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Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)"Updated "06/06/2008
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FY 2008 Whip Implementation in Washington State |
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In Washington State, WHIP will be used on lands where fish and wildlife habitat has been negatively impacted by agricultural activities, urban development, or invasive species. The major objectives of the WHIP in Washington include:
Provide technical assistance to eligible private, state and local governmental landowners and Tribes, for developing and implementing Wildlife Habitat Developmental Plans (WHDP) that include conservation practices authorized for use in WHIP.
Provide cost-share payments, through cost-share agreements, not to exceed 75% of the installation cost for projects that benefit upland wildlife habitats, riparian habitat, small wetlands, and threatened and endangered species habitat (including animal and plants).
Educate program participants and the public through wildlife habitat restoration/enhancement projects. Completed WHIP projects will be used as demonstration sites, success stories, and discussion points with conservation groups and schools.
Enter into cooperative agreements with partners for implementation of Special Projects or projects that involve multiple landowners.
Utilize Technical Service Providers to assist with the implementation of wildlife habitat development plans.
The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program is administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in consultation with the State Technical Committee. Through the use of the State Technical Committee the following priorities have been established for the implementation of WRP in Washington State.
Restoration of native vegetation on:
· Primary Habitats selected from the Priority Habitats and Species
list of the Washington State Department of
Fish and Wildlife (WDFW)
· Secondary Habitats identified by the State Technical Advisory
Committee
Habitat
Improvement for Targeted Wildlife Species:
· Federal or
State Threatened and Endangered Species and associated critical habitats
· Federal or
State Candidate Species
· Species identified as Priority Habitat Species (PHS) by WDFW
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Primary Habitat Types |
Secondary Habitat Types |
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Restore or establish native shrub-steppe vegetative communities where they historically occurred.
Species that may be benefited: black-tailed jackrabbit, pygmy rabbit, Washington ground squirrel, white-tailed jack rabbit, Brewers sparrow, burrowing owl, loggerhead shrike, sage grouse, and sage thrasher.
Restore or establish native grass communities where they historically occurred (no shrub planting).
Species that may be benefited: bull trout, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, westslope cutthroat, redband trout, wood duck, northern leopard frog, western pipistrelle bat (along Snake
and Columbia Rivers), pallid bat, Yuma myotis bat, fringed myotis bat.
Species that may be benefited: sharp-tailed grouse, burrowing owl, white-tailed jack rabbit.
Secondary Habitat Types for Eastern and Central Washington
Riparian-Wetlands
Herbaceous Wetlands
Restore or enhance natural hydrology.
Species that may be benefited: coho salmon, northern leopard frog, Columbia spotted frog, wood duck, American avocet, dunlin, black-necked stilt, western sandpiper, least
sandpiper.
Open Water: Streams
Species that may be benefited: bull trout, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, kokanee, steelhead/rainbow trout (in anadromous streams), westslope cutthroat, redband trout.
Upland Woodland
Restore or enhance natural diversity by underplanting of shrubs or other trees into a monoculture.
Create snags.
Reestablish cover on disturbed sites, using species beneficial to wildlife.
Species that may be benefited: black-backed woodpecker, Lewis' woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, western bluebird.
White Oak Woodlands
Enhance or restore native Oregon white oak woodland.
Species that may be benefited: western gray squirrel, pileated woodpecker.
Establish trees and shrubs on idle land (eyebrows, odd areas, expired Conservation Reserve Program, etc).
Establish hedgerows or shelterbelts.
Establish perennial food plots. (Note: annual food plots are not eligible for financial assistance).
Species that may be benefited: burrowing owl, white-tailed jack rabbit, black-tailed jackrabbit.
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Primary Habitat Types |
Secondary Habitat Types |
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Native Prairie (includes oak savanna) |
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Lowland Conifer-Hardwood (Mature) Forest |
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Remove invasive species such as Douglas fir, Scotch broom, Himalayan blackberry, and introduced grasses and forbs.
Interplant with native prairie grasses and forbs.
Establish oak seedlings.
Species that may be benefited: Oregon silverspot, Puget blue, Valley silverspot, Island marble, Taylors (whulge) checkerspot, Makah copper (prairie bog), Brush Prairie pocket gopher, streaked horned lark, Western pocket gopher,western bluebird, Oregon vesper sparrow, western pond turtle, Oregon branded skipper, Mardon skipper.
Remove invasive species in the overstory such as Douglas fir.
Remove invasive species in the understory such as Himalayan blackberry, Scotch broom, English hawthorn, and introduced grasses and forbs.
Establish oak seedlings.
Protect naturally germinated oak seedlings.
Livestock exclusion fencing (permanent or partial).
Species that may be benefited: western gray squirrel, pileated woodpecker, western bluebird, slender-billed
white-breasted nuthatch, Puget Sound fritillary.
Remove invasive species such as cordgrass (Spartina sp.)
Establish native grasses and forbs.
Reestablish suitable substrate for shellfish colonization.
Species that may be benefited: Chinook salmon, coho salmon, chum salmon, sockeye salmon, steelhead, coastal resident/searun cutthroat trout, non-breeding concentrations of shorebirds (plovers, sandpipers, phalaropes), Bald eagle, Dungeness crab, Olympia oyster, common loon, western grebe, northern pintail.
Establish native trees and shrubs where woody vegetation historically occurred.
Install livestock exclusion fencing.
Provide off-channel watering source when livestock are excluded from riparian water.
Restore or enhance native plant community.
Restore or enhance natural hydrology.
Species that may be benefited: bull trout/Dolly Varden, Chinook salmon, chum salmon, coastal resident/searun cutthroat, coho salmon, kokanee, pink salmon,
steelhead/rainbow trout (in anadromous streams), sockeye salmon, wood duck, great blue heron (breeding concentrations), little brown bat, Oregon spotted frog, Pacific lamprey.
Restore or enhance native plant community.
Restore or enhance natural hydrology.
Species that may be benefited: Olympic mudminnow, coho salmon, westslope cutthroat trout, northern leopard frog, Oregon spotted frog, western pond turtle, bald eagle, waterfowl concentration areas, trumpeter swan, Wilsons snipe, dunlin, spotted sandpiper, Western toad, Makah copper butterfly, western grebe.
Correct human-made fish passage barriers (only).
Species that may be benefited: bull trout/Dolly Varden, Chinook salmon, chum salmon, coastal resident/searun cutthroat, coho salmon, kokanee, pink salmon, steelhead/rainbow trout (in anadromous streams), sockeye salmon, Pacific lamprey.
Establish native fruit and berry producing trees and shrubs.
Create snags.
Species that may be benefited: band-tailed pigeon, pileated woodpecker, western bluebird.
Establish native trees and shrubs (patches, hedgerow, windbreak, etc.).
Enhance or create winter/spring forage for Olympic Peninsula elk herd.
Species that may be benefited: Roosevelt elk (Olympic herd), ring-necked pheasant, band-tailed pigeon, Puget blue butterfly.
Remove invasive species such as Scotch broom, gorse, shore pine, non-native grasses and forbs.
Establish native grasses and forbs.
Species that may be benefited: Oregon silverspot, Taylors (whulge) checkerspot, western bluebird, streaked horned lark.
Partnerships
The informal partnership between NRCS, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) provides program participants with a more complete package of technical expertise in:
Identifying priority habitats, potential large scale restoration areas, and species of concern
Developing Wildlife Habitat Development Plans (WHDP)
Designing and implementing wildlife habitat restoration and enhancement activities identified in the WHDP
The NRCS has a long history of working with landowners to improve ecological conditions on farms and ranches. Extensive expertise has been developed in evaluating natural resources and developing the appropriate treatment plans to successfully improve or restore wildlife habitat.
The WDFW and USFWS have developed expertise in prioritizing and addressing fish and wildlife needs. The WDFW has identified Priority Habitats and associated Priority Habitat Species within the State of Washington. This information has been used to prioritize those habitats and species that the WHIP will address.
Through the WHIP partnership, the NRCS, WDFW and USFWS will
work closely with existing and new partners to deliver a public
information and education program to inform landowners and land managers of the
ecological and economic importance of sound wildlife habitat management.
Partners will be encouraged to provide onsite
technical and financial assistance for restoring and enhancing habitat conditions.
The distribution of financial assistance will be split into separate allocations for each NRCS administrative area. The Central, East and West Areas will each receive an equal allocation of financial assistance funds. If an Area is unable to fully obligate their obligation, the un-obligated funds will be redistributed to the other Areas.
Each Area may utilize up to 30% of their allocation, with
concurrence from the Assistant State Conservationist for Programs (ASTC-P) to address special
projects that they consider a priority not identified in this plan.
The application process is a continuous process throughout the year. Eligible applicants may apply for WHIP financial assistance by filing a CPA-1200 form:
At any USDA NRCS Service Center by phone, email, fax, or letter.
The applicants signature and date are required on the CPA-1200 and Appendix.
Applicant must have a current AD-1026 on file with their local FSA Office.
Applicant must be eligible
under the Adjusted Gross Income limit. Self certify using
form CCC-526.
Annually, NRCS establishes a cutoff date for applications to be evaluated and ranked for current year funding. The cutoff date for Fiscal Year 2008 is June 27, 2008. Any applications received after June 27, 2008 will be held for evaluation for Fiscal Year 2009 funding.
Applicant Questionnaire
Eligible Practices
Cost List
Ranking Criteria
Ranking Criteria Worksheet
WHIP applications in Washington State will be ranked according to the ranking criteria for the location of the land offered for WHIP. The ranking criteria are specific to lands in Central, Eastern and Western Washington for FY 2008.
NRCS works with participants to develop a Wildlife Habitat Development Plan addressing the participant's identified wildlife resource needs. The plan must contain all essential practices needed to meet FOTG Quality Criteria for conservation management systems and NPPH planning policy specifically as it relates to the participant's wildlife resources. Treatment of all natural resources is encouraged.
Actual cost-shares for practices included in an approved WHIP Conservation Program Agreement will be based on the approved WHIP cost list in the Field Office Technical Guide. The applicant will be provided a copy of the WHDP, practice specifications and designs to follow for implementation of the WHIP Conservation Agreement.
Dave Brown,
Assistant State
Conservationist (Programs)
(509) 323-2971; Alt Phone: (509)
994-9805
E-mail:
david.brown@wa.usda.gov
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