2010-12-29_REPORT - M1988044 - Laserfiche WebLink

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minimum and sand mining should be restricted to only removing the excess sand that comes down the stream channel and threatens to bury and damage established riparian herbaceous and woody growths. The results of these exclosure studies and the chain of events during this study have rather clearly demonstrated the future management direction for the riparian corridor on the Lowry Range. Utilization is possible, but only if well planned and managed with a goal of not inflicting drastic damage to the riparian corridor that takes years and years to recover. Every effort in. management should be directed toward avoiding severe physical damage to large portions of the riparian vegetation, maintaining a stable water table, and providing large portions of the corridor where no utilization is allowed so as to provide for the plant materials for rapid recovery in utilized areas, even if that utilization is highly limited grazing. Impact on utilized areas should be managed such that annual recovery is allowed to occur with a no-impact utilization policy. A few weeks of grazing at the right time of the year can actually be beneficial but a few months of grazing should never be allowed if the riparian corridor is to be preserved. Encroaching sand from development upstream in Elbert County and erosion from uplands should occasionally be removed to avoid destruction of riparian vegetation by burial, but the depth of mining should be restricted to that which will not cause the water table to descend. In essence, sand management by removal of excesses is a wise action, but it should be highly limited in extent so as to avoid damaging large stretches of the stream corridor. In essence, any future sand removal should be for the purpose of re-establishing conditions for a return of riparian growth and, where appropriate, a return to fully vegetated wetland herbaceous growth. Sand removal to a greater extent, although less damaging in the long run than over grazing, can locally lower the water table such that it adversely affects the growth of adjacent more upland woody vegetation. Perhaps the very best management plan for the riparian corridor it to apply excellent management to upland areas so as to reduce the erosion of soils into the riparian corridor that results in burial and destruction of the riparian vegetation. As has been shown in many othi,;r studies, protection of riparian corridors in and and semi-arid climates is best achieved by managing upland vegetation. Excessive erosion in uplands is the single most important factor in the loss of riparian habitat in and and semi-arid lands. That said, wise management of the riparian corridor and avoidance of over utilization is very nearly of equal importance. But it is clear here as has been shown to be true elsewhere, there is little point in managing riparian corridors well if the uplands generate such huge loads of sediment as a result of poor management and utilization that the riparian corridor is buried in sand and dirt before it can even recover. Thus, both riparian and upland lands must be managed as a connected unit because they are units connected by water flow. As a general rule though, if one takes care of the uplands the bottomlands will pretty much take care of themselves, provided the bottomlands have only limited, highly controlled utilization. 2010 Annual Report Coal Creek Wetland Mitigation Permit DA 198811488 Page 19