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Success stories — Colville Reservation
Habitat restoration focuses on sharp-tailed grouse Dam construction in the Columbia River Basin altered wildlife habitat as well as fish habitat. For some bird species, such as geese and ducks, inundation of shoreline areas by reservoirs increased habitat by creating new pools and marshes. But for many other species, such as Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, the loss of shoreline trees and bushes reduced the amount of habitat and, over time, reduced populations. On the Colville Indian Reservation, which borders the Columbia River in northeastern Washington, grouse habitat lost to the creation of Lake Roosevelt behind Grand Coulee Dam is being replaced. The Colville Confederated Tribes, in partnership with surrounding tribes, are developing a habitat management plan that will direct activities such as planting deciduous trees and native shrubs in an area known to be used by the largest remaining population of Columbia sharp-tailed grouse in the area, a population that may number fewer than 200 birds. The goal is to restore native plant communities, and eventually bird populations, on 60,000 acres of former agricultural lands, according to a report prepared by the tribes. The management effort is necessary in order to keep the sharp-tailed grouse population from extinction, according to the report. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse historically were abundant in eastern Washington but have declined steadily over the years. ?There are a variety of reasons for the decline of this species, including genetic impacts, disease and habitat destruction,? said Rose Gerlinger, a wildlife biologist for the tribes. ?This is a grassland species that historically has lived within and on the edge of the shrub-steppe habitat, and that habitat is declining everywhere.? According to the tribes, increased settlement after 1900, and continuing conversion of grassland and sagebrush habitats to agriculture, also contributed to the decline, as did intensive livestock grazing on remaining patches of shrub/meadow steppe and shoreline areas after 1950. Today, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse are classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species in Washington. According to the tribes, in 1997 the estimated breeding population in Washington was only 716 birds, with the single largest subpopulation (about 169 birds) occurring on the Colville Reservation. The habitat restoration project, which has an annual budget of $170,000, supports ongoing efforts of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to coordinate acquisition and management of upland habitat for sharp-tailed grouse through the Council's Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife Program. Funding is provided by the Bonneville Power Administration, which is required by law to mitigate the impacts of Columbia River Basin hydropower dams on fish and wildlife. Currently the tribes are evaluating sites in the southern part of the reservation where grouse are known to have nested in the past to determine the extent and type of restoration that would be necessary to help restore bird populations. The tribes also are monitoring female grouse to determine whether, and where, nesting is successful and whether male and female birds use habitat differently, and if so, why. This involves investigating forage and soil types in likely nesting areas to determine what might be done to recreate appropriate habitat and forage for future populations. The tribes also are investigating the impacts of fire on grouse habitat. Specifically, decades of fire suppression contributed to an increase in the amount of shrubs, and this may have impacted grouse survival. Fires at regular intervals historically had the effect of controlling shrubbery growth as well as replenishing soil nutrients for other types of vegetation. |
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