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COLUMBIA RIVER HISTORY PROJECT

Appendix C. Wildlife mitigation priorities, construction and inundation loss assessments, and dam licensing considerations

Appendix C. Wildlife mitigation priorities, construction and inundation loss assessments, and dam licensing considerations

Published date: 
Dec. 30, 2014
Document state: 
Published

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1. Mitigation priorities

a) Bonneville and wildlife agencies and tribes

Ensure that wildlife mitigation projects implemented in fulfillment of this program consider the basinwide implementation priorities described in Tables C-1, C-2 and C-3, below. The Council adopted these habitat types and species priorities for wildlife mitigation in the 1994 amendments to the program. The Council recognizes that the mitigation priorities of the relevant agencies and tribes in specific areas may have shifted since the mid-1990s. The Council requests the Wildlife Advisory Committee revisit and update the priorities, if necessary, and report to the Council. Wildlife mitigation projects and settlement agreements should address the losses identified in the program (see the next section) and address the following priorities or any changed priorities resulting from advice by the Wildlife Advisory Committee and Council action.

Table C-1. Lower Columbia Wildlife Mitigation Priorities
Habitat Types—Target SpeciesPriority
Riparian/Riverine
  • Great Blue Heron
High
Old Growth Forest
  • Northern Spotted Owl
High
Wetlands
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Band-tailed Pigeon
  • Western Pond Turtle
High
Coniferous Forest
  • Ruffed Grouse
  • Elk
  • American Black Bear/Cougar
Medium
Table C-2. Upper Columbia Wildlife Mitigation Priorities
Habitat Types—Target SpeciesPriority
Riparian/River
  • Bald Eagle (breeding)
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Peregrine Falcon
High
Shrub-Steppe
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
  • Pygmy Rabbit
  • Sage Grouse
  • Mule Deer
High
Wetlands
  • Mallard
  • Redhead
High
Islands
  • White Pelicans
Medium
Agricultural Lands
  • Swainson’s Hawk
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
Low
Table C-3. Snake River Wildlife Mitigation Priorities
Habitat Type—Target SpeciesPriority
Riparian/Riverine
  • Bald Eagle (breeding)
  • Bald Eagle (wintering)
  • River Otter
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Ruffed Grouse
High
Wetlands
  • Mallard
High
Native Grasslands and Shrubs
  • Mule Deer/Elk
  • White-tailed Deer
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
Medium
Coniferous Forest
  • Elk
Medium
Old Growth Forest
  • Pileated Woodpecker
Medium
Lowland Forest
  • White-tailed deer
Low

1. Mitigation for wildlife losses due to hydropower construction and inundation

The following tables represent the wildlife losses associated with the construction and inundation of the Columbia River hydrosystem, assessed in terms of lost units of habitat. The Council identified and adopted these losses into the program in the late 1980s and 1990s, assessed in terms of lost units of habitat.

From its inception, the fish and wildlife program’s wildlife mitigation strategy has endorsed and encouraged the use of long-term agreements between wildlife managers and the Bonneville Power Administration as a primary mechanism to address identified wildlife losses. Several such agreements have been developed to mitigate for some or all of the wildlife losses associated with hydroelectric projects in the state of Montana, the Willamette Basin in Oregon and for Dworshak Dam in Idaho.

While the program originally identified the losses in habitat units, the Council recognizes that wildlife mitigation agreements may use a different metric for mitigation. Thus while the losses below are identified in habitat units, in settlement agreements for Dworshak, the Willamette, and Southern Idaho the parties have quantified and mitigated for those losses in acres of land.

Table C-4. Estimated Losses and Gains Due to Hydropower Construction and Inundation (losses are preceded by a “-”, gains by a “+”)
SpeciesTotal Habitat Units
Albeni Falls
  • Mallard Duck
-5,985
  • Canada Goose
-4,699
  • Redhead Duck
-3,379
  • Breeding Bald Eagle
-4,508
  • Wintering Bald Eagle
-4,365
  • Black-Capped Chickadee
-2,286
  • White-tailed Deer
-1,680
  • Muskrat
-1,756
  • Yellow Warbler
+171
Lower Snake Projects
  • Downy Woodpecker
-364.9
  • Song Sparrow
-287.6
  • Yellow Warbler
-927.0
  • California Quail
-20,508.0
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-2,646.8
  • Canada Goose
-2,039.8
Anderson Ranch
  • Mallard
-1,048
  • Mink
-1,732
  • Yellow Warbler
-361
  • Black Capped Chickadee
-890
  • Ruffed Grouse
-919
  • Blue Grouse
-1,980
  • Mule Deer
-2,689
  • Peregrine Falcon
-1,222 acres*
* Acres of riparian habitat lost. Does not require purchase of any lands. 
Black Canyon
  • Mallard
-270
  • Mink
-652
  • Canada Goose
-214
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-260
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
-532
  • Mule Deer
-242
  • Yellow Warbler
+8
  • Black-capped Chickadee
+68
Deadwood
  • Mule Deer
-2080
  • Mink
-987
  • Spruce Grouse
-1411
  • Yellow Warbler
-309
Palisades
  • Bald Eagle
-5,941 breeding
-18,565 wintering
  • Yellow Warbler
-718 scrub-shrub
  • Black Capped Chickadee
-1,358 forested
  • Elk/Mule Deer
-2,454
  • Waterfowl and Aquatic Furbearers
-5,703
  • Ruffed Grouse
-2,331
  • Peregrine Falcon*
-1,677 acres of forested wetland
-832 acres of scrub-shrub
+68 acres of emergent wetland
* Acres of riparian habitat lost. Does not require purchase of any lands. 
Willamette Basin Projects
  • Black-tailed Deer
-17,254
  • Roosevelt Elk
-15,295
  • Black Bear
-4,814
  • Cougar
-3,853
  • Beaver
-4,477
  • River Otter
-2,408
  • Mink
-2,418
  • Red Fox
-2,590
  • Ruffed Grouse
-11,145
  • California Quail
-2,986
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-1,986
  • Band-tailed Pigeon
-3,487
  • Western Gray Squirrel
-1,947
  • Harlequin Duck
-551
  • Wood Duck
-1,947
  • Spotted Owl
-5,711
  • Pileated Woodpecker
-8,690
  • American Dipper
-954
  • Yellow Warbler
-2,355
  • Common Merganser
+1,042
  • Greater Scaup
+820
  • Waterfowl
+423
  • Bald Eagle
+5,693
  • Osprey
+6,159
Grand Coulee
  • Sage Grouse
-2,746
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
-32,723
  • Ruffed Grouse
-16,502
  • Mourning Dove
-9,316
  • Mule Deer
-27,133
  • White-tailed Deer
-21,362
  • Riparian Forest
-1,632
  • Riparian Shrub
-27
  • Canada Goose Nest Sites
-74
McNary
  • Mallard (wintering)
+ 13,744
  • Mallard (nesting)
-6,959
  • Western Meadowlark
-3,469
  • Canada Goose
-3,484
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-1,363
  • Yellow Warbler
-329
  • Downy Woodpecker
-377
  • Mink
-1,250
  • California Quail
-6,314
John Day
  • Lesser Scaup
+14,398
  • Great Blue Heron
-3,186
  • Canada Goose
-8,010
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-3,186
  • Yellow Warbler
-1,085
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-869
  • Western Meadowlark
-5,059
  • California Quail
-6,324
  • Mallard
-7,399
  • Mink
-1,437
The Dalles
  • Lesser Scaup
+2,068
  • Great Blue Heron
-427
  • Canada Goose
-439
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-534
  • Yellow Warbler
-170
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-183
  • Western Meadowlark
-247
  • Mink Black-capped Chickadee
-330
Bonneville
  • Lesser Scaup
+2,671
  • Great Blue Heron
-4,300
  • Canada Goose
-2,443
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-2,767
  • Yellow Warbler
-163
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-1,022
  • Mink
-1,622
Dworshak
  • Canada Goose-(breeding)
-16
  • Black-capped Chickadee
-91
  • River Otter
-4,312
  • Pileated Woodpecker
-3,524
  • Elk
-11,603
  • White-tailed Deer
-8,906
  • Canada Goose (wintering)
+323
  • Bald Eagle
+2,678
  • Osprey
+1,674
  • Yellow Warbler
+119
Minidoka
  • Mallard
+174
  • Redhead
+4,475
  • Western Grebe
+273
  • Marsh Wren
+207
  • Yellow Warbler
-342
  • River Otter
-2,993
  • Mule Deer
-3,413
  • Sage Grouse
-3,755
Chief Joseph
  • Lesser Scaup
+1,440
  • Sharp-tailed Grouse
-2,290
  • Mule Deer
-1,992
  • Spotted Sandpiper
-1,255
  • Sage Grouse
-1,179
  • Mink
-920
  • Bobcat
-401
  • Lewis’ Woodpecker
-286
  • Ring-necked Pheasant
-239
  • Canada Goose
-213
  • Yellow Warbler
-58
Topics: 
Fish and wildlife
Tags: 
Columbia River Basin Fish and Wildlife ProgramWildlife Mitigation

ISRP 2021-05 LibbyMFWPfollow-up1June.pdf

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