Christopher C Huber

Conservation Easements Along the Housatonic River

Using funds from an NRDAR settlement, FWS obligated $557,810 ($2011) to TNC of Massachusetts for the purchase of permanent conservation easements on approximately 200 acres of riparian lands along the Housatonic River in Salisbury, Connecticut. Conservation of riparian habitat will help to (1) protect water quality; (2) protect nesting habitat for migratory songbirds and other wildlife, including several rare and endangered plants, turtles, salamanders and dragonflies; and (3) maintain the scenic, agrarian character of the region. These efforts provide a beneficial tradeoff from the harm to the river and associated wildlife caused by historical polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination. Economic Impacts of...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Amphibians, Bank stabilization/erosion control, Birds, Connecticut, Farmland Preservation, All tags... Federally threatened or endangered species, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Habitat-based, Natural processes and hazards, Perennial stream/river, Reptiles, Riparian restoration, Species protection, The Nature Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fewer tags

In October 1996, a coal slurry impoundment associated with a coal processing plant owned by Lone Mountain Processing, Inc., in Lee County, Virginia, failed and released six million gallons of coal slurry into the Powell River watershed. “Blackwater,” a mixture of water, coal fines, clay, and associated contaminants, extended more than 20 miles downstream from the spill site. The Powell River watershed is part of the Upper Tennessee River Basin, which comprises one of the nation’s most biologically diverse aquatic ecosystems (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003). The coal slurry spill affected fish, endangered freshwater mussels, other stream organisms, and supporting aquatic habitat, including designated critical...

Leadville, located in the mountains of Colorado approximately 100 miles west of Denver, was historically a rich mining district. Silver, gold, copper, zinc, manganese, and lead were all mined in the area beginning in the mid-1800s, but mining has since subsided as the main economic driver for the district. Because of environmental contamination from mining activities, the area known as the California Gulch Superfund site was placed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) National Priorities List in September 1983. The site covers approximately 18 square miles in and around Leadville, Colorado, and contains thousands of piles of mine waste and drainage sites that discharge into the California Gulch...

Post-Wildfire Restoration in Southeast Oregon - Miller Homestead Fire

Background information.—On July 8, 2012, lightning ignited a fire on Bureau of Land Management-managed land on the Miller Homestead in Harney County, Oregon. High winds combined with unusually hot and dry conditions spread the fire through dry grass and sagebrush and 160,801 acres were burned before the fire was contained on July 24, 2012. In the aftermath, it was determined that ecological restoration was necessary since the majority of the fire occurred within prime habitat for sage-grouse, and the fire had burned with such severity that it removed vegetation down to bare soil. Without rehabilitation efforts, desirable vegetation would be unlikely to reestablish and the site would be open to invasion by noxious...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: BLM, Bank stabilization/erosion control, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fire, Habitat-based, All tags... Herbaceous (grass, sedge, forb), Herbaceous fuels management, Invasive species control, Natural processes and hazards, Oregon, Post-fire restoration, Sediment removal, Seeding, Shrub/scrub, U.S. Department of the Interior land, Fewer tags

Lone Mountain NRDAR Fresh Water Mussel Restoration

Background information.—Historically, the Powell River supported abundant and diverse populations of freshwater mussels. In recent decades, mussel density and species richness have declined and many freshwater mussel species are listed as either State or Federally threatened or endangered species. Environmental degradation from coal mining has been identified as one of the drivers of this decline. An example is the 1996 Lone Mountain slurry spill that directly affected mussel populations, as well as their host fish species. Freshwater mussels feed by filtering small particles from water, thereby improving water quality and providing an essential ecosystem service in rivers and streams. Mussels also serve as a food...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: Aquatic, Aquatic species propagation, Bank stabilization/erosion control, Broadleaf, Conservation easement, All tags... Enhancement of existing (improve baseline conditions), Erosion control, Federally threatened or endangered species, Fish, Habitat-based, Hazardous substances (CERCLA) and hazardous materials (RCRA), Land acquisition, Lone Mountain Procession, Inc. coal slurry spill, Molluscs, Non-listed species, Organism-based, Perennial stream/river, Private land, Riverine (non-tidal), Species breeding/hatching/rearing, Species protection, Species reintroduction/translocation, State threatened or endangered species, Terrestrial, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Virginia Tech Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Center, Virginia Tech Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Center, Fewer tags