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BAK SA 501 Annual Report 2014 Final.Docx Baker River Hydroelectric Project PUGET SOUND ENERGY 28 September 2015

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ARTICLE 501

TERRESTRIAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN 2014 ANNUAL REPORT

REPORTING PERIOD JANUARY 1 – DECEMBER 31, 2014

BAKER RIVER HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT FERC No. 2150

September 2015

Terrestrial Resource Management Plan 2014 Annual Report CONTENTS

BAK SA 501 Annual Report 2014 Final.Docx 28 September 2015 PUGET SOUND ENERGY Baker River Hydroelectric Project Page ii

CONTENTS CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................................................................. iii 1.0 Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2.0 General Report .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 2.1 Background ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1

2.2 Reporting Period .............................................................................................................................................................. 2

2.3 Terrestrial Resources Implementation Group .................................................................................................................. 2 2.4 Annual Review of the TRMP ............................................................................................................................................ 2

3.0 Financial Report ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2

3.1 Funding and Expenditures Prescribed by SA 501 ............................................................................................................ 3 3.2 Additional Expenditures for 500 Series Articles ............................................................................................................... 4

3.3 Total Funding Expenditures for SA 501 ........................................................................................................................... 4 3.4 Adjustments ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4

4.0 Activity Report Summaries for 500-Series Articles ............................................................................................................... 5

SA 501 – Terrestrial Resources Management Plan ............................................................................................................... 5 SA 502 – Deciduous Forest Habitat ....................................................................................................................................... 5

SA 503 – Elk Foraging Habitat ............................................................................................................................................... 5 SA 504 – Wetland Habitat ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

SA 505 – Aquatic Riparian Habitat ......................................................................................................................................... 6

SA 506 – Osprey Nest Structures .......................................................................................................................................... 6 SA 507 – Loon Floating Nest Platforms ................................................................................................................................. 6

SA 508 – Noxious Weeds ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

SA 509 – Plants of Special Status .......................................................................................................................................... 6 SA 510 – Carex flava ............................................................................................................................................................. 6

SA 511 – Decaying and Legacy Wood ................................................................................................................................... 7 SA 512 – Bald Eagle Night Roost Surveys ............................................................................................................................ 7

SA 513 – Bald Eagle Management ........................................................................................................................................ 7

SA 514 – Effectiveness Monitoring ........................................................................................................................................ 7 SA 515 – Late Seral Forest Growth ....................................................................................................................................... 7

SA 516 – Mountain Goats ...................................................................................................................................................... 7

SA 517 – Grizzly Bear Road Management ............................................................................................................................ 8 5.0 Supporting Documents ............................................................................................................................................................ 8

Terrestrial Resource Management Plan 2014 Annual Report List of Tables

BAK SA 501 Annual Report 2014 Final.Docx 28 September 2015 PUGET SOUND ENERGY Baker River Hydroelectric Project Page iii

List of Tables Table 1. Prescribed capital funding summary for all 500-series articles with capital budgets. ........................................................ 3

Table 2. Prescribed operations and maintenance funding summary for all 500-series articles. ...................................................... 3 Table 3. Delivered operations and maintenance funding summary for all 500-series articles. ....................................................... 4

List of Figures Figure 1. E-mail message from PSE accompanying the draft report. .............................................................................................. 9

BAK SA 501 Annual Report 2014 Final.Docx 28 September 2015 PUGET SOUND ENERGY Baker River Hydroelectric Project Page 1

1.0 Executive Summary This Terrestrial Resource Management Plan Annual Report reviews the actions taken in 2014 to implement the 500-series articles in the comprehensive settlement agreement for the Baker River Hydroelectric Project. These activities, conducted in accordance with SA 501 “Terrestrial Resource Management Plan,” included:

• Terrestrial Resources Implementation Group (TRIG) meetings. During the reporting period, the TRIG held four regular meetings.

• Implementation of settlement agreement articles 502–504 and 506–517. See the attached implementation reports for details.

• Expenditures of prescribed and delivered funds associated with all terrestrial articles of the settlement agreement (that is, SA 501–517). PSE spent a total of $1,053,746 on capital and $565,712 on operations and maintenance during the reporting period.

Funding expenditures in 2014 for SA 501 pertain to the activity listed above, and are outlined in section 3 of this report.

2.0 General Report 2.1 Background

This Terrestrial Resource Management Plan Annual Report has been prepared for the Baker River Hydroelectric Project (or Baker River Project), pursuant to the Order on Offer of Settlement, Issuing New License and Dismissing Amendment Application as Moot dated October 17, 2008 (the license). In appendix A of the license, license settlement agreement article (SA) 501, “Terrestrial Resource Management Plan,” sets forth the applicable requirements for the Terrestrial Resource Management Plan (TRMP), which in turn sets forth the requirements of this annual report.

This annual report summarizes the activities conducted under SA 501 in 2014, including management activities, monitoring, design and planning, acquisition-related activities, consultation, documents prepared, modifications to or deviations from the TRMP, issues and resolution, accounting, and proposed changes to the TRMP. This report was prepared by Puget Sound Energy and reviewed by the Terrestrial Resource Implementation Group (TRIG), which is composed of representatives of the signatories to the settlement agreement and other interested parties.

The TRMP is the “umbrella” plan to which all of the other 500-series settlement agreement articles (except for SA 505) are appended. This report provides a summary of the annual reports for these articles, a financial report for all 500-series articles, and copies of the individual annual reports. This SA 501 TRMP annual report contains the service list for the TRIG review of all of the 500-series documents, along with a table of reviewer comments and PSE replies/revisions.

Terrestrial Resource Management Plan 2014 Annual Report Financial Report


2.2 Reporting Period The reporting period for the Terrestrial Resources Annual Report is the calendar year 2014.

2.3 Terrestrial Resources Implementation Group The TRMP was prepared collaboratively by the Baker River Project Terrestrial Resource Implementation Group (TRIG), which consists of representatives of the signatories to the settlement agreement and other parties with interest in the terrestrial resources of the Baker River basin. The purpose of the TRIG is to collaboratively implement the terrestrial articles of the license.

Puget Sound Energy is implementing the TRMP with TRIG oversight. The TRMP identifies the programs and actions Puget Sound Energy will undertake to comply with the terrestrial resource articles of the settlement agreement. In addition, Puget Sound Energy, in consultation with the TRIG, will continue to develop various site-specific and resource-specific procedures to implement plans successfully. Puget Sound Energy and the other TRIG members continue to collaborate on site-specific and resource-specific procedures, and implement them according to the TRMP. Puget Sound Energy will report on TRMP implementation to the TRIG and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) through annual reports. If Puget Sound Energy and other TRIG members find it necessary to modify the TRMP, they will collaboratively propose amendments for submittal to the FERC.

Over the term of the license, the TRIG will convene at least annually in person, or by conference call or other medium, to review TRMP implementation since the previous meeting and discuss implementation planned for the upcoming period.

During 2014, the TRIG held four regular meetings.

2.4 Annual Review of the TRMP Settlement agreement article 501 states that Puget Sound Energy “shall review the TRMP annually thereafter during the first ten years of the license, and every fifth year for the remaining term of the license.” During the December 4, 2014 TRIG meeting, PSE, together with the rest of the TRIG, reviewed the TRMP documents to determine whether any changes to the plans were warranted. The group determined that no changes were needed.

3.0 Financial Report Puget Sound Energy, pursuant to settlement agreement articles 102, 201, 301, 501, and 602, is required to provide an annual summary of expenditures made during the preceding year, as well as an accounting of funding expenditures, any interest earned, disbursements made as required by any article, and adjustments for inflation. This section provides an accounting of all expenditures made between January 1 and December 31, 2014 for all of the SA 500-series articles (tables 1, 2 and 3).

All disbursement adjustments and relevant calculations were determined using the guidelines provided in settlement agreement article 602.



3.1 Funding and Expenditures Prescribed by SA 501 Tables 1 and 2 below show the funding prescribed by the license, which is sometimes referred to as “capped” funding. PSE funding for SA 501, SA 506, SA 507, a portion of SA 508, SA 509, SA 510, SA 512, and SA 513 is “delivered” funding. Delivered funding refers to PSE’s obligation to perform (or “deliver”) an article activity for which no funding amount has been prescribed in the license or in any related implementation plan document.

Table 1. Prescribed capital funding summary for all 500-series articles with capital budgets.

Settlement Agreement Article

Balance at end of 2013

2014 Disburse-

ments Interest Escalation

2014 Expendi-

tures Balance

Remaining 502 – Forest 163,481 0 82 N/A 0 163,563 503 – Elk 2,444,289 0 1,244 N/A 324,633 2,120,900 504 - Wetland 67,952 0 34 N/A 0 67,986 505 - Riparian 2,140,253 0 989 N/A 729,113 1,412,129

Totals 4,815,975 0 2,349 0 1,053,746 3,764,578

Table 2. Prescribed operations and maintenance funding summary for all 500-series articles.

Settlement Agreement Article

Balance at end of 2013

2014 Disburse-

ments Interest Escalation

2014 Expendi-

tures Balance

Remaining 501 – TRMP N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 502 – Forest 5,135 5,000 5 570 2,507 8,203 503 – Elk (4,933) 640,983a 21 6,052 345,488 296,634 504 - Wetland 159,297 20,000 91 2,421 54 181,754 505 - Riparian 323,007 0 162 0 0 323,169 506 – Osprey N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 507 – Loons N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 508 – Weedsb 71,857 15,000 44 1,685 2,239 86,347 509 – PSS N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 510 - C. flava N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 511 – Legacy 59,141 10,000 33 1,210 4,111 66,273 512 - BE survey N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 513 - BE plans N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 514 – HEP 3,889 90,000c 51 10,894 5,797 99,037 515 - Late Seral 0 0 0 0 0 0 516 - Mt. goat 74,635 0 0 0 0 74,635 517 – Grizzly 27,648 0 0 0 27,648 0 Totals 719,676 780,983 407 22,832 387,844 1,136,052

a 2014 disbursements included $50,000 annual funding plus $590,983 from log sales from the Burpee Hill timber harvest bFunding for SA 508 is for reed canarygrass control in seven U.S. Forest Service wetlands. cFunding for the remainder of the 10-year funding amount was disbursed in 2014.



3.2 Additional Expenditures for 500 Series Articles In addition to prescribed funds spent on the terrestrial (series 500) articles, PSE provided “delivered” funding for articles, specifically for activities (labor, outside services, materials, meetings, etc.) for which no dollar amounts were prescribed within the associated settlement agreement article. PSE spent the following “delivered” funds (approximate dollar amounts) during 2014:

Table 3. Delivered operations and maintenance funding summary for all 500-series articles.

Settlement Agreement Article PSE Expenditure in 2014 SA 501 TRMP $32,023 SA 502 Forest $1,694

SA 503 Elk $31,478 SA 504 Wetland $938 SA 505 Riparian $46,109 SA 506 Osprey $21,662

SA 507 Loon Platforms $16,327 SA 508 Noxious Weeds $19,546

SA 509 PSS $5,134 SA 510 C. flava $590

SA 511 Legacy Wood $334 SA 512 Bald Eagles $909

SA 514 HEP $1,124 Total Delivered Funding $177,868

3.3 Total Funding Expenditures for SA 501 PSE spent a total of $1,053,746 on capital, and $387,844 on “capped” operations and maintenance (O&M) and $177,868 on “delivered” O&M expenditures for a total of $565,712 O&M expenditures, for all 500 series articles during the reporting period.

3.4 Adjustments There are no funding requirements for SA 501.

Terrestrial Resource Management Plan 2014 Annual Report Activity Report Summaries for 500-Series Articles


4.0 Activity Report Summaries for 500-Series Articles SA 501 – Terrestrial Resources Management Plan

During the 2014 reporting year, activities accomplished in implementation of the 500-series settlement agreement articles are listed below by their respective settlement agreement (SA) article number.

SA 502 – Deciduous Forest Habitat The activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 502 included:

• Monitoring of knotweed at Burpee Hill treatment sites. • Restoration planting at Burpee Hill knotweed treatment sites. • Monitoring of neotropical migratory birds in forest habitat management units at

Burpee Hill in accordance with SA 514, “Effectiveness Monitoring.” • Legacy wood management at Burpee Hill. • Development and review of the SA 502 annual report for 2013.

Section 4 of this report outlines 2014 funding expenditures for SA 502.

SA 503 – Elk Foraging Habitat In 2014, the TRIG directed PSE to: • Amend the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) long-term forest practices

permit at Alder Creek for the removal of culverts in fish-bearing streams. • Retire roads BI-1413-10 and -12 on the Alder Creek property. • Construct a new gate on road BI-36-10. • Thin young forested areas to create new forage areas in unit AC-U-5.0. • Mow restored pasture areas to reduce the potential for weed establishment. • Conduct goshawk surveys of harvest units at Burpee Hill. • Harvest timber in Burpee Hill Units 4.1 and 6. • Repair and improve roads at Burpee Hill related to the timber harvest. • Purchase a new property, the Burpee Hill South property. • Prepare a timber management plan for the Burpee Hill South property. • Conduct pre-acquisition surveys on several land parcels. • Prepare DNR permits for timber work. • Create work plans for the Alder Creek and Burpee Hill properties.

SA 504 – Wetland Habitat Activities for implementation of SA 504 during 2014 included: a field visit for vegetation enhancement opportunities in a wetland management unit at Alder Creek.



SA 505 – Aquatic Riparian Habitat In 2014, efforts under SA 505 included:

• The solicitation and review process for identifying and selecting Aquatic Riparian Habitat Protection, Restoration, and Enhancement Plan (ARP) implementation projects.

• Selection of two restoration projects for ARP implementation and initiation of these projects.

• Ongoing implementation of previously approved projects. • A process improvement meeting.

SA 506 – Osprey Nest Structures Major tasks completed include monitoring osprey nesting success on Lake Shannon and Baker Lake by boat, conducting a helicopter productivity survey, and submitting annual reports to the FERC as required.

SA 507 – Loon Floating Nest Platforms Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 507 included:

• Re-installation of the Lake Shannon platform prior to the loon nesting season. • Maintenance of the Baker Lake platforms. • Twice-monthly monitoring of loon activity on both Project reservoirs during the

nesting season (April 1 – July 31). No loon nesting attempts were observed during the reporting period.

• Twice-monthly monitoring of the access restriction devices during the loon nesting surveys.

• Development and TRIG review of the SA 507 annual report for 2013. • Development of the SA 507 monitoring report for 2014 and submittal to the TRIG.

SA 508 – Noxious Weeds Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 508 included:

• Noxious weed management planning. • Noxious weed treatment and monitoring. • Noxious Weeds Habitat Management Procedures document five-year update and

review.

SA 509 – Plants of Special Status Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 509 included:

• A pre-disturbance rare plant survey near Swift Creek. • Updating the SA 509 Plants of Special Status Habitat Management Plan.

SA 510 – Carex flava Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 510 included a site visit to the Carex flava population near Baker Lake.



SA 511 – Decaying and Legacy Wood The activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 511 included:

• Implementation of legacy wood management in forest habitat at Burpee Hill. • Evaluation of forest habitat and elk forage habitat areas for additional legacy wood

management sites. • Planning for legacy wood management at both the Alder Creek and Burpee Hill

properties. • Development and TRIG review of the SA 511 annual report for 2013. • FERC submittal of the legacy wood annual report for 2012.

SA 512 – Bald Eagle Night Roost Surveys The first round of surveys directed by SA 512 concluded in 2011, and was summarized in the SA 512 annual report for that year. SA 512 prescribes no further activity until year 15 of the license. PSE will next report on SA 512 at that time.

SA 513 – Bald Eagle Management Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 513 included:

• Development and TRIG review of the SA 513 annual report for 2013. • Completion of the aerial nest survey. • Documentation of incidental bald eagle observations during the nesting season. • Coordination with construction project managers, Project operations staff, and the

Recreation Resources Group (RRG) to minimize any potential disturbance to nesting or roosting bald eagles or their habitat from Project-related construction or recreation activities.

SA 514 – Effectiveness Monitoring Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 514 included:

• Year 2 of baseline monitoring in Burpee Hill Management Unit 2 in conjunction with SA 502, “Forest Habitat.”

• Baseline monitoring in Alder Creek Management Unit 5 in conjunction with SA 503, “Elk Foraging Habitat” pre-commercial thinning forage enhancement work.

• Deposit of the remaining “first 10 years of the license” funding, including escalation.

SA 515 – Late Seral Forest Growth Activities related to the implementation of SA 515 concluded in 2012. There will be no additional activities or annual reporting for SA 515.

SA 516 – Mountain Goats PSE provided the USDA Forest Service with funding ($74,635) for their ongoing SA 516 implementation activities in 2011. No funds were dispersed during the reporting period. The USDA Forest Service took no actions to implement SA 516 during the reporting period.

Terrestrial Resource Management Plan 2014 Annual Report Supporting Documents


SA 517 – Grizzly Bear Road Management Activities conducted in 2014 in accordance with SA 517 included:

• Providing funding to the USDA Forest Service for their implementation of SA 517 activities.

• Activities the USDA Forest Service performed in implementation of SA 517 including design work for and decommissioning of a portion of Forest Service Road 1107.

• This is the last annual report to be submitted for SA 517, since this article has been fully implemented and completed.

5.0 Supporting Documents This report includes, as attachments, the annual reports for SA 502–504 and SA 506–517.

6.0 Agency Comments 6.1 Distribution List

Table 4. Terrestrial Resource Management Plan 2014 Annual Report reviewers.

Name Organization E-mail address Brock Applegate Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife [email protected] Fenner Yarborough Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife [email protected] Len Barson The Nature Conservancy [email protected] Cathy Baker The Nature Conservancy [email protected] Roger Christophersen National Park Service [email protected] Mignonne Bivin National Park Service [email protected] Jack Oelfke National Park Service [email protected] Jason Ransom National Park Service [email protected] Mark Celedonia US Fish and Wildlife Service [email protected] Theresa Mathis USDA Forest Service [email protected] Shauna Hee USDA Forest Service [email protected] Bob Nelson Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation [email protected] Bill Richardson Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation [email protected] Scott Schuyler Upper Skagit Indian Tribe [email protected] Jon-Paul Shannahan Upper Skagit Indian Tribe [email protected] Doug Couvelier Upper Skagit Indian Tribe [email protected] Kara Symonds Skagit County [email protected] Jeff McGowan Skagit County [email protected] Stan Walsh Swinomish Indian Tribe [email protected] Peter McBride Swinomish Indian Tribe [email protected] Michael Wolten Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe [email protected] Emily Wirtz Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe [email protected]



6.2 Cover Message From: Fuchs, Anthony D -Tony Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 5:13 PM To: Applegate, Brock A (DFW); Bob Nelson; Jason Ransom; Kara Symonds; Len Barson; Mark Celedonia; Michael Wolten; Scott Schuyler; Theresa Mathis; Bill Richardson; Cathy Baker; Doug Couvelier; Emily Wirtz; Fenner Yarborough; Jack Oelfke; Jeff McGowan; Jon-Paul Shannahan; Mignonne Bivin; Peter McBride; Roger Christophersen; Shauna Hee; Stan Walsh Cc: Flynn, Tom; Heller, Scott W; Edwards, Haley; Walters, Melvin L -Mel; Hunting, Andrew; Hackbart, Alice; OpenText ECM --mail-- Subject: Baker River - 2014 draft annual report for SA 501 TRMP for TRIG "60-day" review Attachments: BAK SA 501 Annual Report 2014 - RevDraft.pdf TRIG members, PSE is forwarding the 2014 draft annual report for Settlement Agreement Article 501 - Terrestrial Resource Management Plan, to the Terrestrial Resources Implementation Group representatives for the "60-Day" review prior to submitting the report to FERC, according to the reporting schedule in SA 501 and recently modified by the January 16, 2015 FERC order. This report includes all of the SA 500 series of annual reports, which individually are found on PSE's FTP site at: Location: ftp://204.61.33.75/Baker_License/SA_501_2014/ User ID: bklice Password: L3gality! We are asking that comments on any of these reports be sent to Tony Fuchs via mail or e-mail by June 30th, 2015. This review is part of the TRIG review cycle established per Settlement Article 501- Terrestrial Resource Management Plan and subsequent FERC order. Thanks! Tony Anthony D. Fuchs Consulting Natural Resource Scientist Licensing - Terrestrial Puget Sound Energy P.O. Box 97034 PSE-09S Bellevue, WA. 98009-9734 425-462-3553 (w) 425-462-3223 (f)

Figure 1. E-mail message from PSE accompanying the draft report.



6.3 Summary of Reviewer Comments and PSE Replies Reviewer replies and comments were received from the USDA-Forest Service only.

Table 5. TRIG review comments and PSE responses for all 500-series annual reports.

Document Page Heading Comment (all by USDA-FS) PSE Response

Article 502 2 3.1.1 Suggest identifying plants as shrubs, trees, forbs for clarity. They are all tree species.

Article 502 4 3.1.3 Three surveys were conducted… are these vegetation surveys or bird surveys?

Bird surveys. Revised the text to clarify.

Article 502 4 and page ii Figure 3 Is this referring to vegetation or bird

species? Bird species. Revised the figure label to clarify.

Article 502 5 and page ii Figure 4 Is this referring to vegetation or bird

species? Bird species. Revised the figure label to clarify.

Article 502 Figures It would be nice to have the figures referred to in the narrative.

Added some text and provided a reference to the figures.

Article 503 1 1.0 – bullet 5 Might be good to identify where the mowing occurred.

Section 1 is an executive summary with summary details. Specific detail on the mowing is found in section 3.1 on page 2.

Article 503 1 1.0 – 2nd to last bullet DNR permits for which parcels?

Executive summary. Specific details for DNR permits for Alder Creek and Burpee Hill forestry work are found in section 3.1.

Article 503 2 3.1 (line 4) forest practices approval (HPA). Should this be FPA? Yes. Document updated.

Article 503 2 3.1 (Line 5) What is an FPA? The above question probably answers this. Forest Practices Approval.

Article 503 2 3.1 (2nd

paragraph 3rd line)

The gate has as a PSE GBQ-5 lock Yes.

Article 503 2 3.1 (3rd

paragraph last line)

What type of monitoring plots? Elk? Vegetation?

Both. The report has been updated, pointing to the SA 514 annual report for detail on the monitoring plots.

Article 503 2 3.1 (4th paragraph)

Is this mowing to reduce area of weeds or to prevent from going to seed? Is it too soon to determine success?

The pasture at that time was mowed to reduce weeds. Document updated. The success of the mowing program should be discussed at a future TRIG meeting.

Article 503 3 3.1 (last

sentence 1st paragraph)

Wood culvert needed replacement – rewrite to say was identified as needing replacement.

Document updated.

Article 503 3 3.1 (2nd paragraph)

60 feet of 48-inch steel pipe prior (Is this a culvert?) Yes.

Article 503 3 3.1 (2nd paragraph)

south end of the road at the Burpee Hill road. (south end of Burpee Hill Road?)

South end of road BH-1200 as stated earlier in sentence. Updated the document that the gate is at the intersection of the two roads.




Article 503 3 3.1 (3rd paragraph)

PSE has received about $590k from log sales in 2014, with the anticipation of another $85K to be received in 2015 as a result of late log sales, and likely about another $40K in costs associated with the harvest and burning of debris piles. Is the $40K received or is it a future expenditure? The sentence is confusing.

Future work, invoice to be received and paid in 2015.

Article 503 7 3.2 (1st paragraph)

PSE and the RMEF spent some time during the reporting period reviewing and updating our spreadsheet of potential acquisition properties, and identified several priority properties to work on during 2014. Is it 2014 or 2015?

We reported on 2014 activities, but identifying priority properties to work on is an action item for 2015 as well.

Article 503 7 3.2 (1st paragraph)

The new parcels will be called Burpee Hill South – is there more than 1 parcel?

Three tax lots, or “parcels,” purchased from the same owner, make up the Burpee Hill South property. All of our acquired properties consist of multiple tax lots or “parcels.” Document updated.

Article 504 2 Last sentence

The year’s remaining balance was previously $67,224, and is now $67,952. Table 1 shows a remaining balance of 67,986

The SA 504 report was updated to reflect that the 2013 remaining balance was previously $67,224 and is now $67,952. The 2014 balance is $67,986. Document updated.

Article 505 3 1st paragraph It is unclear what the mechanisms of invasive control and restoration are to be used.

The SA 505 annual report has a brief summary of each project. The Middle Skagit Riparian Stewardship Project full proposal includes all the information about the project. It is available upon request, or contact Jeremy Gilman, the USFS lead for SA 505. Document unchanged.

Article 505 3 3.1.1 1st paragraph

The result of this project will eventually be a mature and functioning native riparian and the floodplain forest that provides shade, nutrients, and edge habitat complexity, and improves the future contribution of large woody debris to the river, providing habitat complexity and refuge for juvenile salmon. This sentence doesn’t make sense

The sentence has been modified. Document updated.

Article 505 5 2nd paragraph One issue identified is the northern stream crossing. Does this refer to the 2nd channel discussed above?

Yes, the second side channel and the northern stream crossing are different descriptions of the same area. The document has been clarified.




Article 505 5 Last paragraph

SRFB, PSAR, WRP, and CREP. – Acronyms should be identified at some point in the report.

Good suggestion; the document has been updated.

Article 505 6 SFEG-Utopia Installed. Installing trees and willow stakes? Would it be better to say planting?

I believe this in reference to the first paragraph of SFEG-Utopia, and it is from their full proposal document. It was what they intended to do. The following paragraphs describe what they have done. No change to the document.

Article 505 7 1st paragraph Willow whips. Are willow whips and willow stakes the same thing?

Yes, willow whips and willow stakes are the same thing. No change to the document.

Article 506 7 3.2 2nd paragraph

Nest 3 – is this the same nest as described in the last line of Table 1 as Platform 3

Yes.

Article 506 7 3.2 4th paragraph

The number of nests Is this referring to active nests? Just some confusion.

Yes. Update made to document.

Article 507 8 1st paragraph

The Lake Shannon platform remained Is this the Bear Creek Platform as discussed at the bottom of page 7? The naming protocol for this nest is confusing throughout the document

Revised the text to clarify.

Article 507 3 3.1.3 2nd paragraph

Thirty two observations of loon in 2014? All 32 loons? But table 1 shows a group of 42 and another group of 96.

“Observations” refers to a sighting, regardless of the number of birds. Example: one observation identified a group of 96 individual loons. Provided clarification.

Article 511

Narrative could refer to the figures provided. Maps of the additional snag creations would be helpful.

Added a reference to the figure in the text. We don’t have a map of the additional snags created by Janicki at this time.

Article 513 4 & 5 Map

There are yellow dots on the map but no information in the legend as to what they refer to. There are also arrows associated with the dots on the map on page 5 but no information on what they are referencing.

The yellow dots are the eagle observations. The legend was part of the original map created by R2, so I can’t alter it. The arrows represent flight paths, and are standard for this type of data collection. Will update the maps.