Conservation strategy for Southeastern Idaho wetlands

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Abstract:

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game Conservation Data Center (CDC) received wetland
protection funding from the Environmental Protection Agency under the authority of Section 104
(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act to enhance existing wetland information systems. The initial
project area encompassed the Henrys Fork Basin including the Teton River drainage. Currently,
work is continuing in the Big Wood River Basin, Idaho Panhandle Watershed, southeastern Idaho
watersheds, east-central basins, and Coeur d’Alene Basin. This document is a summary of work
completed in the southeastern Idaho watersheds. The information summarized here can be
applied to state biodiversity, conservation, and water quality enhancement projects on a watershed
basis. <br>

We used the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) National Wetlands Inventory
(NWI) to gain a broad perspective on the areal extant and types of wetlands in the survey area.
Land ownership and management layers were overlaid on the NWI to determine ownership and
the protected status of wetlands. Plant communities occurring in the survey area were placed into
the hierarchical NWI classification and provide information relative to on-the-ground resource
management. <br>

Assessment of the quality and condition of plant communities and the occurrence of rare plant and
animal species allowed us to categorize 30 wetland sites based on conservation intent. Four
wetlands are high priority due to species richness and condition and full protection is the priority.
The biological significance of the surveyed wetland sites and abstracts for rare plant communities,
plant species, and animal species are provided to guide management activities. Land managers
can apply the process presented here to categorize wetlands which were not surveyed. <br>

We identify conservation strategies for sites surveyed and plant communities that are unprotected
or under-protected. Approximately 22 percent of the wetlands in the survey area have protection
beyond regulatory provisions of the Clean Water Act. Over 80 percent of the protected wetlands
are in the emergent vegetation category. <br>

Only portions of the information from the NWI maps and database records are summarized in this
conservation strategy. All information contained in the databases is available for public use
except a limited amount of threatened and endangered species information considered sensitive by
the USFWS. Contacts for accessing digital and analog data are included at the end of this
manuscript.

Notes:

Reference Code: U97JAN03IDUS <br>

Full Citation: Jankovsky-Jones, M. 1997. Conservation strategy for Southeastern Idaho wetlands. Conservation Data Center, Idaho Department of Fish and Game. 35 pp. plus appendices. <br>

Location: ELECTRONIC FILE - ECOLOGY <br>

Keywords: Idaho, wetland <br>

File(s): 

UJAN03IDUS.pdf