DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge Draft (August, 2000) Comprehensive Conservation Plan Executive Summary

              U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
DeSoto
National Wildlife Refuge
Draft
(August, 2000)
Comprehensive
Conservation Plan
Executive Summary
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan
i
Background
In accordance with the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, a Draft
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) has been prepared for DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge.
The purpose of the CCP is to specify a management direction for the refuge for the next 15 years.
DeSoto NWR straddles the Missouri River about 25 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska, in Harrison and
Pottawattamie Counties, Iowa, and Washington County, Nebraska. The refuge is 7,823 acres in size,
of which 3,499 are in Iowa and 4,324 in Nebraska. It is best known for its remarkable snow geese
migration every autumn and for its Bertrand Collection of artifacts from a steamboat that sank in 1865
on the DeSoto Bend of the Missouri River on what is now the refuge. DeSoto Lake is a seven-mile
oxbow lake created in 1960 when the Corps of Engineers excavated a shorter channel and constructed
a levee to separate the new lake from the river.
DeSoto was established on March 12, 1958. It was authorized by the Migratory Bird Conservation
Act of 1929 for "…use as an inviolate sanctuary or for other management purposes, for
migratory birds." Later, the Refuge Recreation Act of 1962 identified additional purposes for which
the refuge was suitable: "...(1) incidental fish and wildlife-oriented recreational development, (2)
the protection of natural resources, (3) the conservation of endangered species or threatened
species…”
DeSoto’s mission statement elaborates on the refuge’s purposes: “To preserve and restore
indigenous biological communities, with emphasis on wetland and riverine flora and fauna, and
to provide both cultural and natural history interpretations for environmental education; and
wildlife-dependent recreation, where and when such uses are compatible with the primary
purposes of the refuge.”
DeSoto NWR manages a variety of habitats that provide resting, foraging, and nesting opportunities for
nearly 250 species of resident and migratory birds. The major habitat types
include woodlands (3,345 acres), freshwater aquatic (900 acres), croplands (1,990 acres), and native
grasslands (1,640 acres). DeSoto Lake contributes 788 acres of aquatic area to the refuge’s rich
habitat mix. This diversity of habitats supports an abundance of resident flora and fauna. This CCP
recommends that approximately 1,500 acres of cropland on DeSoto NWR be reverted to about 1,140
acres of native grasslands, 355 acres of cottonwood forest, and 14 acres of moist soil management
units and other wetland types.
Management techniques now used on the refuge include control of DeSoto Lake water levels, wetlands
and moist soil units; biological, chemical and mechanical control of invasive plant species; mowing,
haying and prescribed burning of grasslands; biological rotations on cropland; food plots; some tree
planting, grass seeding, and hunting of white-tail deer and waterfowl.
The CCP Planning Process
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The planning process for this CCP began with a “kick-off” meeting in July 1999. Initially, members of
the CCP planning team and refuge staff identified a list of issues and concerns that were associated with
refuge management. These preliminary issues and concerns were based on staff knowledge of the area
and association with citizens in the community. The planning team, consisting of refuge staff, Service
planners and a consultant to the Service, then invited refuge neighbors, organizations, local government
agencies, local staff of national and state government agencies, schools, and interested citizens to share
their thoughts in a focus group meeting (19 participants) on August 18, 1999 and at an open house
session on September 14, 1999 (12 participants). The planning team accepted oral and written
comments at the open house.
The focus group identified a number of issues facing DeSoto Refuge:
- Lake management issues - DeSoto Lake water quality
- Grassland/cropland balance - Invasive species
- Snow goose management - Riparian forests
- Drainage - Endangered species
- Regional perspective - Environmental monitoring
- Deer and beaver property damage - Biodiversity relative to landscape
- DeSoto Lake fishery management - Commitment to Bertrand exhibit
- Public use activities on refuge - Facilities maintenance and upkeep
- Outreach and education - Cooperation with public and agencies
- Prairie wetlands
In October, 1999, the planning team met for an intensive three-day workshop to develop and consider
four management alternatives that addressed these issues and concerns in different ways. The
alternatives generally describe levels of management varying from near passive to more intensive. Once
an alternative level of management was selected, methods for achieving that level could be developed
(goals, objectives and strategies). The four management alternatives considered were:
Alternative A: No Action — Current management practices would continue.
Alternative B: Maximize Restoration and Conservation of Historical Natural Resource
Conditions — Under this alternative, management would aim to restore pre-settlement, natural
resource conditions on the refuge.
Alternative C: Maximize Compatible Public Use Potentials — Refuge management would
emphasize the six compatible, priority wildlife-dependent uses.
Alternative D: Optimize Natural Resource Conditions and Public Use Potentials (Preferred) —
Management would seek the best or optimal balance between the competing ideals of wildlife
conservation and public use.
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Developing and implementing the CCP constitutes a “proposed action” by a Federal agency, and is
therefore subject to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which requires that the
environmental effects of the proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action be analyzed.
Accordingly, the above alternatives and the preferred alternative (C) are more fully described and
evaluated in an attached Environmental Assessment (Appendix A). This EA concludes that the
preferred alternative would not generate significantly adverse environmental impacts.
Subsequent planning team meetings in November, 1999 and January, 2000 were held with Region 3
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials and biologists in Fort Snelling, Minnesota to critique and revise
these draft alternatives and associated goals and objectives. In February, 2000 the planning team
again met for two days at DeSoto Refuge to further refine goals, objectives, and strategies. The first
draft of the CCP, prepared in February and March, was subjected to three rounds of review and
revision by the planning team and refuge staff, regional office, and the national office and other refuges
in subsequent months.
Highlights of the Recommended Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The CCP contains a number of goals, objectives, and strategies that will guide refuge management over
the next 15 years. These are presented in Chapter 5. Four goal areas were identified: wildlife
populations and habitat management, resource protection, public education and recreation, and
partnerships. The goals under each of these areas are presented below:
Wildlife Populations and Habitat Management Goals
< Manage DeSoto Refuge habitat to be attractive and beneficial to migratory waterfowl,
especially during migration seasons.
< Actively assist international efforts to reduce the mid-continent population of snow geese by at
least 5% each year from the 1998 population of about 3 million, down to an eventual level of
about half of that, in accordance with recommendations of the Arctic Goose Habitat Working
Group.
< Monitor the health, viability, and size of fish and wildlife populations on the refuge with enough
accuracy to detect significant changes and take appropriate management actions.
< Augment opportunities on the refuge for nesting, resting and foraging of non-game and Trust
bird species, in particular those songbird and neotropical species listed in Region 3’s Resource
Conservation Priorities, by gradually reverting cropland into other more natural habitats.
.
< Manage refuge croplands in a manner compatible with refuge purpose, mission, and identified
wildlife habitat needs. Ensure that cropland acreage is at the minimum necessary to accomplish
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habitat and wildlife food objectives.
< Maintain or increase bald eagle use of DeSoto NWR as a migratory stop-over
and potential nesting area.
< Manage DeSoto Lake to conserve and enhance habitat value for fish and waterfowl, and to be
the geographic focal point of DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge.
< Control and reduce the presence of exotic, invasive, and nuisance species of plants and animals
on the refuge.
< Manage the size of the white-tailed deer herd on the refuge through controlled hunts in order to
minimize over-browsing and complaints of crop damage while continuing wildlife-dependent,
compatible uses of hunting and wildlife observation.
< Conserve cottonwood dominance in the canopy of DeSoto NWR riparian forests for wildlife
habitat value.
Resource Protection Goals
< Adequately protect all natural and cultural resources, staff, and visitors, equipment, facilities,
and other property on the refuge from those of malicious intent in an effective, professional
manner.
< Maintain and preserve, in perpetuity, the entire Bertrand Collection and associated records.
< Provide for the safety of staff and visitors.
Public Education and Recreation Goals
< Provide a variety of educational and interpretive opportunities for an increasing number and
broad diversity of on-site visitors – including those from local communities, the region, the
nation, and the world – about the natural and cultural resources of DeSoto NWR, the Lower
Missouri River ecosystem, and the mission of FWS.
< Provide and maintain a variety of sites and facilities at a number of locations throughout the
refuge that encourage visitors to observe and photograph wildlife and other refuge resources
and features, either from their vehicles or on foot.
< Protect, restore, and manage sport fish habitat and populations in DeSoto Lake to provide
quality recreational fishing opportunities for refuge visitors.
< Provide opportunities for compatible natural resource collection and consumptive uses, such as
hunting, fruit, nut and berry picking, mushroom harvesting and firewood gathering.
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Snow goose by Bob Hines, USFWS
< To raise the profile and visibility of DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge locally, regionally and
nationally by maintaining an active public affairs program that keeps local communities and
officials aware of refuge events and activities.
Partnership Goals
< Augment DeSoto staff productivity through participation of volunteers in a variety of capacities
at the refuge.
< Actively encourage and provide assistance and logistical support to qualified researchers so as
to support ongoing cooperative investigations of long-term management importance to the
refuge, such as lake management and renovation, lake water quality, Missouri River issues,
habitat utilization by wildlife, snow geese population management, grassland ecology,
sustainable agriculture, Steamboat Bertrand artifacts preservation, and so forth.
< Increase acreage of new and restored privately-owned wetland and upland habitat within the
18-county management district of the DeSoto NWR Private Lands program. This involves
actively providing technical assistance to private landowners and habitat-related interagency
coordination with other state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations.
< In partnership with Iowa and Nebraska private and public organizations, acquire private land
that is adjacent to the refuge or other public lands as viable opportunities occur.
< Increase level of active cooperation with NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) on
different aspects of on-refuge and off-refuge management and educational efforts, both with
greater number of NGO’s as well as a greater level of effort.
< Assist outside parties interested in research and study of the Bertrand Collection.
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DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge
Comprehensive Conservation Plan Approval
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 3
Submitted By:
________________________________________________________________
Larry Klimek Date
Refuge Manager
Concur:
_________________________________________________________________
Name Date
_________________________________________________________________
Name Date
_________________________________________________________________
Nita Fuller Date
Assistant Regional Director
Refuges and Wildlife
Approve:
_________________________________________________________________
William Hartwig Date
Regional Director, Region 3
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Acknowledgments
Many organizations, agencies and individuals provided valuable assistance with the preparation of this
Comprehensive Conservation Plan. We gratefully acknowledge the input and support of those natural
resource professionals and refuge neighbors who participated with DeSoto staff in the kick-off meeting
on July 8, 1999, including Mike LeValley and Mark Wilson of the Service’s Missouri River Natural
Resources Committee and Columbia Field Office, respectively; a focus group meeting on August 18,
1999, including Warren Bielenberg, Gary Guge, Scott Hygnstrom, Russell Kurth, Bruce Mountain,
Steve Rothe, Rich Scebold, Jeff Schuckman, Bob Seitz, Tim Sproul, Kent Thomas and Fred Van
Dyke; members of the public and agency representatives who participated in an open house on
September 14, 1999, including Bob Crogan, Brian Hansen, David Hansen, Richard L. Johnson, Bob
Moore, George Oliver, Lester Rurup, Ed Tuttle, Bruce Thomas, William Thomas, Fred Wupper and
John Wupper; and finally, those dedicated DeSoto staff who enthusiastically brainstormed during a 3-
day alternatives workshop in October, 1999 and a 2-day meeting in February, 2000, to consider goals,
objectives, and strategies, including George Gage, Marco Buske, Bill Lutz, Mindy Sheets, Sarah Tuttle,
Steve Van Riper, and Bruce Weber, as well as Jim Milligan of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s
Columbia FRO.
Region 3 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is grateful to the Midwest Interpretive Association,
Ducks Unlimited, the Omaha Chapter of the National Audubon Society, and the Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts of America for their dedication to DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge and making it an outstanding
example of cooperation and partnership with the community.
The Region is equally grateful to every volunteer who contributes time to the programs offered at
DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge. Volunteers are truly the backbone of the nation’s conservation
efforts. America and the world are crossing the threshold of a new century and a new millennium, one
filled with both promise and peril for wildlife and wild places. Thanks in no small part to a century of
civic action, professional stewardship and committed volunteers, America’s wildlife faces better
prospects at the onset of the 21st century than 100 years ago at the onset of the 20th.
Cover photograph: Snow geese at DeSoto
Credit: John Jave
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DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
credit: David Menke
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