Suggested Focal Areas for BLM Alaska.pdf

Aquatic Resource FOA - Suggested Focal Areas for BLM Alaska

Core Program Functions

• Decision Support: Inventory, assess, and monitor riparian and aquatic resources to facilitate and inform our understanding of condition and trend and inform BLM management activities, and assess regulatory compliance. Examples of decision support projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:

o Expanding and/or updating the current coverage of the Alaska Anadromous Waters

Catalogue and/or the Alaska Freshwater Fish Inventory datasets through expanded inventories within key areas of Alaska (e.g., Fortymile and Jim River drainages).

o Update evaluations of quantity and geographic extent of adult salmon returns to streams and rivers in concentrated BLM management areas with outdated information

(e.g. within the Koyukuk Mining District, Steese NCA, Fortymile Region).

o Determine the magnitude and extent of fish habitat impacts from OHV trail crossings and trail densities within the Gulkana watershed.

o Inventory and assess (or reassess) existing culverts on BLM managed lands for fish passage.

o Inventory moderate to high risk (based on recreational use and access) aquatic habitats for Elodea and other aquatic/riparian invasive species.

o Develop and implement a remote sensing approach to inventory and assess available winter fish habitat in priority watersheds to aid the BLM with implementation of an instream flow program and protection of flows necessary for fish.

o Develop a remote sensing approach to delineate riparian vegetation composition and structure to support assessment, inventory, and monitoring of aquatic resources.

o Utilize telemetry technology to expand on earlier studies that characterized seasonal movements of fishes with the goal of further refining the extent of overwintering habitat, fidelity to feeding/spawning areas, and mortality estimates within the National

Petroleum Reserve.

o Characterize watershed use by priority fish species across multiple life stages (e.g., salmon, sheefish, and grayling) using isotope analysis to detect tributaries/watersheds used for spawning and juvenile rearing.

o Develop bioenergetic modeling framework to characterize growth potential in streams given food and habitat available.

o Collect data and build models to better understand climate change impacts on aquatic resources (i.e. permafrost thaw, water quality, precipitation changes, mass wasting) on

BLM lands in the Arctic to provide information on changing conditions and provide a basis for adaptation measures and strategies.

o Develop tools and a monitoring framework to evaluate the impacts of wildfire and changing fire regimes on riparian vegetation, water quality, and permafrost.

• Conservation: Maintain and conserve the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of aquatic resources. Examples of conservation oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM

Alaska include:

o Develop and establish long-term stream and lake temperature monitoring networks to document status and trend across BLM managed lands.

o Develop and implement a framework that the BLM can use to evaluate water temperatures throughout priority watersheds utilizing remote sensing techniques.

o Develop and establish a network of long-term water quality monitoring stations at a regional scale for parameters related to specific management priorities (e.g. turbidity throughout the Koyukuk Mining District) and climate change detection.

o Characterize both spatially and temporally the trophic interactions between native fishes and prey resources in the environment.

o Characterize stream productivity (i.e., gross primary production) using remote sensing techniques to describe landscape level production.

• Restoration: Restore aquatic resources affected by past and present impacts, aquatic invasive species, wildfire, drought, and floods; and increase their resistance and resilience to the impacts of climate change. Examples of restoration oriented projects that would be of most interest to

BLM Alaska include:

o Establish sediment transport rating curves in watersheds impacted by development and reference watersheds to monitor changes due to impacts & climate change.

o Establish soil temperature monitoring stations in the talik zones of permafrost influenced watersheds to identify impacts due to resource development & climate change.

o Evaluate the biological response to restoration/reclamation actions (e.g., MBACI or EPT study design to evaluate fish response to floodplain/instream restoration actions).

o Develop a web mapping framework and prioritization tool for stream restoration opportunities in the Yukon, Kuskokwim, and Norton Sound regions. The prioritization tool should focus on benefits to salmon habitat.

• Sustainability: Identify the quantity and quality of water required to conserve and restore riparian and fisheries resources, and secure water rights and protections so sufficient water is physically and legally available for all public land management purposes. Examples of sustainability oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:

o Implement well-designed, long-term, sustainable, cooperative stream gaging programs in watersheds with planned instream flow programs to ensure data quality and timely processing of data.

o Utilize remote sensing techniques to identify cold water refugia and conduct long-term monitoring with in-situ instrumentation habitat in priority watersheds to aid in the identification of critically important habitats.

o Expand toolsets incorporating high-resolution imagery and modeling approaches to predict lake water level response to drought events. Identify vulnerable lakes to inform management of water resources.

o Monitor fish populations that are recognized as an Outstandingly Remarkable Values

(ORVs) in BLM Resource Management Plans for National Wild and Scenic Rivers. This data will provide fish population health for Wild and Scenic River ORV values to ensure this resource is sustainable and protected for future generations.

• Collaboration: Coordinate, cooperate, and consult with federal, state, tribal, and local governments and other programs, partners, and communities, to foster adaptive approaches to conservation and restoration and implement education and outreach programs. Examples of sustainability oriented projects that would be of most interest to BLM Alaska include:

o Develop resources to improve fish passage at mine sites using a combination of educational materials and stockpiling of materials that could be recycled at little to no cost, such as old culverts and bridge decks for other projects.

o Develop an approach for securing fish tissue samples from subsistence users to monitor potential changes in levels of contaminants in fish tissues and bile metabolites. In addition, consult and coordinate with contaminants specialists to ensure statistically and ecologically meaningful study design, analyze contaminant levels, and present results to impacted communities.

o Similar to the approach described above, secure hard fish structures (e.g., otoliths, cleithra, fin rays, and scales) and lengths and weights from subsistence users to monitor fish population changes.

o Development of a citizen science water quality program in Alaskan villages to provide quantitative values to the qualitative observations of the people.

Other Program Priorities

• Combating climate change and habitat loss impacts to aquatic resources.

o Understanding how climate change projections may affect watershed processes within

WSRs and ACECs and key attributes to monitor for change detection.

• Determining acceptable levels of hydrologic and ecological change given BLM management objectives. For example:

o Continue to characterize heat stress tolerances in freshwater fishes to understand resiliency of species to changing climactic conditions. Identify if current conditions are evoking heat stress responses in various populations via direct sampling and analysis of heat shock proteins.

o Use landscape genetics to document gene flow and population structure of fish species to help (potentially) identify locally adapted populations and evaluate the degree of genetic connectivity within and among drainages to assess ecological resiliency and help identify potential barriers to migration that may be impacting genetic diversity.

o Use archived otolith data to understand spatial and temporal trends and environmental drivers of fish growth in an effort to predict potential changes in growth influenced by climate conditions.

• Advancing inventory, assessment, and monitoring activities and tools. For example:

o Identification and refinement of remote sensing tools to aid in the quantification of riparian and aquatic resource condition/trend on non-wadeable river systems consistent with BLM’s National Aquatic Monitoring Framework and AIM Strategy.

o Intensely sample and compare temporal and spatial heterogeneity of fish communities in lakes using traditional and novel approaches (e.g., fishing gear vs. environmental

DNA) to inform optimal sampling design for inventory and monitoring assessments as well as compliance.

o Refinement of remote sensing tools using priority watersheds as the proving grounds to help inform watershed assessments and restoration needs. Moving beyond conventional sampling designs and into riverscape type designs.