Cottonwood Management Plan / Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment. Proposed Implementation of a Cottonwood Management Plan Along Six Priority Segments of the Missouri River.

摘要

The Missouri River originates in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Montana and flows approximately 2,341 miles through seven states, ending at its confluence with the Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri. The plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides) was once the dominant floodplain vegetation in the Missouri River ecosystem (Corps 2006a). Natural cottonwood regeneration has largely ceased along the Missouri River following the construction of the Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System (System) and Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project (BSNP). The reduction in the number of young cottonwoods to replace older cottonwoods concerns biologists because a variety of plant and wildlife species, including some protected species, are associated with cottonwoods. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) depend on the adjacent cottonwood forest for nesting, roosting, and wintering habitat along the Missouri River. Past and ongoing U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) operations to serve Congressionally authorized project purposes, including flood control, have restricted overbank flooding causing the reduction of existing stands and new cottonwood establishment. The degradation of cottonwood forests will likely continue in the future and result in additional impacts to bald eagles. In response, the Corps and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), in partnership with tribal nations, states and other agencies, are working to restore a portion of the Missouri River s natural form and function in order to recover Missouri River species provided protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The Missouri River Recovery Program (MRRP) implements the USFWS 2003 Amended Biological Opinion (BiOp) on the Corps operation of the System, BSNP, and Kansas River Tributary Reservoirs (KR) Projects.