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WETLANDS INVENTORY, ASSESSMENT, AND MONITORING
Impact/Purpose:
The Spirit Lake Nation Tribe will use the products of this project to monitor the environment within the reservation. They will address wetland characterization, management and analysis. Wetlands are the primary hydrologic feature of the reservation secondary only to Spirit Lake (commonly referred to as Devils Lake). The extent of co-mingling of agriculture and wetlands within the reservation, the hydrologic connection of those wetlands to the ground water system, and the recent increase in wetland acreage due to the current climatological wet cycle requires technical expertise, and data that are designed for an integrated approach. In order to increase technical proficiency regarding wetland inventory, characterization, assessment, and monitoring this project is needed and will provide the technical continuity required by the Spirit Lake Nation Five Year Wetlands Plan.
Description:
The duration of the work described in this proposal will be approximately 24 months. There will essentially be two cycles. During the first year the wildlife and vegetation inventories and the wetland assessments will be done for the area of the Warwick and Tokio Aquifers. The following year (year 2) the remainder of the primary permanent wetlands within the reservation will be inventoried and assessed. The Spirit Lake Nation Tribe will compile and maintain a reservation wide wetland inventory base on National Wetlands Inventory. This effort will require the implementation of criteria for uniform wetland identification, delineation, and mapping. The results of the inventory will be provided to tribal planning, natural resource, health offices as well as the US Geological Survey, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and local county entities. The inventory will need to be periodically updated as new information becomes available. Educational information will be developed to inform the general public about the wetlands inventory. 1) Wildlife inventory for the area of the Warwick and Tokio Aquifers. 2) Vegetation inventory for the area of the Warwick and Tokio Aquifers. 3) Wetland assessments for the area of the Warwick and Tokio Aquifers. 4) Wildlife inventory for the remainder of the Reservation. 5) Vegetation inventory for the remainder of the Reservation. 6) Wetland assessments for the remainder of the Reservation. 7) Define the hydrologic regime of various selected wetlands 8) Design wetland monitoring model and implement monitoring