Proposal for Monitoring and Research Demonstration (2)

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are oriented towards documenting species use, channel habitat configuration, and vegetation. The Monitoring Plan prioritizes monitoring needs in consultation with the FWS and NGPC. The Monitoring Plan has been filed with and approved by the FERC. The Districts under their FERC license articles are not directed to adaptively manage their properties; therefore the Districts' Monitoring Plan is not intended to and will not be sufficient to address adaptive management needs as outlined in Section III.B of the Proposed Program. The Districts do not have the monetary resources or expertise to undertake this proposed monitoring and research demonstration project, but believe that the information gained from such a project will result in information needed by the Program to more effectively manage the Cottonwood Ranch Property and other Program properties. The Districts' Monitoring Plan does include a vegetation monitoring component which would need to be modified to include the vegetation monitoring for this proposal. However, the Districts spending cap for monitoring will not allow for inclusion of the total vegetation monitoring cost and still complete other monitoring requirements such as wildlife use of the site and other properties managed by the Districts. This Proposal includes the additional money needed to conduct the monitoring and research recommended by the Technical Committee. Within the Cottonwood Ranch Property about 600 acres of riparian woodland will be removed. This vegetation clearing may have a substantial effect on erosion of banks, reintroduction of sediment into the channel, and deposition of this material downstream. The mechanics of these river processes need to be examined to determine the benefits of such actions, insure that no third party impacts occur and explore the effects on the overall dynamics of the ecosystem. Through the Development and Enhancement Plan, NPPD will undertake two specific channel widening activities that this monitoring and research study will assess. Within Cottonwood Ranch about 95 acres of river bank woodland will be removed. This vegetation clearing is intended to increase erosion of banks and thereby promote channel widening using a passive technique. In addition, NPPD will excavate 70001inear feet of `pilot' channels in abandoned channels of accretion land. Pilot channels are intended to convey river flows and promote channel expansion by increasing the amount of bankline exposed to river erosion. We will examine whether these techniques are timely, efficient, and effective. The second question we proposed to address is whether the management activities cause undesirable effects downstream. Reintroduction of sediment into the channel may result in deposition of this material downstream. If extensive re-deposition of sediment occurs, channel clearing could result in negative downstream impacts to channel maintenance or other negative effects. The mechanics of river processes need to be examined to determine the benefits of channel widening techniques, as well as appropriate measures to avoid or minimize potential adverse effects and third party impacts downstream. Proposed Goals and Objectives for Monitoring and Research This proposal is to implement monitoring and research on NPPD's Cottonwood Ranch Property, the first 2,650 acres of land protected under the Proposed Program. The overall goal of this monitoring and research is to provide information that will assist in the evaluation of management practices. Also, this work will help assess whether or not managed habitat can be sustained through river processes or if management results in long-term maintenance needs that must be completed with human and mechanical intervention. Page 6 of 15