Proposed Conservation measures for:
Conservation Agreement for Graham’s and White River beardtongues
General comment before getting into the details, we will need to include in the termination clause that if either of these species are listed then the conservation agreement will immediately terminate. Also, I think a term of 15 years has been floated, but we need to address this very soon.
Formation of Conservation Team
 Formation of a conservation team dedicated to conservation of Graham’s and White
River beardtongues which will oversee and ensure implementation of the conservation activities listed in this document. The conservation team will meet at least annually to review conservation actions and produce a report for USFWS. o All parties signatory to this agreement have the option to have one member assigned to a conservation team to review this agreement, and review and assess the effectiveness and implementation of the conservation actions in this agreement. The conservation team will also assist in the development of monitoring plans outlined in this agreement. o Immediately from the execution of this conservation agreement, the conservation team will consist of the signatories, non-federal landowners with land holdings within a conservation area, and their oil shale lessees. o Additional conservation team members do not have to be signatory to this agreement. The conservation team may also include additional members as approved by unanimous consensus of the signatories.
Factor: Oil and Gas exploration and development
Potential Impacts:

Direct mortality from surface disturbance

Indirect disturbance from surface disturbance including increased dust, introduction and spread of invasive, non-native plant species, and habitat fragmentation;

Restricted pollinator movement, mortality and disturbance from roads and associated traffic, and energy emissions;
Conservation Actions: On Federal lands, oil and gas exploration and development will conform with BLM special status plants species policies. Additionally, subject to valid existing rights and activities needed to develop those rights, designated conservation areas (Figure 1) will be managed with no new surface disturbance from the date this agreement is fully executed. On non-federal land outside of conservation areas no conservation actions will be taken. On nonfederal lands within a conservation area pre-site surveys will be conducted and exploration and development will be in consultation with conservation team and avoid, minimize, and mitigate.


Surveys/Monitoring/BMPs

Prior to any surface disturbance on federal and non-federal lands in suitable habitat surveys will be conducted within the area of disturbance and out to 300 feet from the edge of the disturbance to determine species presence, population and distribution. Surveys will follow standard survey protocol as detailed in the US Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS) Utah Field Office Guidelines for
Conducting and Reporting Botanical Inventories and Monitoring of Federally Listed, Proposed and Candidate plants (2011).

On all federal and non-federal lands the conservation team will collect seeds and /or salvage a portion of plants from areas to be disturbed in order to ensure genetic representation of the species.

The BLM and other signatories will develop and implement a monitoring and adaptive management plan, to be approved by consensus of the conservation team. This monitoring plan will include:

A weed management plan within and adjacent to designated conservation areas that includes monitoring and treating invasive species

A species monitoring plan to determine trends in plant populations across their ranges and identify significant threats to the species.

Solicit funding for a peer-reviewed pollinator study to determine movement patterns, and characteristics of nesting habitat for suitable pollinators, and characteristics of the native plant community needed to maintain suitable habitat for pollinators, especially the masarid wasp ( Pseudomasaris vespoides )
Factor: Oil shale development
Potential Impacts :

Direct mortality from surface disturbance;

Indirect disturbance from surface disturbance including increased dust, introduction and spread of invasive, non-native plant species, and habitat fragmentation;

Community and habitat disturbance from surface disturbance including soil and vegetation removal;

Increased dust emissions;

Restricted pollinator movement, mortality and disturbance from roads and associated traffic, and energy emissions;

Habitat loss/fragmentation; and

Increased sedimentation and erosion.
Conservation Actions: o


Federal lands: Subject to valid existing rights and activities needed to develop those rights, designated conservation areas (Figure 1) will be managed with no new surface disturbance from the date this agreement is signed.

Non-Federal Land Designations: There are two categories of non-federally managed lands: non-conservation areas and conservation areas. o Non-conservation areas are designated as those areas in suitable habitat where surface mining activities will occur unimpeded by this agreement. It is understood that voluntary conservation measures may take place on these lands, and those voluntary conservation measures will be considered by the conservation team in evaluating the conservation of the species. These voluntary measures will be reported back to the conservation team. o Conservation areas will be managed as delineated below:

Designation and Management of Conservation Areas: The areas outlined in Figure 1 (TBD) and encompassed by the coordinate vertices in
Appendix 1 (TBD) will be designated as a conservation area. The areas delineated in Figure 1 were developed to represent the range of the species, encompass varying site conditions, ensure species stability (high density populations), maintain corridors between populations, and provide for redundancy of the species.

Conservation areas: If surveys identify new populations of either species, then the conservation team shall consider these new populations in modifying conservation area boundaries (we will need to address how and under what criteria we will incorporate new populations that may be critical for species conservation. We need to discuss as a group an adaptive management process to address the conservation of high value areas that are found during future surveys on federal and non-federal lands.). In general, future populations and conservation area modifications should include a continuous area and connected populations with limited fragmentation to ensure maximum connectivity between sites.

Ecological restoration on non-federal lands: Surface disturbance may occur within a portion of the areas designated for the conservation of
Graham’s penstemon and White River penstemon on non-federal lands if ecological restoration is planned, funded and demonstrated to be successful on a large scale. Ecological restoration must include the restoration of ecological processes, function, structure and components integral to the ecosystem where the two species occur. o

A scientific based peer-reviewed restoration study must demonstrate successful restoration of the species, its environment (ie. soils, moisture regime) and its community components (ie pollinators, other flowering plants) prior to surface disturbance in designated conservation areas on non-federal lands.


A restoration plan will be developed by the conservation team and approved by the USFWS with goals and reference areas identified and success criteria outlined and measured. o

Factors of success will include successful recruitment of the species, stable or increasing population of recruited plants, genetic representation, lack of inbreeding depression, suitability of substrate characteristics and intactness of community components including pollinators and other flowering plants including other oil shale endemics such as Dragon milkvetch ( Astragalus lutosus ), oilshale columbine ( Aquilegia barnebyi ),
Barneby’s thistle (
Circium barnebyi ), oilshale cryptantha ( Crypthantha barnebyi
), Graham’s cryptantha (
Cryptantha grahamii
), Rollins’ cryptantha ( Cryptantha rollinsii ), and ephedra buckwheat ( Eriogonum ephedroides ). Understanding the mechanisms related to recruitment for the species and other community components will be important to the restoration process.

If available, development of restoration protocols should utilize previously occupied parcel prior to development of designated conservation areas so that there is no net loss of occupied habitat. o Any de minimus surface disturbance in designated conservation areas will be done in consultation with the conservation team prior to disturbance. o The restoration of the conservation area to be developed must be funded in advance of development.
Factor: Inadequacy of Existing Regulatory Mechanisms
Potential Impacts :

Lack of rangewide protection;

Loss of plants/ habitat under Federal ownership;

Loss of plants/habitat under private ownership; and

Habitat loss and fragmentation.
Conservation Actions:

The BLM will ensure that ongoing and future Federal actions support or do not preclude the species conservation. To that end, the BLM shall involve USFWS at their discretion and the appropriate State agencies in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis as cooperators or partners for all projects likely to affect the species and its habitat. All projects located in designated conservation areas and their potential to impact the species will be reported in the Conservation Team annual report to the
USFWS.

The BLM will retain Graham’s and White River beardtongues on the BLM Special Status
Species list to ensure that the effects of proposed projects are analyzed for the species.

If federal land is transferred to the state of Utah, the state agrees to maintain the designated conservation areas and protections for the two species in the transferred

parcels. This requirement does not apply to those lands currently included in the recreational land exchange, unless SITLA agrees. Also this is only applicable to federal lands in conservation areas that would be exchanged to SITLA and SITLA could identify subsequent lands to be placed in conservation areas in lieu of the parcels to be acquired.

The BLM will incorporate the provisions of this CCA or the latest amendments to this
CCA into its Resource Management Plan, permitting requirements, agency planning documents and budgets. Within 3 months of the signature date of the CCA, BLM will incorporate the provisions of this plan into permits and budgets. Within 1 year BLM will incorporate the provisions of this agreement into their regulations.

The Conservation Team will provide an annual report on the implementation of this agreement to USFWS. The report will also include monitoring results and adaptive management recommendations.


Uintah County will enact an ordinance with associated enforcement protocols and penalties that protect designated conservation areas from surface disturbance or other adverse impacts to the species on non-federal and non-state lands within 3 months after the signing of this CCA.

The State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) will enact a regulation within
3 months after the signing of this CCA that will protect designated conservation areas from surface disturbance or other adverse impacts to the species on SITLA lands

BLM will retain all land where Graham’s and White River beardtongues are present

 including sites that may become extirpated.
Factor: Grazing
Potential Impacts :

Herbivory of all or part of above ground portion of vegetative portion of plant;

Herbivory of all or part of the inflorescence;

Trampling of plant and habitat;

Change in community composition;

Invasive species invasion, spread and competition; and

Alteration of soil characteristics
Conservation Actions:

Solicit a peer-reviewed study on how grazing affects species reproduction, recruitment, plant community, and soil characteristics (for example, an exclosure study) to better characterize the threat and adjust grazing management.
Factor: Road construction
Potential Impacts :

Direct mortality from surface disturbance;


Invasive species invasion, spread and competition;

Increased dust emissions;

Restricted pollinator movement from roads; and

Habitat loss/fragmentation
Conservation Actions:

Where practical, outside of designated conservation areas new road construction and improvements maintenance will be planned to avoid sites and populations by 300 feet to ensure adequate uninterrupted pollinator movement.

Where practical, Outside of conservation areas where new road construction or improvements cannot avoid sites or populations the road will be planned to reduce fragmentation,

If the improvement or construction of a new road will result in the mortality or harm of plants, the seed will be collected and deposited with the appropriate CPC sponsored institution (Red Butte Garden and Denver Botanic Garden).

If road construction or maintenance will disturb more than 5% of plants in a site or more than one site then the organization responsible for construction will coordinate with the conservation team on the project.

Within one year develop and implement a dust management and suppression plan in all areas with exposed soils (roads, trails, well pads, surface mined areas, etc) that include the timing and type of suppression activity to be used.

Within 1 year the Conservation Team will develop, fund and implement a weed management plan to be approved by USFWS in designated conservation areas which includes repeated annual surveys to detect invasions and treatment of invasive species as soon as detected (also under energy exploration and development and livestock grazing).
Factor: Invasive weeds
Potential Impacts :

Invasion and establishment or non-native plants;

Competition; and

Community alteration
Conservation Actions:

Within 1 year the conservation team will develop, fund and implement a weed management plan (approved by consensus) in conservation areas which includes repeated annual targeted surveys to detect invasions and treatment of invasive species as soon as detected. This plan can be incorporated as part of a range-wide monitoring plan.

The weed management plan will identify treatment options for each known invasive species in the habitat of the species, with the goal of selecting the most appropriate option that controls weeds and minimizes adverse effects to Graham’s or White River beardtongues and their native plant community.


The conservation team will develop and implement a monitoring protocol in the weed management plan to determine the effectiveness of their actions.

The conservation team will review and update the weed management plan annually based on surveys and monitoring and other information and create an annual schedule of work targeting priority areas.

The weed management plan will develop and adopt best management practices for preventing the spread of invasive and/or exotic plants within the designated conservation areas on federal and non-federal lands.

The conservation team will provide an annual report as part of the range-wide monitoring report to the USFWS on the activities and accomplishments in controlling invasive weeds.
Factor: Small population size
Potential Impacts :

Stochastic events;

Inbreeding depression;

Lower sexual reproduction; and

Loss of genetic diversity
Conservation Actions:

Develop and implement a rangewide monitoring plan (approved by consensus of the conservation team) to determine trends in plant populations across the range of the species’. The plan should include continued monitoring at the current sites established by Red Butte Gardens.

Collect seed over multiple years in all areas where the species’ are present in accordance with USFWS and CPC guidelines for placement in storage at Red Butte Garden and the
National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation. A seed collection plan will be developed and implemented with approval from USFWS.

Continue demographic monitoring of the species.

Also see land conservation measures in Energy Exploration and Development section.
Factor: Climate change
Potential Impacts :

Mortality caused by drought;

Stress, lack of reproduction and recruitment and mortality caused by shifting rainfall patterns; and

Habitat degradation
Conservation Actions:

 As part of demographic monitoring of the species’ include a component to study the relationship between precipitation patterns and species’ growth, reproduction and recruitment and mortality. This may be accomplished by establishing weather monitoring equipment at existing long-term demographic sites currently monitored by
Red Butte Gardens.

Over the life of this plan identify and designate for conservation suitable habitat that is located on cooler, wetter slopes at higher elevations to ensure availability of future habitat.
Factor: Wildfire
Potential Impacts:

Mortality;

Community composition alteration;

Post-fire response ground disturbance; and

Increased invasion and competition from invasive species
Conservation Actions:

Any wildfire planning, response and post-wildfire actions on federal and non-federal lands in occupied habitat will include input from the conservation team.
Factor: Off-Road Vehicles
Potential Impacts:

Direct mortality;

Increased dust load; and

Fragmentation of habitat
Conservation Actions:

On federal lands, OHV traffic will be limited to designated routes and routes will be considered for closure, limited use or re-routing as appropriate to gain compliance and protect designated conservation areas.

On non-federal lands where OHV use occurs, landowners and managers will re-route
OHV use away from designated conservation areas.