Free Declaration - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:04-cv-00786-SGB

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EXHIBIT 27

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Case 1:04-cv-00786-SGB

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. . 'Q~WJ Unned Stues i
~: 2670 Threatened- and Endangered Plants

II ' AQrliteof Depnt .~

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November 7. 1983

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September 26-27 Trip R~p~rt' for Reggi e Fl etcher
F~rest Supervisor. Lincoln National Forest

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Enclosed is a trip report by Reggie Fletcher on his September 26-27; 1983 field
assist as requested by Jphn 'Conner and Norm Curran. Cloudcroft District.

W~~E'R~l2
Director of Range Ma~agement.

Enclosure

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SG02069

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Lincoln National" Forest

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Trip Report September 26-27. 19B3 Reggie Fletcher

Regional Botanist
The following trip report covers a variety of topics on which my input was requested by Norm Curran and John Conner. Cloudcroft District, and coordinated through Don eunica. This suppprt field trip was conducted on September 26.27. 1983, with Norm Curran. District Ranger, and John Conner. District Range and Wildlife Staff. The primary purpose of the trip was to provide an overview of the status of Cirsium vinaceum. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel notified the Regional Office of thejr intent to propose Cirsium vinaceum'for.listing as Threatened on May la,

1983. Personnel of the Lincoln National Forest are concerned that they

take appropriate actions to relieve adverse conditions causing the need to list Cirsium vinaceum. The trip was preliminary to development of an lnterim Management Plan for the cir.sium. Secondary, was a.quick update on other of the Cloudcroft Ranger District's sensitve plant species and subjects covered in my May 16.20, 1983, field tri~ report.
Cirsium vinaceum.

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The Forest has fenced. is fencing, or will fence a~proximatelY ~ miles of Rio Penasco Canyon from grazing starting from:Hwy 64.to about a quarter of a mile below Bluff Spring. Private portions of the bottom

are not ;ncl~ded in the program. The fencing project will not only . greatly, enhance habitat fo"r deer, elk. and .turkey but should ~habi11:tate
the riparian bottom and allow,for reestablishment of Cirsium vinaceum. This project. if completed as discussed' on the field trip., should eomprise 80% of the fencing necessary to protect Cirsium vinaceum. approximately. This stretch of the Rio PenascO can be considered the center of distribution for Cirsium vinaceum and is critical to the maintenan.ce of Cirsium'"

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vinaceum as a healthy species. .
There is a small population of Cirsium vinaceum at the Junction of Hwy. j¡I' 64 and Rio Penasco. This area has not had iivestock use for a year, and

already, c1rsium is coming up in ~mesic spots of meadow adjacent to
the creek.

By including the first 500 yards of Water canyon south of the Rio Penasco in the. fenced area. a major population of C1rsium vinaceum can be protected. A temporary cattleguard could be placed at the upper Water Canyon edge of the fence. This would provide two seed sources it the upper ends of the fenced area and facilitate repopulation of the bottom along the Rio

Penasco.
Rest from livestock use for a year coupled with abundant summer rainfall has made a remarkable difference from years past in the vigor of both the Cirsium vinaceum and associated meadow species. One possible problem is competition by teasel (Oipsacus sylvestr1s). Teasel 1s several times more abundant here this year than 1n years past. This old world weed location
has apparently out competed the cirsium at that plant'S type.

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above High Rolls. Teasel does have some commrcial value. and one possible solution to competition problems is to selectively promote its

harvest.

SG02070

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At Bluff Springs the walkwõy has been moved further aWay from the c1rs1um population at the base of the bluff. Thls should help safeguard thls population. Above the' bluff are .three small populations. In the pasttt livestock use has much restricted the cirsium. With a year's rest and the extra raínfßi1, the cirsium is popp1~g up bere and there in the

meadow".' . . . .
is. to be redirected around the spring area.

The spring population on the North side of the canyon about 400 yards below -Bluff -Spring is experiencing increased recreation use. The use

"At'present_. it is not"known if it is the increased rainfall. the rest i( from livestock use,' or both t~at.1s allowing a rapid comeback of the eirsium above Bluff Spring and at the Rio .Penasco-Hwy 64 junction. It_ may be that livestock usej mainly through trampling. has a much greate . impact. on Cirsium vinaceum than" previously believed.

The Forest is doing an excellent job of looking at ways to better manage
the cïrsiuri dnd .is PToceeding with projects that .will .quickly help

recover the plant. Projects like the placement of the rail fence at Bluff Spring to redirect recreation use. and the fencing of Rio Penasco are effective and wil.l help build credibility into our sensitive plant

pr:gram.

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A fence will have to be placed in Lucas Canyon to either enclose the cirsium or to redirect use, both recreational and livestock. .away from

those .populations.
We checked the 5~acre exclosure at the Forest Service - Mescalero Reservation Boundary along Hwy 24. .'Given the poor condition the population was in this spring. it was in remarkably. good shape. However, the p.lant is \ almost gone from the meadow above the exclosure attesting to the adverse effect of trampling. Walking across the exclosure, we sank a couple of inches into the well aerated calcium carbonate charged soil. The down cut in the exclosure has healed. some this year for the first time since the exclosure was built. Carduus nutans is not now present inside the Cirsium vinaceum population. Several years ago. we were worried about losing this population to the Carduus. The protection afforded by the exclosure ha~_turned this around. " The District is considering a plan to fence the entire mead~ above the current exclosure. and blow pothol es for waterfowl improvement.
A project of this type would greatly enhance the chances for the survivial of this population of Cirsium vinaceum.

Placement of structures in the downcut at the bottom end of the present exclosure would speed recovery of the bottom and provide a small temporary impoundment for waterfowl. There is some question that turning the bottom to marsh might drown the cirsium because of poor aeration. The slope of the meadow should be sufficient to prevent stagnation.
_ .._ _._.:__Jh.er:1:is.._,an, exclosure; .at _f1i!ster:son Springs. ~t.fa-t-..eeds to_be eva 1 uated

~ for content of Cirsium vinaceurn and habitat suitability. There is

cirsfum at the spring but we don't know the populationls relationship to the exclosure.

SG02071

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A letter from the Distrtct or Forest to the Fish and Wildlife Service and ongoing projects benefiti~g Cirsium vinaceum would detailing planned. raise the credibility level of our attempt to manage the c1rsium.

Water rights problems presents a continuing threat to the cirsÌlBtI.' .Jf
we permit water development at the base of spring areas' rather 'than at the top. the cirsflJ''shou-ld survive in these areas. 1 'spóke with Doug Shaw who works on water rights in the Regional Office and 'he felt we have sufffcient control over water development to require the above

restriction-. If. we -lose,.this control. or if 1n fact we don1t have it.
spi te of other recovery efforts.
Astragalus altus.

the resul.t would b'e."r:etention of the cirsium as a threatened species in

We stopped at the junction of Rte 541 and Rio Penasco to check on the population of Astragalus altus there. It is a good population to use for training and to check on phenological status prior to conducting EAR project surveys.
Lesguerella aurea~

We checked the Les9uerella ~'site at the head of Bailey Canyon.
Although no plants were present, thi sis 'a good spot to use to check on the phenological condition of the Lesguerella. Since it may act as annual. biennial or short-lived perennial, if you find a fair amount of

the plant here it is ,a good time to survey for it elsewhere. If you
don1t find it here 'you won1t find it elsewhere.

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Aregmone pleiacantha ssp. pinnatisecta.

As in spring. we di~ not find anY of the Argemone pleiacantha ssp. pinnatisecta at the old site in lower Dry Canyon. Use conflicts are stiii 'very high here. The canyon had been blocked to vehicle use by

. placing a. couple: of large. boulders in the road but people were bypassing
them. i pointed out t~e exclosure mentioned _1n my' spri.ng report and we .discussed the problem of maintaining these range reference areas. N:orm said they probably had about 15 exclosures on the District but they were neither being studied or maintained. Norm felt maintenance was a Research job.and not Forest responsibility. John had not been to the exclosure and, I pointed out they were of great value if used only in getting to

better know area potentials prior to range analysis work. Despite their

many drawbacks they are useful as comparison areas. John said Wayne Hickey had told him they weren. t of much value. John did agree ~e would try to inventory their exclosures this winter and estimate how much work it would be to get them into good shape. Then we would work together in finding some way to get them maintained and possibly re-read.
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The roadside, and fill area below the tunnel or Highway

,82 cont-ained

_ about a dozen of the argemone. One plant had been mowed but sprouted

back and had a couple of .flower buds. AJl capsules from this, small

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population had aborted with no sign of seed production this year. .Most of the plants were on the north fill slope~ A few. healthy plants were ' noted on the south side of the Highway just .below High Rolls.
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SG020n

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Case 1:04-cv-00786-SGB
We checked Alamo

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'Canyon and put a Forest Service lock on the gate fòr

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the first time ~,inçe.:th~. 'city .put a gate uP', :t~:t:Y personnel were working ,stay in.
'on clearing a ro~d~up,t,e,active flood channel. As long as they

the act1ve chapnel r they ~~ 1 not di sturb anY establ i shed argemorie. However.. if ~they' doze areas that have not aetiveJÝ fl aoded in 'a couple

of yeårj. lhere'1s ~ chance they.will disturb newly established plants.
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.,Wq.rk .wiis:~,al~'ó...(je;ng. çpnd.ucted on the. pipeline in Alamo just above the'
juiitti 00

"of 'Cabal1er ,

. ,~,'~' Thé~.hai~:iÍot."be,en' cattle in Alamo for the past .couple of years and
AJamQ".a.bove . the..jí.ilctiorl of Caballero 1 s rehab; litati ng. There is . severäl .times, 'as' irany...árgemone in this area thaii 1 encountered the last

. time 'i was ijCthe tanyon. In AlalO~' the f;:rst 3/4 mile above Caballero.
we saw abo~t 50 plants. A few were in bud or flower and so~e produced seed' this yèár. All were in good health and vigor. No argemone were

,'seen in .the, :'ower one ha-lf mile òf Caballero and. only abo~t a dozen . "plants,;'were seen between Caballero and the gate.
The ,xegetatiQn of Cányon, side slopes are regaining much of their vigor and while sti1l:in poor condition. the trend is rapidly upward.. When

1 ivestock a're' re1ntraduced into Alamo ~ the argemone shaul d be closely
monitored. ,from'wha.t we' saw." it is possible that livestock use is hBving more of an ~dverse effect on this pla~t, than prev)ously thought.

Whi.l-e: "ri Alamo. ,we checked three drinkers coming off the main pipeline drinker
01) tfie' r1dgl:s between Alamo and Caballero. There was one main'

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(nrthi¡ rii;ge':lhto'which waler ran-continuously. An additional drinker
in ea'¿b ôf:the"' Canyons was fed fr-O the overflow. The waterline was

stopp,ek'iip'~ à:hd the .overflow drinkers were dry. John saic drinket
'maintenance' was penñittee responsibi, ity. but 1 ivestock had not b,eeri in

the area for two years. The conversation that fQl10wed indicated that
,funding for dr.üiker niai'n.tél1anCe or even. period; c checki ng to see i.f they

were wòrki.ng was'none~1'stent. As near as w!= ~ouid detennine'i none, of
,the pi pe1ine drf.nke~ 'had', been checked s1 ncè 'thei r constructi,on; 'Jhe .

Distr.ct di"d not have an' ínventory aT thfs type of improvement nor did:" .
they know wfiich were or were not working. Persptinel and funding celHJlgs ",
1tere only' all owi n9 the Dis tri ct to work on .target i terns, " Drinker: maintenance!"-

and check.ing improvements are nontarget i.tems'.' .'We also discussed: the

maintain certain Fore~t. improvements. ~"..' .
: About ..a, h~-J~ a dozen 'plants of Pens seedlings:.within a ,few. . 'this populatiòn in 1977, and it was later eaten.

possibility of hayi.ng vcrlunteers, either.-ndividuals or organ,izatiöns,
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ternan al arnosen"sis we~'e. gro..i.~ as '. '

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yards on the Caballero~ Cãnyon drinker. i ,founâ;:
out completely,. probåblY

by rabbits;. The few' plants.now present came in from seed. Ideally; the 'from the penstemon and a
drinker ~hould',JI!!\le bê,en placed f.urther away

pre-con~tl"uc.tion surveY, might have turned it ,up._ 'However, the papulation
is certaì,rOý too' small to require movement 'of"'the in place drinker; . ,', .' :"

A drinker on Ci ty
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property abòut a, quarter of a mile above tn~" gate.

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not in .operation. .

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SG02073