The approximately 11,000 acre Rainwater Wildlife Area was established in September 1998 by the CTUIR under the NPPC Fish and Wildlife Program and Washington Interim Wildlife Mitigation Agreement (BPA et al., 1993) to protect, enhance, and mitigate wildlife impacted by development of the John Day and McNary hydroelectric dams. In 2009-2010 significant land purchases were made that added approximately 2400 acres to the pre-2009 Rainwater Wildlife Area boundary. (The project is located in the upper South Fork Touchet River drainage in the Walla Walla River Subbasin approximately 8 miles south of Dayton, Washington adjacent to the Umatilla National Forest. The area was selected by the CTUIR and BPA as a regional mitigation project because of its large size, location in the upper headwaters of the Touchet River watershed, and it's ability to provide anadromous fish, resident fish, and wildlife benefits in a watershed context.

The Wildlife Area is located in southeastern Washington in Township 7 North, Range 39 East, all or portions of Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9; and Township 8 North, Range 39 East, all or portions of Sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 17, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, and 34, and  Township 9 North, Range 39 East. portions of Sections 28, 32, and 33, Willamette Meridian, Latitude 46.12.30, Longitude 117.57.30.

The goal of this contract is to help Bonneville Power Administration meet it's Columbia River Basin mitigation obligation within the Ceded Lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR).  The contract provides funding to the CTUIR to manage the Rainwater Wildlife Area which maintains, protects, and enhances fish and wildlife habitat.  

The project area includes approximately 8,300 acres of upland and riparian coniferous forest, 2,500 acres of native and native-like grasslands, and 200 acres of deciduous riparian habitat.  The Wildlife Area also provides 10 miles of headwater spawning and rearing habitat for Threatened summer steelhead, bull trout, and resident trout.  The project provides 5,161 baseline Habitat Units (HU's) and an estimated 1,500 enhancement HU's for seven target mitigation species.  

This SOW is a continuation of management activities on the Wildlife Area and provides direction for planned actions in the 2013 contract period.  Project activities include: 1) Planning,  2) Operations and Maintenance, and 3) Monitoring and Evaluation.  Management efforts undertaken as part of this contract are designed to promote watershed health, support recovery of ESA fish species, and nurture self sustaining ecosystems.    

Management activities planned for 2013 will focus on the following major tasks:
• Administration and operations of wildlife area,
• Maintenance of existing fence line and to construct between 0.25 and 1.0 miles of new boundary fence on Jasper Mountain,
• Continuation of forest thinning to reduce probability of catastrophic wildfires, insect damage, and promote forest health
• Continue an ongoing weed management program which includes limited herbicide treatment along roads and ridges, and expanded weed control on steep difficult to access terrain with the use of targeted grazing by goats, and seeding with native grass seed to restore native Palouse grasslands,
• Including the design and permitting work for the possibility of restoring approximately 2000 feet of instream, riparian, and floodplain habitat along the South Fork Touchet River to a proper functioning condition; and the Archeological-Cultural Resource survey and consultation along the creek and within the proposed project site; and
• Monitoring the South Fork Touchet River and its tributaries, to determine the status and trend of the river, riparian, and floodplain condition