NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF OREGON Box 902 !Eugene, OR 97440 KALMIOPSIS AUDUBON SOCIETY Box 1265 !

Port Orford, OR 97465

Nomination: Veva Stansell Botanical Area

This is a nomination to designate a Botanical Area at Signal Buttes in honor of Veva Stansell, a life-long Curry County resident and former U.S. Forest Service botanist, widely-known and respected for her contributions to understanding and conserving botanical resources of the Siskiyou Mountains. Location The proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area is located in the Gold Beach Ranger District within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Township 36 South, Range 13 West Sections 31 & 32 and portions of Sections 28, 29, 30 and 33, as well as Township 37 South, Range 13 West, Sections 6 and 7 and portions of Sections 5, 8, 17 and 18 (Figure 1). The total acreage for the proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area is 4,094 acres. The proposed area is within the designated Northwest Coast late successional reserve (LSR). The proposed botanical area is located in proximity or adjacent to several other specially designated areas. Primarily, the proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area adjoins the principal eastern boundary of BLMs North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC (1925 acres). Immediately across from Forest Service road 3680, the proposed botanical areas southwest corner touches the northeast corner of Coos Bay District Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Hunter Creek Bog Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) (721 acres) and the Forest Services Red Flat Botanical Areas northwest corner, also south of Forest Service road 3680.

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Figure 1. Map of the Proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area at Signal Buttes The Veva Stansell Botanical Area is located roughly 10 miles inland from the coast. The elevation ranges from approximately 1,600 feet, along Hunter Creek in the southwest corner of the proposal, to 3,512 feet at the highest butte in the Signal Buttes area (Section 31). Nearby or adjacent buttes have elevations of 3,308, 3,503, and 3,452 feet (Figure 2). The area is bordered to the south by Forest Service road 3680 and along the main stem of Hunter Creek. The northwestern end of the botanical area contains the upper most end of North Fork Hunter Creek, and Hunt Creek in the upper Rogue River drainage. Forest Service road 3313 joins the northeastern border east of road 102. Secondary roads 195, 220, 196, and 193 border or are contained within the proposal.

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Figure 2. Elevation Profile of Signal Buttes Butte Area Geographic Context The Veva Stansell Botanical Area shares and complements much of the lower elevation vegetation and ecological characteristics of the BLMs adjacent North Fork Hunter Creek ACECs and the Forest Services smaller Red Flat Botanical Area to the south. This area warrants botanical area designation because of this as well as its associated and varied vegetation types at the higher elevation Signal Buttes. This botanical area designation is necessary primarily to recognize its equivalent botanical significance to the immediately adjoining North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC, which fills ecological and special species cells in the Oregon Natural Heritage Plan for the Coast Range and Klamath Mountains Ecoregions. The unintended exclusion of the Signal Buttes area from the adjacent BLM botanical site (ACEC) designation is due to previous administrative management delineations and not due to a lack of ecological significance. With the formal inclusion of similarly ecological significant lands on the Forest Services adjacent ownership, the establishment of the proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area would thus remedy the areas prior omission and better serve to complement this general areas overall botanical diversity. A review of the plant communities and species in the already designated ACEC clearly demonstrates a species continuum extending onto adjacent Forest Service lands. This overall vegetation diversity encompasses the core Signal Buttes area, extending east to include a serpentine barren and Howells or Gasquet Manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula) associated vegetation community, located near what is termed the Hummingbird Garden restoration site (Figure 1) bordered by FS Rd 3313. Additionally, to the south, the proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area borders the main stem of Hunter Creek, as does the BLMs adjacent North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC. Botanic Values Initial studies and observations of the plant community of the proposed botanical area demonstrate that its addition would significantly complement the primarily lower elevation, adjacent ACEC that was designated by BLM in 1995. Many of the meadow types and associated plant communities there, are for the most part, similarly represented in the proposed botanical area to the east. The creation of an adjacent botanical area on Forest Service lands would thus

page 4 better reflect the full botanical array of the Hunter Creek watershed further upstream, as well as including its higher elevational limits. On the Forest Service managed lands, several species such as Sadlers oak (Quercus sadleriana), Gray rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosus var. speciosa), as well as herbaceous plants, such as tall sneezeweed, (Helenium bigelovii) and Piper's bluegrass (Poa piperi) occur at Signal Buttes at or near the western most extension of their west coast geographical range. A complete list of plant species found at or in proximity to the Veva Stansell botanical area is attached (Attachment A), as well as plant lists specific to the North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC (Attachments B, C). BLMs Hunter Creek ACECs were designated for four natural resource values that are similarly shared with the adjacent Forest Service lands to the east. These are: 1) special status species, 2) natural systems and plant community, 3) fish and wildlife habitat, and 4) historic and cultural resources. Vegetative and cultural resource surveys within the proposed botanical area reflect and augment the overall diversity and species richness contain on the Bureau of Land Managements adjacent ACEC. In the immediate Signal Buttes area, the dominant vegetation is mixed-evergreen forest. This is contrasted with classic westside old growth forest of evergreen coniferous trees of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and Port-Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), with a component of Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), contrasted with mature and old growth Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) savannas. Additionally, the vegetational mosaic included drier site and earlier successional species, such as knobcone pine (Pinus attenuata). In the same vicinity are two varieties of lodgepole pine, (Pinus contorta var. contorta) and Pinus contorta var. latifolia) the latter that is mostly associated with the interior eastern Cascades. Other area pine species included Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana) and Western White Pine (Pinus monticola). Also Ground Juniper (Juniperus communis var. saxatilis) is found widely throughout the area on the dominant serpentine sites. Tributaries to Hunter and North Fork Hunter Creek also contain riparian hardwood forests comprised of red alder (Alnus rubra), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), Cascara Buckthorn (Rhamnus purshiana) and Oregon myrtlewood (Umbellularia californica). Other evergreen hardwoods include Madrone (Arbutus menziesii) and oak family trees: canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis), Sadlers oak (Quercus sadleriana), Golden Chinquapin (Chrysolepis chrysophylla), and tan oak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus var. densiflorus). Within the forests there is a major shrub componet including huckleberry oak (Quercus vaccinifolia), Howells or Gasquet Manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula), California coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica), Siskiyou Mat (Ceanothus pumilus), Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium), Box-leaved Silktassel (Garrya buxifolia), Western Azalea (Rhododendron occidentale), Rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum) and other miscellaneous shrub species such as Ocean Spray, (Holodiscus discolor var. discolor). A tree and shrub species that occurs on Forest Service lands near Signal Buttes, but has not reported from the adjacent BLM lands is Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) and Snow or Tobacco Brush (Ceanothus velutinus). Significantly, the proposed Veva Stansell Botanical area shares the serpentine soils and varied meadow habitat communities of the nearby ACEC, although in more scattered concentrations. Interspersed within the forest communities are understories of wildflowers and bunchgrasses,

page 5 including onion-grasses (Melica harfordii, M. spectabilis, and M. subulata) and California oatgrass (Danthonia californica). On the adjoining BLM lands are similar and more expansive meadow types that included more open, park-like Jeffery pine savannas, bordered in areas by Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana var. garryana) at the general western extension of its range on public lands. A great percentage of the areas extensive grassland communities are composed of native grasses, often dominated by California Fescue (Festuca californica) but mixed with other native species such as Roemers Fescue (Festuca roemeri var. roemeri --F. idahoensis ssp. roemeri). See variety distinctions in this species at http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/doc/fs_fero.doc . Several ultramafic bands are found in and around Signal Buttes. A significant geologic feature of the area is its mosaic of serpentine soils derived from these ultramafic rocks. Serpentinite is composed of minerals of the serpentine group. Originally these were formed by regional metamorphism of deep-sea rocks from the oceanic mantle. Specifically, serpentinite is a rock formed by the hydration and metamorphic transformation of ultramafic rock from the Earth's crust. The soils derived from ultramafic bedrock give rise to unusual and sparse associations of edaphic, and often endemic, plants that are tolerant of extreme soil conditions including: low calcium-to-magnesium ratio, lack of essential nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and high concentrations of heavy metals. Many of the proposed botanical area plants are commonly called serpentine endemics, as they grow only on these soils. Signal Buttes meadows have patches of bare soil and rocky outcrops, which allow for the establishment of diverse wildflowers and biotic crusts. This proposed botanical area is home to plants specially adapted to its unusual combination of serpentine soils and near-coastal climate, as well as others endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon. Forest sensitive plants found in the Signal Buttes area include Howells or Gasquet manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula), Pipers bluegrass (Poa piperi) , Siskiyou sedge (Carex scabriuscula)(C. gigas), and the recently discovered (and named) Vevas Erigeron (Erigeron stanselliae). Additionally, Siskiyou monardella/serpentine monardella, (Monardella purpurea), is another sensitive species also likely to be found in the area. A list of herbaceous and other vascular plant species specifically identified in the adjacent North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC, and generally also found on adjacent Forest Service lands within the Veva Stansell Botanical Area is attached (Attachment B, C). Additional botanical surveys of the southern end of the proposed botanical area, immediately north of the main fork of Hunter Creek, should be conducted to see if California pitcherplant (Darlingtonina californica) fens are also found in this area. This species has been reported on adjacent BLM lands including associated species Roundleaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), fringed cotton grass, (Eriophorum crinigerum), California bog asphodel (Narthecium californicum), and great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). Other, often Darlingtonia associated species have been found on Forest Service lands: such as Bigelows Sneezeweed (Helenium bigelovii) and Fringed Cotton Grass (Eriophorum crinigerum). One of the areas featured species, Howells or Gasquet manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula), is considered a Sensitive species by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Region 6 and the U.S.D.I. Bureau

page 6 of Land Management (BLM), Oregon State Office. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists it as a Species of Concern. The species is classified as sensitive based on its relatively narrow geographic range, affinity for unique habitat i.e. serpentine soils, and small to moderate sized populations. The species range is from Curry County, Oregon south through Humboldt County, California with disjunct populations in northern Sonoma County, California. The majority of known sites in Oregon, totaling thirty-five, occur on the Gold Beach and Powers Ranger Districts of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The plant primarily grows in open rocky conditions where ultramafic serpentine soils have dictated vegetative assemblages; the ultramafic bands in and around Signal Buttes provide ideal habitat for this species. It is estimated that there are thousands of plants in the area. The population estimate is significantly larger than current data suggest due to factors such as minimal inventory, density of vegetation, and difficulty identifying the manzanita.1 In 2010, the Forest Service initiated a Botanical Restoration Project in this area to enhance known populations of Howells or Gasquet manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula). Several of these plant locations were first recorded in this area by then Forest Service botanist, Veva Stansell. Within the range of this projects assessment five other species of Arctostaphylos were found. They are in order of dominance: Archtostaphylos columbiana, Archtostaphylos nevadensis, Archtostaphylos canescens, Archtostaphylos patula, and Archtostaphylos glandulosa. In the Poaceae family, Pipers bluegrass (Poa piperi) is found in serpentine savannas in southwestern Oregon and northern California. The Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) gave this species a Global Heritage Rank of 4 and state value of 3. The Global ranking states that the species is not rare and currently secure, but has cause for long-term concern, usually with more than 100 occurrences. The state classification of a 3 means the species is uncommon or threatened, but not immediately imperiled, typically with 21100 occurrences. Recently, the Signal Butte Area has received attention because of the discovery and description of a new Oregon and coastal serpentine endemic Erigeron species, Vevas Erigeron (Erigeron stanselliae), within the boundaries of the now proposed Veva Stansell Botanical Area. Erigeron stanselliae is named after Veva Stansell, the long-time resident and botanist of southwestern Oregon who first reported it in the Signal Buttes area; two news stories from 2010 and 2012 with biographical information about Veva Stansell are attached (Attachment D & G). Once thought to be another population of a known species within the genus Erigeron, Vevas Erigeron was determined to be its own species adapted to the areas unique combination of an inland coastal climate and serpentine soils. While additional population surveys are being conducted, this newly described species is presently regarded as rare, with only two known

Emerson, Clint. Conservation Assessment for Gasquet Manzanita (Arctostaphylos hispidula) Within the State of Oregon. U.S.D.A. Forest Service Region 6 and U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management Interagency Special Status and Sensitive Species Program. March 2010.

page 7 populations, both in the Gold Beach Ranger District.2 One of the populations is within the vicinity of Signal Buttes, and is bisected by an old jeep trail. Vehicle use of the road threatens to damage plants and otherwise adversely affect the population. On May 18, 2012 Rogue RiverSiskiyou National Forest, Forest Supervisor Robert G. MacWhorter signed an order for a temporary emergency motorized closure on this road while additional area surveys are being conducted. Special Wildlife Values The Veva Stansell Botanical Area also provides excellent habitat for two sensitive butterfly species. A population of the Mardon skipper (Polites mardon) currently lives in the adjacent North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC where it is similarly regarded as sensitive under the BLM special status species program due in large part to the loss of the native fescue grass meadows it relies on. (See Attachment H- Ross, Dana. 2010 Surveys for Mardon Skipper (Polites mardon) on the Rogue River National Forest. August 2010.) The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is currently developing a management plan on behalf of the BLM for the Hunter Creek population. Owing to its current proximity to the Veva Stansell Botanical Area and appropriate habitat within the area, the Mardon skipper is a likely resident of the Veva Stansell Botanical Area, albeit wildlife studies of the botanical area have yet to be conducted. Johnsons hairstreak (Callophrys johnsoni) is another sensitive butterfly species found in the North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC that may rely on the Veva Stansell Botanical Area. In particular the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation notes: Female Mardon skippers have been observed ovipositing on multiple graminoid species, indicating that the larvae may be generalists (Beyer & Schultz in press). Although Mardon skippers do not select for specific graminoids during oviposition, they do exhibit plant specificity within localities. In Washington State, for example, the Mardon skipper exhibits oviposition preferences for Carex spp. at one location and Danthonia spp. at another nearby location. Yet, when Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) is present, it is generally preferred by ovipositing females (Beyer & Schultz in press). At the two sites studied in Oregon, California oatgrass (Danthonia californica) was the most frequently utilized oviposition plant, although Mardon skippers also fed on Roemers fescue (Festuca idahoensis spp. roemeri) when available (Beyer & Black 2007). Variables such as graminoid structure and tree shading also influence oviposition behavior. The degree to which these preferences are shown depends on the specific habitat available to each Mardon skipper population (Beyer & Schultz in press). Additionally, Rich Hatfield, Endangered Species Conservation Associate for The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation additionally describes:

Chambers, Kenton L. A new species of Erigeron (Asteraceae) from Southwestern Oregon. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 5(2) (2011): 415-419.

page 8 Portions of the Hunter Creek ACEC are extremely important and significant habitat for the mardon skipper, a rare butterfly in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. The Hunter Creek ACEC has a mixed meadow and forest matrix with abundant floral resources as nectar sources for spring flying butterflies. There is also ample host plant for the mardon skipper, as well as a moisture gradient in the meadows to prolong the flight season and host plant palatability for mardon skippers as the meadow dries out through the season. Current management practices (excluding grazing, controlling forest encroachment on meadow habitat, and excluding off-road vehicles) in the ACEC are congruent with the life-cycle of the mardon skipper and beneficial to its persistence. The Hunter Creek ACEC was the first location in coastal Oregon in which mardon skipper was discovered (on two sites). It has since been discovered on three sites in the adjacent Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest. If appropriate local conditions exist, it is possible that additional sites exist in the region, both within the Hunter Creek ACEC on a set of lower elevation meadows and on the adjacent Rogue Siskiyou National Forest. Continued protection of these sites is essential for the long-term persistence of the mardon skipper. Five special status wildlife species documented in the Hunter Creek ACECs are also likely to be found in the Veva Stansell Botanical Area. The species include clouded salamander, mountain quail, red-legged frog, and southern torrent salamander. Hunter Creek is productive for resident trout and anadromous fish populations such as fall Chinook salmon and winter steelhead. The area also provides documented habitat or potential habitat for black-tailed deer, Roosevelt elk, black bear, cougar, bobcat, fringed myotis, lump-nosed bat, red-tree vole, ringtail cat, American marten, tailed frog, California mountain king snake, and possibly for northern spotted-owl, marbled murrelet, and peregrine falcon (Attachment E). Cultural Values In addition to the vast biological diversity present in the Veva Stansell Botanical Area, there are also cultural resources present. There are historic remnants of mining activities including the Munsey mine, cabin, and grave site, McKinley Mine, and associated mining trails such as the McKinley Mining Trail (Figure 3). McKinley Mine, on the western slope of Signal Buttes, was used for copper, gold, silver, and iron mining, dating from the 1930s to the 1940s (Figure 3). There are other close-by chromite mines also used during that time and through World War II. Besides these more recent cultural artifacts, Obsidian flakes from Tututni tribes toolmaking have been found in the area. Signal Butte was named for the stone rings found on top of it by early pioneers who believed the rings were remnants of signal fire pits. Others think the stone circles were spirit quest sites where young Tututni men would fast for several days.

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Figure 3. Map of Cultural and Recreational Resources in the Area The Veva Stansell Botanical Area also has recreational value and opportunities. Visitors to the area can explore the botanical area using the network of mining trails or follow a more uncharted path to see the diversity of plants and animals the area has to offer; a description of trails through the area is attached (Attachment F). The top of Signal Buttes offers views of the Pacific Ocean, the mouth of the Rogue River, Humbug Mountain, and the Heads at Port Orford.

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Attachments

Attachment A- Veva Stansell Botanical Area Plant List--compiled from 2004 list by Nancy J. Brian, Coos Bay BLM, and 2008 North Fork Hunter Cr. ACEC list by Matt Blakeley-Smith for Institute for Applied Ecology. Includes nomenclature updates with additional species located by Oregon Wild 2010 thru 2012. Attachment B- Brian, Nancy J. Hunter Creek. Kalmiopsis 11 (2004): 36-45. Attachment C- Blakeley-Smith, Matt. Vegetation Community and Special Status Species Surveys for the North Fork Hunter Creek ACEC. A report prepared for Institute for Applied Ecology and U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management, Coos Bay District. Sep. 2008. Attachment D- Timm, Joli. Hummingbird and butterfly garden dedicated to Veva Stansell. Curry County Reporter [Gold Beach, OR] 11 Aug. 2010. Attachment E- Special Status Animal Species. U.S.D.I. Bureau of Land Management, Coos Bay District. Hunter Creek Bog and North Fork Hunter Creek Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Final Management Plan. May 1996. Attachment F- Signal Buttes and Hunter Creek Trail Descriptions compiled by Wendell Wood. Attachment G-Curry County Reporter, July 25, 2012 Veva Stansell is Grand Marshall of the Centennial Fair. Attachment H- Ross, Dana. 2010 Surveys for Mardon Skipper (Polites mardon) on the Rogue River National Forest. August 2010