1086535 - BMER LRMP Riparian PFC - Specifications.pdf

SPECIFICATIONS:

Proper Functioning Condition Survey —Medora District, Dakota Prairie National Grasslands

Statement of Work The contractor will conduct “Proper Functioning Condition” (PFC) surveys on intermittent and perennial streams on USFS property in summer and autumn 2023. The project area is defined as National Forest Systems lands designated as the Medora District of the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands in Billings, Golden Valley and Slope counties, North Dakota.

Field work is to begin by August 1, 2023 and finish by October 31, 2023. A final report will be written as requested in Report Requirements. The final report and other deliverables are due by January 31, 2024.

Locations PFC surveys will be conducted on up to 243 linear miles of intermittent and perennial streams (see Figure 1 for map of streams to be surveyed). 173 miles of stream is located in the southern half of the Medora Ranger District and the remaining 70 miles of stream is located on the south part of McKenzie Ranger District east of the Little Missouri River.

Government-Furnished Property and Services The Government will supply a paper copy of the Visitors Map and a set of topographic maps. The Government has designated the streams to be surveyed and will provide a shapefile. The government will also provide a shapefile of allotments and data from the previous survey. The Government will authorize a permit of off-road use. The contractor shall provide the necessary personnel, equipment (including vehicles), materials, services, refences, forms, and facilities to perform the Statement of Work.

Investigative Purpose This survey’s purpose is to monitor changes in riparian conditions on intermittent and perennial streams on the Medora Ranger District, as described in the Locations section above. These data will be used to help direct livestock management, prescribed burning, and watershed-habitat enhancement projects in future years.

Field Surveys The field season for the PFC surveys is defined as the period from August 1 through October 31, 2023.

The USDA Forest Service does not control access to private lands, and no right of access to privets lands is hereby given, nor should a right to access private lands be inferred.

Survey Requirements:

• Surveys will be conducted by a team (of at least two people) walking the entire length of selected riparian areas. Team members will be journey-level resource specialists with expertise in biology, botany, hydrology, and soils.

• Contractor will specify each stream segment using Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) protocol (See TR 1737-15 2015 Riparian Area Management Proper Functioning Condition Assessment for Lotic Areas). This source may be accessed online:

https://www.blm.gov/documents/national-office/blm-library/technical-reference/riparian-area-management.

• PFC survey reaches will be recorded in an ArcMap compatible shapefile, with attributes noting the survey date, ID Team members, Riparian Area ID, Reach ID, PFC Rating, Reach Length, and starting and end point of each stream segment.

• Contractor will record all cold-water seeps, ground water discharges or spring, and stream segment start and stop points, using GPS technology and provide these in an ArcMap compatible shapefile noting the date, Riparian Area ID, Reach ID, and Feature Description.

• Contractor will record all photo points using GPS technology and provide these in an ArcMap compatible shapefile, with attributes noting photo date, photo ID, Riparian Area ID, Reach ID, and Upstream or Downstream direction. The contractor will classify each selected stream for the following variables, if variables vary substantially by stream reach within a given system, the contractor will note and discuss such variability:

o instream cover: the relative quantity and variety of natural instream structures, such as fallen trees, logs, branches, large rocks, and undercut banks that are available for refugia, feeding, or spawning of fish. (Note: the most common instream cover in the study area is likely to be undercut banks). Classifications will include:

“optimal”—such habitat is available along more than 50% of the stream’s length “sub-optimal”—such habitat is available along 31-50% of the stream’s length “marginal”—such habitat is available along 11-30% of the stream’s length “poor”—such habitat is available along less than 11% of the stream’s length o embeddedness: the extent to which rocks, and gravel (gravel, cobbles, boulders) are covered or sunken into the silt, sand, or mud of the stream bottom (Note: many of the selected streams in the study area will not have gravel, cobble, or boulder bottoms. This variable would only be relevant where such substrate is present.). Classifications will include:

“optimal”—gravel, cobble, and boulder particles are between 0-25% surrounded by fine sediment “sub-optimal”—gravel, cobble, and boulder particles are between 26-50% surrounded by fine sediment “marginal”—gravel, cobble, and boulder particles are between 51-75% surrounded by fine sediment “poor”—gravel, cobble, and boulder particles are more than 75% surrounded by fine sediment o stream bank conditions—the extend to which erosion is occurring or has the potential to occur. Steep banks are more likely to collapse and suffer from erosion and therefore are considered unstable. Signs of erosion include crumbling, unvegetated banks, exposed tree roots, cattle trails, and exposed soils. Classifications will include:

“optimal”—banks stable, no evidence of erosion or bank failure “sub-optimal”—banks moderately stable, infrequent small areas of erosion mostly healed over https://www.blm.gov/documents/national-office/blm-library/technical-reference/riparian-area-management https://www.blm.gov/documents/national-office/blm-library/technical-reference/riparian-area-management

“marginal”—moderately unstable, up to 50% of banks have areas of erosion “poor”—unstable, many eroded areas, “raw” areas frequent, 51-100% of the bank has erosional scars o bank vegetative conditions: the amount of stream bank that is covered by vegetation.

Classification will include:

“optimal”—more than 90% of the stream bank is covered in vegetation “sub-optimal”—71-90% of the stream bank is covered in vegetation “marginal”—51-70% of the stream bank is covered in vegetation “poor”—less than 50% of the stream bank is covered in vegetation o extent of grazing pressure: the extent of grazing impacts and its effects o streamside vegetation and instream pools. Classifications will include:

“optimal”—disruption from cattle grazing is minimal or not evident, almost all plants are allowed to grow naturally, little evidence of manure accumulation, little trampling near instream pools

“sub-optimal”— disruption from cattle grazing is evident but is not affecting plant species composition and had only moderate impacts on stubble height, only scattered manure present, instream pools are being used by cattle but are not significantly impacted

“marginal”—disruption from cattle grazing is obvious, patches of bare soil or closely cropped vegetation areas common, only 50-25% of the potential stubble height is remaining, grazing is affecting plant species composition, manure accumulation is common, cattle are using instream pools and having significant impacts on pool vegetation and water quality

“poor”—disruption from grazing of stream banks vegetation is very high, patches of base soil or closely cropped vegetation are common, less than 25% of the potential stubble height is remaining, grazing of affecting plant species composition, manure accumulation is very high, cattle are using instream pools and having severe impacts on pool vegetation and water quality o stream class: stream reaches typed will be identified based on flow regime, geomorphology, vegetation and professional opinion. Classifications will include:

“ephemeral”—has flowing water only during, and for a short duration after, precipitation events in a typical year. Stream beds are located above the water table year-round. Groundwater is not a source of water for the stream. Runoff from rainfall is the primary source of water for stream flow.

“intermittent”— has flowing water during certain times of the year, when groundwater provides water for stream flow. During dry periods, streams may not have flowing water. Runoff from rainfall is a supplemental source of water for stream flow.

“perennial”— has flowing water year-round during a typical year. The water table is located above the stream bed for most of the year. Groundwater is the primary source of water for stream flow. Runoff from rainfall is a supplemental source of water for stream flow.

• GPS data must be accurate to within 1-5 meters after and be compatible with ArcGIS GPS products. Data dictionaries that allow sufficient data entry must be used and contain the following attributes:

1) date of GPS point,

2) time of GPS point,

3) approx. accuracy of GPS point,

4) identify if GPS point is post processed or WAAS enabled,

5) GPS brand and model used,

6) agency/person doing the GPSing, along with any other required fields to describe the point being GPS'd.

Report Requirements After the field season start date, the contractor shall provide bi-weekly reports in the form of email addressed to the Contracting Officer Representative and District Contact. At a minimum, these bi-weekly reports shall include a description of where, how, and when PFC surveys were conducted and any problems encountered.

By November 30, 2023, the contractor shall submit to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) a draft report for review. The Forest Service shall return comments on the draft report by December 31, 2023. The contractor will submit their final report in both hard copy and electronic format (MS Word), by January 31, 2024. At a minimum, the draft and final reports shall contain:

• An introduction summarizing the purpose of the project.

• A description of the survey areas, methods, and techniques used. The results section giving the location (in both UTM coordinates and legal description) of each stream segment start and end points; PFC ratting, and notes justifying that rating.

• A discussion section comparing existing and historic PFC data for each stream segment.

• Maps (USGS 7.5-degree topographic quads or acceptable alternatives) indicating PFC rating and

Reach IDs.

• Photos of stream segments used to illustrate ratings or show specific issues related to riparian resources.

• An appendix containing a copy of field notes, PFC survey sheets, and ratings of instream cover, embeddedness, stream bank condition, bank vegetative conditions, and extend of grazing pressure.

Figure 1. Survey area Medora south

Figure 2. Survey area McKenzie southeast