Cooperative Agreement F25AC01634

NORTHERN PIKE, AN INVASIVE, NON-NATIVE PREDACEOUS FISH IS WELL ESTABLISHED UPSTREAM OF GRAND COULEE DAM. NORTHERN PIKE OUTSIDE OF THEIR NATIVE RANGE ARE TREMENDOUSLY SUCCESSFUL PREDATORS ON A VARIETY OF FISH AND OTHER VERTEBRATE SPECIES. THE COLUMBIA RIVER IS HOST TO NUMEROUS FEDERALLY LISTED ANADROMOUS FISH SPECIES WHOSE RECOVERY STATUS WOULD BE SERIOUSLY JEOPARDIZED IF NORTHERN PIKE WERE TO BECOME ESTABLISHED IN THE ANADROMOUS PORTION OF THE COLUMBIA BASIN. IN MAY 2021, A DESICCATED FISH FOUND NEAR BURBANK, WASHINGTON, ON LAKE WALLULA WAS LATER FOUND TO BE GENETICALLY IN THE ESOX GENUS. GIVEN THE PROXIMITY OF THE SPECIMEN TO THE MCNARY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE (NWR) AND FAVORABLE NORTHERN PIKE HABITAT, IT IS OF THE UPMOST IMPORTANCE TO SURVEY FOR THE POTENTIAL PRESENCE OF NORTHERN PIKE. SIMILAR HABITAT ALSO EXISTS DOWNSTREAM IN THE UMATILLA NWR. INITIAL SURVEY WORK IN BOTH LOCALES WOULD EMPHASIZE THE USE OF EDNA SAMPLING, POTENTIALLY FOLLOWED BY EXPERIMENTAL GILLNETS AND FYKE NETS IN SELECTED SITES, OR WHERE POSITIVE EDNA RESULTS WERE OBTAINED, TO COLLECT AND REMOVE NORTHERN PIKE. SURVEY EFFORTS WOULD GREATLY BENEFIT BY INVOLVEMENT OF KNOWLEDGEABLE REFUGE STAFF AND THE USE OF ON STATION WATERCRAFT, PARTICULARLY AIRBOATS. THESE SURVEYS WOULD PROVIDE BASELINE DATA ON THE STATUS OF NORTHERN PIKE IN BOTH REFUGES, WHICH IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN. ADDITIONALLY, CRITFC HAS A BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS (BIA) FUNDED NORTHERN PIKE MONITORING PROJECT. THE PROJECT BOUNDARIES ARE FROM BONNEVILLE DAM UPSTREAM TO PRIEST RAPIDS DAM, WITH BOTH PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED NWRS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PROJECT. INITIAL SURVEY WORK USING KNOWN NORTHERN PIKE SPAWNING AND REARING HABITAT PARAMETERS HAS IDENTIFIED OVER 140 POTENTIAL SITES BETWEEN THE TWO DAMS, MORE SITES THAN ORIGINALLY ESTIMATED. FUNDING OF CRITFC SMALL GRANT PROPOSAL WOULD EXPAND THE BIA FUNDS TO SURVEY ADDITIONAL NON-REFUGE SITES AND PROVIDE GREATER SURVEY EMPHASIS ON BOTH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES. OUR PREVIOUS INVASIVE SPECIES PREVENTION GRANT IN 2023, LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR EXCELLENT COOPERATIVE SURVEY WORK WITH SERVICE PERSONAL LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, BUT REVEALED AN EVEN GREATER NEED FOR CONTINUED MONITORING TO ENSURE THAT NORTHERN PIKE DO NOT INVADE THE REFUGE HABITATS UNDETECTED. MINIMIZING INVASIVE SPECIES PATHWAYS. THIS PROPOSAL SEEKS TO SAMPLE REFUGE-SPECIFIC HABITATS THAT ARE VULNERABLE TO INVASION VIA AQUATIC PATHWAYS CONNECTED TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER. PRIOR INVASIVE SPECIES PREVENTION FUNDING HAS LAID THE GROUNDWORK COORDINATION WITH REFUGE STAFF WILL IDENTIFY THOSE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO PROVIDE SPAWNING AND EARLY REARING HABITAT BY NORTHERN PIKE. NOW THAT THE INITIAL SURVEY WORK HAS BEEN COMPLETED, FUNDING FROM THIS GRANT CYCLE WILL PROVIDE A MORE EFFICIENT AND EXPEDIENT APPROACH TO SURVEY THE HIGH-RISK SITES AND LOCATIONS. SUCCESSFUL RECEIPT OF FUNDING FROM THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS A CONTINUED OPPORTUNITY TO PROTECT THE BIOLOGICAL INTEGRITY, DIVERSITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH OF THE REFUGES FROM NORTHERN PIKE COLONIZATION, WHILE PERMITTING CRITFC STAFF TO SURVEY ON SUITABLE HABITATS NEAR BUT OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF BOTH REFUGES. EARLY DETECTION AND RAPID RESPONSE ARE KEYSTONE PRINCIPLES OF MANAGING COLONIZATION OF INVASIVE SPECIES AND FUNDING THIS PROPOSAL PROVIDES THE INITIAL SURVEYS TO DETERMINE IF THIS IS NECESSARY FOR NORTHERN PIKE IN THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES. SCOPE AND SCALE OF IMPACT. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF ACRES OF AQUATIC HABITAT IN BOTH REFUGES, ALTHOUGH OUR SAMPLING EFFORTS WILL FOCUS ON NUMEROUS KEY SITES AND LOCATIONS THAT CONNECT THE COLUMBIA RIVER WITH SLOUGHS AND BACKWATERS WITHIN THE REFUGES. DUE TO THE NATURE OF EDNA RESEARCH, MULTIPLE SAMPLE LOCATIONS WILL BE A FRACTION IN COMPARISON TO THE ENTIRETY OF THE REFUGES, BUT DUE TO THE CONNECTIVITY OF THE AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS, WILL BE FAR REACHING IN SCOPE. INITIAL SURVEY WORK FROM THE 2023 GRANT, PERMITTED INITIAL MONITORING EFFORTS AND EQUALLY IMPORTANT, FOSTERED A PARTNERSHIP.