science & monitoring team meeting sept 23rd. agenda introductions overview of cprw & co...
TRANSCRIPT
Agenda
• Introductions• Overview of CPRW & CO Conservation Exchange• Review draft charter/workplan• Watershed Analysis – Issues, Questions, and Goals• Watershed Analysis – Available Information • Follow up tasks/next steps
Aim for Meeting Today
• Identify missing key stakeholders• Preliminary list of values and issues• Preliminary questions/goals• Identify key information gaps (spatial layers, basic research, etc)
Overview - CPRW
• Mission: to improve and maintain the ecological health of the Poudre River Watershed through community collaboration• Community watershed plan • Implementation informed by
stakeholder planning
Draft Charter
PURPOSE
• Advise on critical issues, values at risk• Recommend goals & objectives• Conduct watershed analysis• Identify priority areas for
treatment• Develop monitoring protocols
linked to return on investment
GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
• Upper Poudre• Big Thompson
Draft Charter
PEOPLE• Open to anyone • Ongoing participation
PROCESS• Meetings facilitated by CPRW
and TNC; meet every 6-8 weeks• 80-20 consensus rule
Work PlanWatershed Restoration Planning
• Identify key questions to be addressed through landscape analysis• Determine what analyses have already been done• Identify necessary data• Determine criteria and process for prioritizing restoration areas• Develop a plan for monitoring effectiveness of treatments
Watershed Analysis – Issues/values
Ecosystem services• Healthy riverine habitat• Upland wildlife habitat• Delivery of water supply• ?• ??• ???
Watershed Issues/threats• Wildfires (out of historical range)
• High fuel loads in forests• Insect related tree mortality• ?• ??• ???
Key Questions
• What forested areas are out of their historical range of variation (wildfire)?• Are there areas of the watershed that are in their range but have
ecosystem services at high risk? (what tod about them?)• Is HRV an appropriate criteria?• What areas are critical for generating water supply? • ?
Available Information – Regional & Beyond• USFS Condition Framework
• USFS lands at national scope but analysis of 6th HUC • Classifying ‘functioning properly’ to ‘function impaired’ based on 12 env
indicators
• Upper Monument Creek• Sustain important landscape values and ecological function through restoration• Landscape, ~70,000 acres• Information used: Values at risk, burn probability maps, forest types, Landscape
Conservation Forecasting decision support tool
• Rio Grande, Mokelumne, Latin American Water Funds
Available Information – Poudre WatershedJW Associates 2010
AssessmentUSFS CFLRP CO-WRAP CSFS Action Plan ?
Goal id & prioritize sixth-level watersheds based upon theirhazards to water supplies & collaboration
Restore lower-montane forest structure; reduce wildfire hazard; protect communities
Identify wildfire risks
Conserve working forest landscapes,Protect forests from harm, enhance benefits
Spatial scale upper Poudre Watershed Front Range – USFS lands (A.R. and Pike)
Statewide; multi-scalar
State-wide spatial layers
Info. Used Wildfire HazardFlooding or Debris Flow HazardSoil ErodibilityWater Supply Ranking>Colorado Watershed Protection Data Refinement Work Group (2009)
Forest types, elevational gradients, WUI
Forest types, surface fuels, WUI, fire occurrence information
LANDFIRE vegDrink. water sourcesWildlife (econ & imperiled)RecWUIWildfre susceptibility & intensity ……
Gaps/constraints/questions
• What has changed since key analyses were completed?• Are there known data gaps/layers? • Do we have fine enough spatial resolution to meet our data needs?• Can or should we fill gaps/constraints?• What approach to use for prioritization?• ?• ??