Oregon Threatened & Endangered Survey Guide for esa (Federal) and State-listed Plants and Butterflies

Oregon Threatened & Endangered Survey Guide for ESA (Federal) and State-listed Plants and Butterflies

This document provides guidance for Oregon NRCS Field Staff compliance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 as well as NRCS Policy on Federal and State Threatened and Endangered Plant and Butterfly Species. There are three parts to this document, a General Information Section, a list of “Steps in the Process” of environmental compliance, and the Plant Survey Form. Please contact Kathy Pendergrass, NRCS Plant Material Specialist; 503-8-414-3266; Kathy.pendergrass@or.usda.gov with any questions or for further assistance.

Oregon currently provides habitat to 17 Federally-listed plant species and three butterflies. To comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA-Federally-listed species), you need to consider effects on federally-listed threatened and endangered (ESA/T&E) species prior to project implementation. There are also about 40 state-listed plant species that must be considered during the planning process.

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  **Best Federal and State Listed plant information: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/PlantConservation/Pages/AboutPlants.aspx
  
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  Federal and State-listed plants that could be found in your county: http://oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/county_list_a.shtml
  
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  US Fish and Wildlife Service web-site - for all of the Federally-listed plants http://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/Default.asp#Plants
  
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  Rare Plant Guide of the Oregon Flora Project (be aware that they don’t have information for all of the species here) - fact sheets and query by county and habitats http://www.oregonflora.org/rareplants.php?#sr
  
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  The Oregon Biodiversity Information Center: 
  
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    fact sheets http://orbic.pdx.edu/plants/view_plants2.php
    
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    or plants found in your Basin http://orbic.pdx.edu/plants/searchspecies_basin.html
    

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  Fender’s blue butterfly information can be found here: https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/FendersBlueButterfly/
  
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  Oregon Silverspot butterfly information can be found here: https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/Species/Data/OregonSilverspotButterfly/
  
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  Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly information can be found here:
  

1. 
   Complete information about your project on the “Request for Cultural Resource Review and T&E Species List” (Form OR-EVT-1CR/TE (6/11)) http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_041672.pdf . Send this completed form to Anne.Derting@or.usda.gov. Anne will return information on potential Threatened and Endangered and Species of Concern that could occur within your project area as well as information about cultural resources.
   
2. 
   If you receive no “Threatened and Endangered Plant Species” Table and no Spreadsheet with butterfly information: Document “no Federal or state-listed plants or butterflies are found within the project area, therefore, there will be no effect to ESA plants or butterflies” on your CPA-52, E and T Species tab.
   
3. 
   If you received a “Threatened and Endangered Plant Species” Table in that response (you will generally get a plant on your table if it is known to occur within the County and Ecoregion of your project), you may need to conduct a field survey. Also, if you received a spreadsheet that listed a location of Fender’s Blue, Oregon Silver-spot or Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly you need to consider impacts on these species and may need to conduct surveys for host or nectar plants of these species.
   
4. 
   No ESA or state-listed plants occur in farm fields that are regularly tilled or sprayed to remove non-crop species. Note these areas as unsuitable habitat for listed plants on the Plant Survey Form.  You may need to survey the edges of fields and areas that are not cropped or sprayed, particularly in "wild areas" with native plant communities. If all of your project area is comprised of regularly tilled and/or sprayed areas, conclude a "No Effect" for T&E plants or butterflies and note this on the T&E tab of the CPA-52.
   
5. 
   No ESA or State-listed plant or butterfly species currently occur within complete-canopy conifer forests with dense shade in the understory (see photo examples below). No surveys for T&E plants or butterfly plants are needed in these habitats; you can note these areas as unsuitable habitat on the Plant Survey Form. Many ESA and state-listed species can occur in more open woodlands with partial shade, particularly of deciduous woodland plant communities. If all of your project area is comprised of densely-shaded conifer forest, conclude a "No Effect" for T&E plants or butterflies and note this on the T&E tab of the CPA-52. Open woodland edges and openings may need to be surveyed for ESA plants and butterfly plants.
   

Figures 1 and 2. Dense, dark stands of conifer trees (such as these photos above). Ferns might grow but generally few grasses or forbs) will not contain any federal or state-listed plants or butterflies.

6. 
   Some species only need plant surveys in specific situations. If you receive one of these species (below) in your T&E response information, consider these narrower range and/or habitat considerations. If your project is outside of the narrower defined range or suitable habitat for the species, conclude a "No Effect" to the species in the CPA-52 form under the T&E species tab noting that:
   

1. 
   The project site is outside of the range of the species, or
   
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   No suitable habitat is present within the project area and why it is inappropriate habitat.
   

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  “the project is more than 4 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, therefore, it is not within the range of Western Lily occurrence”, or
  
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  “no hydric soils are found within the project area, therefore there is no suitable habitat for the species”.
  
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  In another example for the Applegate’s milkvetch, “the project is located in the hills above the City of Klamath Falls, and is not in suitable range/habitat of the Klamath River floodplain.”
  

1. 
   McDonald's rockcress (Arabis macdonaldiana) – surveys only needed in the Siskiyou Mountains of Curry and Josephine Counties on serpentine soils (high in magnesium, iron, and certain toxic metals) below 5900 feet.
   
2. 
   Applegate’s milkvetch – (Astragalus applegatei) – survey only needed within a 10-mile radius of Klamath Falls, and on lowland ground within the Klamath River floodplain.
   
3. 
   Water Howellia (Howellia aquatica) - survey only needed if your site has deep vernal pools, ponds or sloughs; you can survey for habitat of this species during any time of the year. If you have deep pools, ponds or sloughs, you will need to survey during bloom period for the plant.
   
4. 
   Western Lily (Lilium occidentalis) – survey only needed if your project is within 4 miles of the Pacific Ocean, otherwise, outside of range of species occurrence.
   
5. 
   Surveys are only needed in areas with hydric soils for the following species: Bradshaw’s lomatium (Lomatium bradshawii), Cook’s lomatium (Lomatium cookii), Rough Popcornflower (Plagiobothrys hirtus), or Nelson’s checker-mallow (Sidalcea nelsoniana). If you have no hydric soils in your project area, you have no suitable habitat for any of these species.
   
6. 
   Large-flowered wooly meadowfoam (Limnanthes floccosa ssp. grandiflora) - survey only needed if your site has classic “vernal pools” of SW Oregon and generally in the vicinity of White City, Oregon.
   
7. 
   MacFarlane’s four-o’clock (Mirabilis macfarlanei) – surveys only need on slopes adjacent to the Snake River and the Imnaha River areas (Wallowa County, Oregon).
   
8. 
   Howell’s Spectacular Thelypody (Thelypodium howellii spp. spectabilis ) – surveys only needed in the valley of the Powder River (the T&E response information automatically includes this boundary for queries).
   
9. 
   Fender’s blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi) – this butterfly occurs in prairie and open woodlands. Surveys should be conducted for three host plants: Kincaid’s lupine (Lupinus oreganus), Spurred Lupine (Lupinus arbustus), and Sickle-keeled Lupine (Lupinus albicaulis). If any of these plants are found, you need to assume that the butterfly is present and that your project will affect the butterfly. Whether you find one of the host lupines or not, you will also need to complete a BE/BA or tier to an existing Biological Opinion (incorporating necessary BMP’s) for this species.
   
10. 
    Oregon Silverspot (Speyeria zerene hippolyta) – this butterfly occurs in prairie and open woodlands. Surveys should be conducted for the host plant, Hooked-spur Violet (Viola adunca). If any of these violets are found, you need to assume that the butterfly is present and that your project will affect the butterfly. Whether you find the hooked-spur violet or not, you will also need to complete a BE/BA or tier to an existing Biological Opinion (incorporating necessary BMP’s) for this species.
    

7. 
   Taylor’s Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori) - this butterfly occurs in prairie and open woodlands. Only one population is known in Oregon, very near the City of Corvallis. If your project is located anywhere near Bald Hill Park, your project may affect the butterfly and you will also need to complete a BE/BA for this species.
   
8. 
   If you received only state-listed plants back on your “Threatened and Endangered Plant Species” Table. There are no Oregon (State) laws that restrict impacts to state listed species on private lands. NRCS policy requires that these species be considered during the planning process. We should conserve and enhance populations of these species as much as possible. Read the description information for these species at: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/PLANT/CONSERVATION/pages/statelist.aspx .
   

1. 
   If your project contains no habitat suitable for the plant, note “no suitable habitat for the plant species and thus no impact to the species” in the CPA-52 T&E tab under the State T&E and Species of Concern section.
   
2. 
   If you do have suitable habitat for the state-listed species in your project area, then determine the potential impact of project activities on the plant population. For example, if you have a species that could occur in your area and you were planning to conduct juniper thinning. You read in the description that the plant occurs in “open grasslands or sagebrush” or that the species could be threatened by succession to a forested plant community; then you might conclude that your project could have beneficial effects on the plant population – as long as you didn’t put a slash pile on top of it. Say the species was a rare lupine and you know what lupine leaves look like, you could build a “best management practice” (BMP) that you will make burn piles and access roads in areas where you don’t see lupine plants. With just a little thought, you have “considered” the state-listed plant and have built a BMP into your project design that would result in overall potential benefits to the plant species. Document this in the tab for State T&E species in your CPA-52. If you have any questions about considering state-listed plants, call your Plant Material Specialist, Kathy Pendergrass at 503-414-3266 or email at Kathy.pendergrass@or.usda.gov .
   

8. 
   Plant surveys are only required for Federally-listed plant species. If, after considering the specific situations above and you determine that you need to conduct a plant survey, check the Survey/bloom time column in the T&E Plant Species Table that you received.  This column estimates each species’ bloom period.  Conduct a plant survey during the bloom time.    Note: Bloom time for a species can vary greatly even across relatively small distances within a species range. The best strategy is to check a known plant location (reference site or refer to local experts) for bloom timing and conduct surveys for your project area during that same period.  If habitat appears to be evident at a site and no nearby reference sites are available, it would be best to survey a couple of times during the general bloom period at about two week intervals.
   
9. 
   Document your survey route and summary on this Form and keep it in your project file with your CPA-52.
   
10. 
    If, while conducting appropriately timed field surveys:
    

1. 
   you find no plants for which you are surveying, your project will have "No Effect" on that federally listed plant or butterfly species.  Document this in your CPA-52 form under T&E tab – “an appropriately-timed survey was conducted for xyz plant and none were located, therefore, this project will have no effect on the species.” If you are writing a Biological Evaluation (BE) for effects to other T&E species, you can note that you conducted appropriately timed surveys, no populations were found, therefore, you concluded a "No Effect" determination for xyz plant or butterfly species. And “No further analysis will be conducted for this species in this Biological Evaluation”. Put this information into the Introduction section of your BE or BA.
   
2. 
   you find a federally-listed plant or the host of a butterfly species, you will need to determine the effects of your proposed project activities on the species in a Biological Evaluation (BE - if informal consultation = May Affect, Not Likely to Adversely Affect); or Biological Assessment (BA- Likely to Adversely Affect).  If your project may have any effects to Federally-listed plants or butterflies - direct or indirect, beneficial or adverse, NRCS will need to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. You should start this process as soon as possible. It can take months to complete consultation with US Fish and Wildlife Service. Please contact your Plant Material Specialist, Kathy Pendergrass for assistance – 503-414-3266, kathy.pendergrass@or.usda.gov . If a BE or BA are required for your project, this completed plant survey form should be attached to that document.   A useful site report form to capture information about a new rare plant site for your BE/BA can be found at the ORBIC site http://orbic.pdx.edu/data-submit.html . You may submit a completed form for your new plant site to ORBIC if your landowner gives you permission to share this information.
   

11. 
    It is highly advised that you attend a Field Training (conducted by the Oregon Plant Material Specialist) for identification of species known to occur in your county(ies). You may request this training from your Basin Team Leader or directly from your Plant Materials Specialist.
    

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  Take along a camera, aerial photo, soil map, plant identification books, plant keys, other references
  
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  Determine the location and extent of proposed practices
  
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  Minimally, survey the disturbance footprint of your project/practice area
  
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  Survey ingress and egress and other potentially disturbed sites related to the planned project (roads or travel routes, stock piles, etc.)
  

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  Map locations and extents of the population (could use ORBIC form and Toolkit map)
  
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  Take pictures!
  
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  Consider how to modify the project to reduce effects/enhance the population (may avoid plants and habitat either spatially or temporally)
  
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  Inform client of (our-NRCS) responsibilities
  
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  Get excited! Let your landowner know that their past management/good stewardship of the land has been conducive to a rare plant still existing on their land.
  
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  Call Kathy Pendergrass, the Oregon Plant Material Specialist: 503-414-3266; kathy.pendergrass@or.usda.gov
  

Section:

No Effect (document survey completed and no plants found on CPA-52)

May Effect, Not Likely to Adversely Affect (BE required–Informal Consultation)

Biological Setting (general ecological condition, disturbance history, weediness of the site, etc.):

Have you or one of the surveyors taken the field training for the species that you are surveying for, or do you otherwise know the species well? Yes No

Potential T&E Plant Species in the Project Area

Plant Species Inventoried in the Project Area (list by habitat)

Other Field Notes

Attachments

Map of Project Area showing Survey Routes (required)

Soil Map of Project Area

Photographs

Other (Describe):