GeomorphIS Team to Conduct Lichen-Bryophyte Inventory at Mt. Rainier National Park

The National Park Service (NPS) has tasked a GeomorphIS-Siskiyou BioSurvey team to conduct an inventory of rare, sensitive and imperiled lichen and bryophyte species in four high use areas of the park – Paradise, Sunrise, Carbon River, and Ohanapecosh – to identify their presence and distribution so that they can be 1) protected from visitor trampling, 2) avoided during trail, road and other facility construction and reroutes, and 3) when avoidance is not possible, salvaged prior to construction projects and replanted. Covariate data of the associated habitat of target species will also be collected so the park can infer potential habitat in unsampled areas.

Cryptic vegetative taxa like lichens and bryophytes in Mount Rainier are critical for the ecosystem functioning, biodiversity maintenance, and the experience of a forested and montane national park in the Pacific Northwest. There is an ongoing need to protect these sensitive resources from impacts of increasing visitor use in popular park areas. However, knowledge of the lichen and bryophyte (mosses, liverworts, hornworts) species (cryptograms) in the park is insufficient, based upon limited herbarium specimens with a high degree of spatial uncertainty. Thirteen of the lichen species known to exist in the park are state or globally ranked as sensitive to critically imperiled (Washington Natural Heritage Program; Department of Natural Resources 2018 & 2019; NatureServe). There are an additional seven rare to sensitive lichen species that may occur in the park but have not been confirmed. Twenty two of the bryophyte species documented in the park and another two species which may occur are state or globally ranked as sensitive to endangered species (Consortium of North American Bryophyte Herbaria; unpublished park data). Conservation, restoration, and environmental assessments require knowledge of the presence or sensitive, rare or threatened species to successfully protect these species from ongoing change within the park.

BLM-ID Tasks GeomorphIS Team to Conduct Blair Noxious Weed Survey

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Boise District, Idaho has tasked a GeomorphIS/Elliott Environmental Consulting Team to conduct a noxious weed survey on the Blair fire burned area. Ignited by lightning, the Blair fire burned 1,345 acres of public land in July 2005. At the time, noxious weeds found within the fire perimeter were limited to rush skeletonweed and one population of Russian knapweed. In 2011, the Elmore County Noxious Weed Program re-surveyed recently burned areas including the Blair fire. Since its initial discovery, Boise District BLM and Elmore County have made significant progress treating the infestation, but assistance is needed due to the intensified survey level required for plant detection. This contract will cover a noxious weed plant survey of the 2005 Blair fire plus a 1-mile buffer (survey unit).  With the project area and 1 mile buffer, total acres to survey will be 5,460 acres. Field data from this effort will be used to develop an herbicide treatment plan. Managing the spread of invasive species is key to maintaining biodiversity and protects public lands and water resources.

BLM-ID Tasks GeomorphIS Team to Continue 2023 Vegetation Monitoring

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Twin Falls District (TFD) tasked the GeomorphIS-Pyramid Botanical Consultants team to conduct vegetation monitoring post-wildfire to document the success of vegetation treatments completed through the Emergency Stabilization and Burned Area Rehabilitation (ESR) program. The Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) strategy is the approved monitoring strategy for land health monitoring and will be supplementing the guidelines used by the TFD Fuels program. The GeomorphIS team will be responsible for collecting data at 60 pre-determined plots. The distributed plots are on BLM administered lands throughout the TFD BLM (Burley, Jarbidge, and Shoshone Field Offices). These plots will be in their second and third post-treatment monitoring years. In recent years, large wildfires have affected sage-grouse habitat throughout the TFD. Areas burned by these fires were seeded with native cultivar seed mixtures or sagebrush plantings in existing vegetation. BLM policy is to monitor seeded/planted vegetation over a ten-year period to determine if the treatment(s) have met resource objectives and will aid in determining the success or failure of establishing native vegetation into disturbed areas.