFT FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS (Sep 15, 2006) [full Council recs]
$0 $0 $0 $0 ProvinceExpense

ISRP PRELIMINARY REVIEW (Jun 2, 2006)

Recommendation: Response requested

NPCC comments: This appears to be a good proposal, but the ISRP requests a response on a couple of issues. Is this proposal going to reduce the overall road density of the watershed within 300 meters of the river? If new roads are going to be put in, are they going to be further than 300 meters from the rivers? The ISRP needs assurance that other (new) roads will not impact the system, or that impacts will be addressed. Good monitoring and evaluation is included in the proposal. Sediment monitoring is a critical aspect of evaluating this project, and the reactivation of the earlier sediment-monitoring program is applauded. The proposal should also emphasize a weed management plan. There is no subbasin plan to frame this project, but the general strategies in the proposal are consistent with the Council's 2000 Fish and Wildlife Program. Perhaps this project would lend itself to a Ph.D. Dissertation because much useful information should be generated. Please respond to reviewer's questions outlined in the previous paragraph.


ISRP FINAL REVIEW (Aug 31, 2006)

Recommendation: Fundable

NPCC comments: This could be a model project for “protect and restore” efforts having to do with road de-commissioning. Overall, concerns have been addressed including a positive response to a suggestion for a Ph.D. student to evaluate the many data sets accumulated during the project. The spraying of an herbicide prior to disturbance may be useful, depending on the season; however, the most important element will be suitable re-vegetation after disturbance, as noted in some of the public comment. Fertilization may benefit weeds more than native species and is an expense that could probably be eliminated. Mulching with weed free straw may be a more effective use of funds.