Identification and Evaluation of Potential Thrid Party Impacts Related to the Habitat Component of the Proposed Platte River Recovery

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1.0 Introduction Governance Committee (GC) is responsible for implementing the Cooperative Agreement and ' includes individuals from the three states, DOI, environmental groups and water users. One goal of the Cooperative Agreement is to protect the habitat of targeted species in and along the Platte River in the Big Bend Region of Nebraska. This habitat goal will be achieved through acquisition, restoration and management of land and/or land interests along a 89 mile stretch of the Platte River between Lexington and Chapman, Nebraska. While the long -term goal is to protect and enhance 29,000 acres, the initial phase (also called "First Increment ") of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program has set a goal of protecting 10,000 acres of suitable habitat over the next thirteen years. The first 10,000 acres will include the Cottonwood Ranch (2,650 acres) that was previously acquired by the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD). Additionally, other lands that may be considered part of the initial 10,000 acres include conservation lands owned by the State of Wyoming and conservation easements acquired by the FWS. For the purposes of this study, the acquisition and management of these 10,000 acres will be referred to as the "Program ". Habitat protection under the Program will initially focus on enhancing and protecting wet meadow and channel habitat within blocks or segments which are suitable for development into habitat complexes (Cooperative Agreement, Appendix III, Page 7). Habitat protection and management strategies are being developed in the Cooperative Agreement's Habitat Protection Plan. The guidance document recommends that terrestrial and aquatic habitats somewhere 1 within the thirteen bridge segments along the Platte River between Lexington and Chapman, ed for the targeted species. Nebraska be managed g . . 1.2 Perceived and Hypothesized impacts Several perceived and hypothesized third party impacts associated with the proposed Program have been identified as a focus of this study. In identifying potential impacts, the Third Party Impact Subcommittee considered the results of the public meetings in August 1998 by NPPD regarding third party impacts. A key to the evaluation was to define the linkage between potential land use changes caused by the Program and the perceived and hypothesized impacts that have been identified to date. Hazen and Sawyer, in conjunction with the Third Party Impact Subcommittee, developed a set of Li impact variables that reflect potential third party impacts of the proposed Program. The impact variables are designed to address perceived and hypothesized economic, fiscal, environmental and social impacts associated with the Program scenarios. The impact variables are dependent on the goals and objectives of the Program as well as the perceived impacts. Changes in impact variables were measured relative to baseline conditions. The impact variables are listed below as , ; they relate to the perceived and hypothesized third party impacts. Hwd- 40210010.doc 1 -2 Third Party Impact Study Final Draft Report