Bear River Resource Conservation and Development Council Area Plan

This five-year Area Plan is the guiding document for the Bear River RC&D Council, Inc. It identifies needs and opportunities and goals and objectives which lead the RC&D Council in its work

Utah Resource Assessment

Located in the Rocky Mountain Region, Utah derives its name from the Native American Ute tribe and means “people of the mountains”. Utah is 84,900 square miles and is ranked the 11th largest state (in terms of square miles) in the US. As hosts of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, Utah boasts the “greatest snow on earth” and is the home of 18 colorful National Parks and monuments. Utah\u27s peaks are, on average, the tallest in the country and create great contrasts that range from the snow covered peaks of the Uinta Range in the east, to the renowned natural and colorful rock formations of the deserts in the south. The geography is characterized throughout the 29 counties by three major eco-regions: Rocky Mountain, Basin and Range, and Colorado Plateau

Natural Resources Conservation Laws: A Report on 17 States and Their Selected Counties and Townships

Laws are social institutions that guide social functions, declare social programs, and even project the visions of a governed society. In a democracy like the United States of America, laws exist at every level of government. Federal, state, and local agencies that have related missions work together as partners, and their staffs need to understand the legal requirements and limitations to better serve the constituents. Private citizens can also benefit from being aware of the laws of other jurisdictions that might serve as models for improving their laws and regulations. With this awareness the public spirit can be enhanced and the quality of life improved. The basic research for this report was completed in 1996. The criteria for selecting counties within each of the 12 study regions are based on each individual region’s representation in resource problems, data availability, geographical balance, levels of use of USDA conservation programs, and similarity in major economic activities of counties within a region. Direct requests were made to all NRCS state offices within the selected region for information concerning state and county conservation laws and regulations, and also to a limited number of district offices in the counties located in the selected state and region. Because of budget constraints the report is restricted to 17 states, and within those states to a limited number of counties and townships. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, formerly the Soil Conservation Service) enjoys a long-standing productive relationship with an array of partners, ranging from Federal, state, and local entities to private concerns. This publication is a compilation and analysis of state and local laws, regulations, and rules in natural resource conservation to help all the partners gain a better understanding of legal authorities

Floristic Quality Index and Forested Floristic Quality Index: Assessment Tools for Restoration Projects and Monitoring Sites in Coastal Louisiana

In 2003, the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) program was established in coastal Louisiana marshes and swamps to assess the effectiveness of individual coastal restoration projects and the cumulative effects of multiple projects at regional and coastwide scales (Steyer et al., 2003). In order to make these assessments, analytical teams were assembled for each of the primary data types sampled under theCRMS program, including vegetation, hydrology, landscape, and soils. These teams consisted of scientists and support staff from the US Geological Survey and other federal agencies, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, and university academics. Each team was responsible for developing or identifying parameters, indices, or tools that can be used to assess coastal wetlands at various scales. The CRMS Vegetation Analytical Team has developed a Floristic Quality Index (FQI) for coastal Louisiana to determine the quality of a wetland based on the composition and abundance of its herbaceous plant species (Cretini et al., 2012). The team has also developed a Forested Floristic Quality Index (FFQI) that uses basal area by species to assess the quality and quantity of the overstory at forested wetland sites in Louisiana (Wood et al., 2017). Together these indices can provide an estimate of wetland vegetation health in coastal Louisiana marshes and swamps. The FQI has been developed and used for several regions throughout the United States to provide an objective assessment of the vegetation quality or biological integrity of wetland plant communities. The FQI was first developed as a weighted average of the native plant species at a site (Swink and Wilhelm, 1979). It is based on a coefficient of conservatism (CC) score that is scaled from 0 to 10 and is applied to each plant species in a local flora. The score reflects a species’ tolerance to disturbance and specificity to a particular habitat type. Species adapted to disturbed areas are often not habitat specific and, as such, have a low CC score. In contrast, habitat-specific species are generally not tolerant to disturbances and, as such, have a high CC score. A group of experts on local plants agrees upon and assigns CC scores. The FFQI, which is similar to the FQI, was developed to evaluate ecosystem structural changes among forested wetland sites. The FFQI will be used to (1) evaluate forested wetland sites on a continuum from severely degraded to healthy, (2) assist in defining areas where forested wetland restoration is needed, and (3) determine the effectiveness of future restoration projects aiming to return degraded forested wetlands to healthy ecosystems. While the FQI is based on the percent cover of emergent herbaceous species, the FFQI uses this emergent herbaceous layer data in conjunction with the basal area at a species level and canopy cover. As such, the FFQI is a natural extension of the FQI and can be used in conjunction with the FQI of the understory herbaceous community in forested wetland systems, as there is typically an inverse relation between tree and herbaceous layer vegetation dominance in Louisiana’s coastally restricted forested wetlands that represents natural succession (Conner and Day, 1992a; Shaffer et al., 2009; Nyman, 2014). As environmentally driven temporal shifts occur in the ecosystem, the FFQI contains valuable information that depicts a trajectory in system function. Generally, coastal flooded forested wetlands have transitioned to shrub-scrub; fresh, floating, and intermediate marshes; and open water. Conversely, in a few select locations, such as the Atchafalaya River Delta, the natural deltaic cycle causes the reversal of this trend. In this emerging deltaic environment, the succession of fresh marsh is transitioning into young forested wetlands populated by low value pioneer and disturbance woody species, leading to the development of fledgling swamps (Johnson et al., 1985; Shaffer et al., 1992). These two contrasting successional trajectories occurring within the same coastal system and same monitoring network highlight the need for a multivariable and index approach to site and restoration assessment

Floods, drying, habitat connectivity, and fish occupancy dynamics in restored and unrestored oxbows of West Central Iowa, USA

1. In the agricultural landscape of the Midwestern USA, waterways are highly altered. Oxbows are among the few remaining off‐channel habitats associated with streams, supporting fish assemblages that include the endangered Topeka shiners Notropis topeka in portions of their remaining range. Oxbow restorations seek to increase the number and quality of oxbows for Topeka shiners. For oxbows to provide optimal habitat, periods of isolation from streams and connection with streams during floods are necessary. 2. Water levels and patterns of drying and hydrological connectivity between 12 oxbows and their neighboring streams in West Central Iowa were continuously monitored from May to October 2011, and fish assemblages were assessed for responses to the differing hydrodynamics using dynamic occupancy modelling. 3. The 12 oxbows exhibited varied hydrodynamics and connectivity with streams. Two oxbows never contained fish; these oxbows never flooded and were among the three oxbows that were dry for the longest periods. 4. Occupancy modelling suggested that connection with the stream via floods significantly increased the probability of colonization, and low water level increased the probability of local extinction from oxbows. Thirteen of the 16 fish species encountered had detection probabilities over 60%, and eight had detection probabilities over 90%, including Topeka shiners. 5. None of the five previously restored oxbows flooded; all five contained fish, but only one contained Topeka shiners. Three of the four oxbows containing Topeka shiners flooded and all four dried at least once. 6. These results suggest that planning for future oxbow restorations should consider: (i) sites that flood frequently; and (ii) construction methods promoting alternating periods of isolation from and connection with streams

Agua Fria River Watershed, Arizona: Rapid Watershed Assessment

This title contains one or more volumes. A Rapid Watershed Assessment (RWA) is a concise report containing information on natural resource conditions and concerns within a designated watershed. This report concerns the Agua Fria River Watershed in Arizona