Rare Plant Program

Rare Plant Conservation on Bureau of Land Management Lands

John Willoughby

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages just over 14.5 million acres of public lands in California, including some in almost every one of California's 58 counties (the California State Office is also responsible for the management of an additional 1.5 million acres in northwestern Nevada).  These public lands are habitat for many of the rare plants included in this Inventory.  Currently, 262 special status plants are known to occur on BLM lands in California.  An additional 177 special status plants are suspected to occur on BLM lands, but their presence has not yet been documented.

Special Status Plants
BLM uses the term "special status plants" to include all of the following: (1) Federally-listed and proposed species; (2) Federal candidate species; (3) State-listed species; and (4) sensitive species.  Sensitive species are those species that do not meet any of the first three criteria, but which are designated by the State Director for special management consideration.  Plants on List 1B (Plants Rare, Threatened, or Endangered in California and Elsewhere) of the CNPS Inventory that do not meet any of the first three criteria are considered sensitive by BLM in California.  Sensitive plants receive the same level of protection as Federal candidate species.

Nationwide Bureau policy on the management of special status species (both plants and animals) is given in BLM Manual 6840.  California's policy on the management of candidate and sensitive plants predates the national policy and is generally more restrictive.  California's policy was first developed in 1977 in recognition of the fact that many candidate and sensitive plants require the same level of conservation as Federally-listed plants.  The policy is to conserve and recover listed species and to manage the habitats of candidate and sensitive species to ensure that BLM actions do not contribute to the need to list any of these species.  The policy and guidelines for the management of special status plants in California is given in California BLM Manual Supplement 6840.06 and Manual Handbook H-6840-1.

The BLM Program in California
In California, the BLM is continuing to pursue the eight‑point program outlined in previous edition of this Inventory.  This program consists of the following elements: (1) inventory; (2) designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), including Research Natural Areas (RNAs); (3) monitoring; (4) research; (5) protection and restoration; (6) public education; (7) land acquisition; and (8) volunteer assistance.  Significant advances have been made in all of these areas.  Some examples are given below.

Inventory.  BLM conducts two basic types of inventories: (1) NEPA-inventories, which assess the effects of actions BLM authorizes or carries out on any special status plant species that might be present in a project area (these are required under the National Environmental Policy Act), and (2) species-directed inventories to better determine the endangerment status of particular special status plants.  The former, while important, do not typically yield as much useful information as the latter.  This is because NEPA-inventories usually cover only small areas of public lands and often yield negative information (they tell us where the plants are not).  Species-directed inventories, on the other hand, help determine whether particular plant species should be added or removed from the sensitive species list.  BLM has expended considerable effort in species-directed inventories throughout the State, particularly in the San Joaquin Valley, the Mojave and Colorado deserts, and the Great Basin of northeastern California and Inyo and Mono counties.  Much, however, remains to be done.

Designation of ACECs and RNAs.  BLM has designated 40 ACECs and RNAs, covering more than 433,000 acres, specifically to protect rare plants and other botanical resources (five more have been proposed for this purpose).  Such designation requires that special management attention be given to these important resources.  There is an indication that additional funding may be forthcoming beginning in fiscal year 2001 to manage ACECs, RNAs, and other special areas.

Monitoring.  Most monitoring by BLM personnel in California consists of returning to known sites of special status plants, observing any threats, filling out California Natural Diversity Database field survey forms, and possibly estimating the number of individuals using a logarithmic scale (1-10, 11-100, 101-1000, etc.).  Several quantitative studies are conducted regularly including monitoring of special status plants on Red Mountain, Mendocino County; in Clear Creek and vicinity, San Benito County; in the Red Hills, Tuolumne County; at Ash Valley, Lassen County; and in several vernal pools in the Sacramento Valley.  Beginning in 1998, long-term monitoring was initiated at the Algodones Dunes, Imperial County, to track the status of the six special status plants found there, as well as the patterns of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in the southern part of the dunes.  CNPS employees and volunteers have been assisting BLM in this effort.

Research.  Some recent research activities include a cooperative project with CNPS, the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and The Nature Conservancy to investigate the seed germination requirements and reintroduction of Owens Valley checkerbloom (Sidalcea covillei) into its native alkali meadow habitat; a three year study in cooperation with CDFG to better understand community interactions and grazing impacts on six vernal pool plants and macroinvertebrates in Tehama County; a study of the ecology of California vervain (Verbena californica) in the Red Hills of Tuolumne County; a cooperative study with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, CNPS, and the University of Montana to investigate the ecophysiology of Fish Slough milk-vetch (Astragalus lentiginosus var. piscinensis); and a quantitative vegetation analysis of the Pine Dunes Research Natural Area, Lassen County.

Protection and restoration.  Many actions have been taken to protect and restore the habitat of special status plants and rare plant communities.  Recent examples include: (1) massive removal of European beachgrass, yellow bush lupine, and iceplant on coastal dunes where the endangered plants, Humboldt Bay wallflower (Erysimum menziesii ssp. eurekense) and beach layia (Layia carnosa), and the rare pink sand verbena (Abronia umbellata ssp. breviflora) are being displaced by both the invasive and soil altering attributes of these weeds; (2) cooperative projects with CNPS and Desert Survivors to revegetate alkali meadow habitats inhabited by the special status plants, alkali ivesia(Ivesia kingii var. kingii) and Hall’s meadow hawksbeard (Crepis runcinata ssp. hallii), that have been damaged by OHVs; (3) extensive restoration of riparian and wetland vegetation in the Mojave and Colorado deserts; (4) protective fencing around several special status plant occurrences; and (5) development of species management guides and habitat management plans to direct future management of special status plant habitat.

Public education.  BLM conducts numerous field trips and natural history talks, both in the field and in schools and communities.  Interpretive signs and kiosks also help spread the word about the importance of conserving California’s rare flora.  BLM is cooperating with an ad hoc committee of Federal, State, and consulting botanists to develop a field guide to the rare plants of northern California.

Land acquisition.  BLM has a very active land acquisition program in California.  Many of the lands acquired support populations of special status plants.  For example, more than 100,000 acres of valuable rare plant and animal habitat have been acquired in the Carrizo Plain; the recent acquisition of the Payne Ranch in Lake and Colusa counties has brought 1,000 acres of serpentine habitat supporting adobe-lily (Fritillaria pluriflora) into public ownership; and the acquisition of 7,200 acres of the former Fort Ord Army Base will ensure that some of the last undisturbed maritime chaparral habitat in California and several rare plant and animal species remain in public ownership.

Volunteer assistance.  BLM depends heavily on the assistance of volunteers, including those from the CNPS.  Volunteers have helped in inventories for special status plants, in restoring riparian and dune areas, and in helping patrol areas like Fort Ord to ensure that recreationists stay on designated routes.

In California, BLM currently employs botanists in its State Office and in eight of its 15 Field Offices.  In addition to botanists, other BLM personnel – including rangeland management specialists, wildlife biologists, natural resource specialists, and ecologists – spend considerable time and effort on rare plant management.

A recent development with broad implications for the management of rare plants and plant communities is the adoption by BLM of standards for rangeland health.  BLM policy and regulations require that its rangelands (which comprise most of the lands managed by BLM in California) meet these standards.  There are standards for special status species, biodiversity, soil protection, and riparian/wetland management.  BLM is currently conducting rangeland health assessments on all of its grazing allotments in California.  Interdisciplinary teams visit each allotment and conduct qualitative assessments of both upland and riparian/wetland areas.  They also review monitoring and other information already on hand.  Based on this information a determination is made on whether the allotment is meeting or making significant progress toward meeting the standards.  If not, a change in grazing management must be made before the start of the next grazing season.  In addition to standards that must be achieved and/or maintained, there are also guidelines which must be complied with in order to graze the public rangelands.  These include such practices as allowing periods of rest from grazing pressure in order to maintain or improve the vigor of perennial plants, altering grazing management to take advantage of  episodic events important to plant recruitment, and observing prescribed utilization limits.  The implementation of these standards and guidelines should result in an even greater BLM commitment to the conservation of the rare plants and plant communities on California’s public lands.

John Willoughby is State Botanist for the Bureau of Land Management, 2800 Cottage Way, Room W-1834, Sacramento, CA 95825.