Federal Agencies Work Group Opportunities for Federal Action: Protecting and Restoring Wetlands, Streams and Riparian Habitats

Protect, conserve and restore Lake Champlain Basin wetlands, streams and riparian habitats and the functions and values they provide.

KEY FEDERAL ACTIONS

Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) provides financial and technical assistance to landowners to assist them in improving or enhancing wildlife habitat. From 2004 to 2006 NRCS obligated over $1,297,000 of program funds for 163 projects on 9,050 acres in the Lake Champlain Basin. WHIP has funded projects with the Nature Conservancy including restoration of clayplain forest on 85 acres, invasive plant control, and habitat management for a suite of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), including the state endangered timber rattlesnake, eastern rat snake, and prairie warbler. WHIP has also partnered with VT DEC River Management in the lowering of a section of old railroad embankment in a floodplain of the Lamoille River. This project will reconnect the river with its floodplain which will restore the ecological functions, improve habitat and reduce the erosive force of the stream. A significant portion of the WHIP funds have been used for early successional habitats to address habitat concerns identified in both state and regional plans. Finally, Vermont NRCS is beginning to address aquatic habitat improvement, which is a new national priority, with a few fish passage projects.

BOB SYLVESTER, NRCS A riparian forest buffer funded through the Natural Resources Conservation Service's CREP program.

Since 1995 $1,200,000 of Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) funds have been allotted to Vermont. A total of 17 wetland restoration projects were funded in the Basin, totaling 1,634 acres. This included funding for a Nature Conservancy restoration agreement on the Hubbardton River in West Haven, Vermont and the Pomainville Project, Vermont’s largest WRP project (365 acres), which has been recently purchased by the State of Vermont.

In New York NRCS completed two stream stabilization projects in Clinton County on the Chazy River, including concrete block bank stabilization, bioengineering, and a riparian buffer, that provides a minimum of 35 ft of buffer. The farmer has also agreed to permanently seed the field to trap sediment and reduce further erosion.

NRCS in New York also provided technical assistance for a 9,950 ft long riparian buffer installed on cropland in Clinton County. The project provided $5,579 in federal financial assistance to the farmer to install the buffer through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). The riparian buffer protects 161 acres of cropland adjacent to the Chazy River, and will filter runoff from the protected cropland. Six student volunteers assisted the NRCS with the plantings for the buffer.

On the New York side of the Basin, NRCS worked with landowners in the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) to restore 76 acres of wetlands. NRCS provided both technical and financial assistance for the projects.

NRCS staff in New York provided technical assistance on a 20-acre CREP buffer installed on pasture land in Washington County. The 3,400 ft long riparian buffer included fencing to keep the cows out of Halfway Creek. The buffer protects 70 acres of cropland adjacent to Halfway Creek. Additional state grants provided funds for constructing watering facilities for the cows on pasture and a livestock crossing.

Technical and financial assistance was provided by NRCS in New York for a 95 acre Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project (WHIP) for ground nesting songbirds in the Halfway Creek watershed of Washington County.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The 6,642-acre Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain near the Canadian border, provides habitat for a multitude of migratory birds and other wildlife. Throughout the Lake Champlain Basin, the Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program annually completes 30–40 habitat restoration projects in cooperation with landowners and Federal and state agency partners. These projects restore and protect approximately 20 miles of riparian habitat, as much as a mile of in-stream habitat, and up to 500 acres of wetlands.

NRCS and the USFWS provide technical assistance to producers in the CREP, which has resulted in 154 acres of filter strips and riparian forest buffers. CREP provided funding for tree-planting services for buffers, and Conservation Districts have developed a plant materials sales program to address the demand.

Environmental Protection Agency

The Agency is involved through the Five Star Restoration Program, which provides financial assistance on a competitive basis to support community-based wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat restoration, Section 104(b)(3) wetlands grants, and the Section 10 and Section 404 review process. With EPA funds, the LCBP supported the Vermont Riparian Project designed to establish a native tree nursery for low-cost riparian plantings. EPA nonpoint source program funds (Section 319 funds) are also being used for riparian restoration in the Lake Champlain Basin.

OTHER FEDERAL ACTIONS

Implementation of specific cost-shared projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Section 542 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, such as wetlands creation/restoration and streambank protection/restoration will protect and enhance habitats. The Corps also regulates the discharges of dredged or fill material into waters, including many streams and wetlands. The EPA and the USFWS also provide reviews under this process.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetland Inventory program recently completed updates of wetland maps associated with 59 USGS topographic quad maps in the Basin.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, through Lake Champlain Sea Grant, provides stormwater education that focuses on preventing and reducing non-point source pollution of Vermont watersheds and involves toxic substances, bacterial contaminants, phosphorous, organic materials and sediment pollution. NOAA Sea Grant is active in a number of programs that increase public awareness of stormwater issues, such as the Chittenden County Regional Storm Water Education Program, Smart Growth education, and northern Lake Champlain shore land erosion protection.

In 2005, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation provided a $10,000 grant to restore about 30 acres of riparian floodplain forest by planting native trees and protecting 3,200 ft of the Missisquoi River shoreline in Enosburg, Vermont, and provided $75,000 in support of the Vermont Land Trust’s project to protect a 405-acre parcel of land encompassing Preston Pond and a part of Resin Ridge in the Lake Champlain watershed. This project will protect important wildlife habitat, including peregrine falcon nesting habitat.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service assisted the Town of Williston with a plan that identifies erosion on Allen Brook and recommended stabilization measures. In Chazy, New York, NRCS provided technical assistance on an 80-acre wetland restoration project. In Whitehall, an 18.8-acre riparian forest buffer was installed on a dairy farm along Mud Creek, and rock riprap and 800 ft of herbaceous stream buffer was installed along the Mettawee River.

USFWS National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funding will be used to protect peregrine falcon nesting habitat.

The Green Mountain National Forest consists of more than 400,000 acres in central and southern Vermont. The Forest represents approximately seven percent of Vermont’s land area and hosts up to 3.4 million visitors each year. The Green Mountain National Forest is a leader in management and restoration of aquatic habitats within the Lake Champlain Basin, particularly headwater streams. Stream habitat restoration projects use geomorphic protocols and state-of-the art fisheries habitat management techniques in cooperation with local, state and other Federal partners including Vermont Department of Fish and Game and the USFWS. The Green Mountain National Forest works in close cooperation with the State of Vermont in regard to responding to and controlling the spread of nonnative and invasive plant species within the Lake Champlain Basin. Habitat management on the Green Mountain National Forest focuses on a wide variety of important wildlife species also found in the Champlain Valley. Habitat management on the Forest focuses on providing quality habitats for several threatened, endangered and sensitive species, and a diverse variety of locally important wildlife. Timber harvest and prescribed fire are just two of the tools used to maintain, improve, and restore wildlife habitats on the forest lands. Habitats that are routinely maintained include grassy openings, shrub lands, apple orchards, and unique forested communities such as aspen and birch stands and oak communities.

The Green Mountain National Forest is very active in partnerships to monitor not only the effects of its own activities, but also resources that are affected by off-forest activities in the region and across the country. Air and water quality is monitored to determine the effects of acid deposition.