BLM-CA Tasks GeomorphIS to Conduct Special Status Species Surveys in California

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Mother Lode Field Office (MLFO), California has tasked a GeomorphIS-Wild Ginger team to conduct botanical surveys of Special Status Plant (SSP) species within the MLFO area, to include surveys of suitable habitat to find new occurrences of SSP species as well as surveys to update previously documented Element Occurrences (EOs) of SSP’s for the California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB). Some of these Element Occurrences have not been verified in many years, making the information less reliable to land managers and resource specialists. Surveys will be conducted during appropriate phenological periods to best identify the target species. Survey results (including negative findings) will be collected using the mobile data collection platform Survey123 and ArcGIS online (AGOL). The surveys will take place in 2023 and 2024.

BLM-ID Tasks GeomorphIS to Conduct BOSH-Area Plant Surveys

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Boise District, has tasked a GeomorphIS-Elliott Environmental Consulting team to conduct field examinations/surveys for BLM special status plants and noxious weeds with in the Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-Grouse Habitat (BOSH) Project area during 2023. The BOSH Project is a juniper treatment project designed to maintain and improve greater sage-grouse habitat in a 1.5-million-acre area spanning portions of Bruneau and Owyhee Field Offices of the BLM Boise District in SW Idaho. Approximately 617,000 acres have been identified that meet treatment criteria and have been proposed as a focal treatment area where cutting may occur. The focal treatment area is a mosaic of big and low sagebrush communities primarily in the early- to mid-stages of juniper encroachment (phase I and early phase II). The survey is being conducted as part of project planning and will occur prior to implementation of cutting activities. Surveys will be focused in areas where slash mitigation actions such as prescribed burning may be considered and are located within the Focal Treatment Area of the BOSH Project.

BLM-ID Tasks GeomorphIS to Conduct 20K-acre Slickspot Peppergrass Habitat Survey

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Jarbidge Field Office in Twin Falls, ID has contracted with GeomorphIS and team member Elliott Environmental Consulting to conduct Special Status Plant (SSP) inventories for Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass) in 2023. The conservation of slickspot peppergrass, a federally listed Threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), is a high priority for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Idaho Army National Guard (IDARNG), and others. Slickspot peppergrass occurs in southwestern Idaho in sagebrush steppe habitats, which are also the focus of widespread conservation concern. Data collected about slickspot peppergrass and its habitats are critical for conservation and adaptive management of the species. The GeomorphIS team will conduct inventories of slickspot peppergrass habitat in the Jarbidge Field Office using the established protocol. Data will be collected while walking survey transects, and includes slickspot location, size, and complexity, dominant plant community and
presence of slickspot peppergrass.