This page presents detailed associations and definitions for this Work Element. Information on how this Work Element is being used in BPA field work is also included.
Use during the first year (and only first year) of planting terrestrial or aquatic vegetation and/or applying seed (aerially, mechanically, and/or by hand) for purposes such as: wildlife cover and forage enhancement, erosion control and soil stabilization (run-off reduction and other soil destabilizing processes and activities not related to restoration after construction of facilities such as passage structures, buildings, or fish hatcheries), roughness recruitment, shading, restoration of native habitat, restoration after wildfires, and rehabilitation of removed roads/trails.
All maintenance activities (irrigation, site prep, survival survey) which occur during the same contract period as planting/seeding should be included in this WE as milestones. See associated work elements and notes for this 47. Plant Vegetation for more guidance.
Why only the initial year of planting? To prevent duplication of counting location acres, and because of the way the metrics are captured for habitat vs. O&M work, beyond initial work, any subsequent work, including more plantings or seeding in the same acreage, must be listed under 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation.
Situations:
If you have one contract with two planting seasons, e.g., Spring (15 acres) and Fall (10 acres) for a total of 25 acres, you can do these two ways: 1) in one WE, identify your entire acreage as 25 with spring and fall milestones listed, or 2) in two WEs, divide out the two separate plantings in case you may not get both plantings done. If your planting sites are distant from each other you will have to do #2 anyway.
If your initial 25 acre planting project is divided between two contracts because your original contract ends and another begins, it’s best to identify the 15 acres of your spring planting in Contract #1 in 47. Plant Vegetation, and the additional 10 acres for the fall plant in another 47. Plant Vegetation in Contract #2. By contract year #3, any maintenance work and inter-planting/seeding in these 25 acres is considered “subsequent work” and must be identified under 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation.
If you plant grass the first year on a site but want to plant trees/shrubs/different grass/etc. in subsequent years on the same acreage, you must use 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation for the subsequent work as long as it’s on the same site acres.
If you are adding 5 new acres of planting and are inter-planting 25 previously planted acres, your SOW will have a 47. Plant Vegetation for the 5 new acres planted, and 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation for the previously planted 25 acres. The following year you can combine them into one 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation for a total 30 acres if you’re still working in the area and they are contiguous or close together.
The establishment of planting locations and the development of a planting protocol can be milestones under this work element, or they can be covered under a separate work element if you are developing a restoration or a habitat management plan to guide your efforts. In this latter scenario, use 174. Produce Plan to cover the development of the plan.
After the initial planting season, watering, fertilization, weed control, and other methods to maintain previous plantings and/or seedings should be covered under 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation. If these occur during the same contract period as the planting season, these activities can be milestones under WE#47, Plant Vegetation.
For vegetation removal techniques, such as thinning invading trees, creation of forage openings, or herbicide application, use 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation.
If you use prescribed burning to prep planting sites and reduce competition as part of the 1st year of planting, then it becomes a milestone under WE#47, Plant Vegetation; if you use fire to maintain or remove vegetation after the 1st year of planting, it becomes a milestone under 197. Maintain/Remove Vegetation.
If planting to restore a construction area (e.g., after installing a fish screen), use the construction/installation WE and list planting as a milestone under it.
Rule 1 (Environmental Compliance):
Any associated ESA, cultural resources, NEPA, permitting, or other environmental compliance work should be split out under 165. Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation.
Example:
WE:165. Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation WE Title: Environmental compliance for tree planting along Ruby Creek WE Description: Provide BPA Environmental Compliance Lead with verification of any required local permits, a detailed map, and project description to support cultural resources consultation; or verification that a cultural resources survey has been done on the site and it is approved for ground disturbing activities associated with planting vegetation.
Note: Every 47. Plant Vegetation, Plant Vegetation will have as the first milestone: "Environmental compliance requirements complete," and the end date of this milestone must be before the start date of any ground disturbing activities within that WE. Therefore your SOW will have at least one Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation WE as well as the environmental compliance milestone embedded within each of the plant vegetation WEs.
Rule 2 (Location of Work):
If you are planting at various locations, a work element must be created for each location to document metric requirements. This does not require multiple work elements for 165. Produce Environmental Compliance Documentation.
Example:
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Plant 8,000 serviceberry, dogwood and hawthorne seedlings along 10 acres of Red River
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Install 200 bundles/fascines of Geyer's, Drummond and Booth's willow on 1 stream mile *(you will need to convert this measurement to acres for the metrics)
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Restore 45 acres of uplands with native grasses and forbs in the Kreb Unit
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Plant 250 native rooted riparian trees/shrubs along Ferry Creek
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Aerially seed 2000 acres of south facing slope in the Mikle Mountains
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Plant 500 plugs of locally-adapted bitterbrush to 5 acres
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: Plant 50 acres of sand dropseed, Sandberg's bluegrass, and bluebunch wheatgrass
Rule 3 (Metrics):
If a variety of work is to be done at a site, including planting vegetation, remember to split out each WE so that the correct metrics can be captured. Scenario: Plants will be planted this year, but a fence needs to be built to protect the trees and an off site watering source will now be required to water the livestock.
Example:
WE:47. Plant Vegetation WE Title: 1500 riparian trees and shrubs / Cold Creek on the Johnson property.
WE:40. Install Fence WE Title: 3-mile cattle enclosure to protect riparian trees / Cold Creek on Johnson property.
On-the-ground work associated with this work element cannot proceed until this milestone is complete. Milestone is complete when final documentation is received from BPA environmental compliance staff (completion can be based on pre-existing environmental documentation from BPA).
Applicability and status of the following environmental compliance requirements can be found on the Environmental Compliance tab
for that work element in your SOW for all 2007 contracts forward. BPA’s Environmental staff will update and maintain this information
in Pisces in real time, so that you can check the status of environmental compliance on your project at any time.
Note: Many of the fields are set to auto-load in Pisces, but the settings will be reviewed by BPA’s Environmental staff prior to the
contract being finalized, and may be revised depending on the specific circumstances.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
NEPA coverage for this work element will be determined by BPA’s Environmental staff and could include an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Environmental Assessment (EA), Record of Decision to an existing EIS, or Categorical Exclusion.
Endangered Species Act (ESA)
ESA consultation is typically required for this work element.
National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
NHPA Section 106 consultation is typically required for this work element which often includes a cultural/historic resource survey by a qualified archaeologist.
Public Involvement
Public involvement is typically required for this work element. The contractor should work with BPA Environmental staff to document previous or ongoing outreach efforts associated with this work or to develop a public involvement plan.
This work element and its metrics are used in measures in the following reports. These PDF reports are generated dynamically, always showing you the most up to date information. Most of them also have links to download the underlying data sets to structured text or Excel format.
Overview:
This report shows how work elements are being used to describe the work of BPA's Fish and Wildlife program. This report lists every instance of usage for a particular work element.
Overview:
Summarizes annual accomplishments of the Habitat portion of the Program in terms of measures or metrics. Includes several tables focused on different dimensions: Habitat Zone, NPCC Province and Subbasin, ESU. Report can be filtered by Fiscal Year, Province or Subbasin, Work Element, Work Status, or Fish Species (ESU) benefitted.
Dimensions:
Habitat Measures, Metrics, Planned and Actual Metric Value, Fiscal Year, Habitat Zone, Work Element, Work Status, NPCC Province, NPCC Subbasin, ESU
Overview:
This drill-down report shows the Program's Habitat Accomplishments from fiscal year 2005 forward. Figures are based on the High Level Indicators identified by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, and aggregate metric data entered into Pisces by the ontractors doing the work on the ground. For past years, these charts show Actual metric values for Completed work; for the current year they show both Actual metric values for Completed work and Planned metric values for Planned and In-Progress work.
Dimensions:
HLI, High Level Indicators (Habitat, Water, Land, Screens, Passage Barriers), Habitat Measures, Work Element, Metric
Overview:
Shows the estimated spending by Focal Species – various anadromous and resident fish and general wildlife category – by fiscal year. Since contractors don’t invoice BPA by work element, much less by focal species, this report allocates project costs by the proportion of the work element budgets and the focal species associated with each work element. This report has two tables: Spending by all Focal Species, and Spending by ESA-Listed Focal Species (a table that allows BPA to meet federal reporting requirements).
Dimensions:
Focal Species, ESA-Listed Fish Species, Direct Spending, Contract Administration Spending, Program Administrative Spending, Account Type (Expense, Capital), Work Element Budgets
Overview:
Rolls up program funding across time by work class such as Habitat, Hatchery, Research Monitoring and Evaluation, Local & Regional Coordination, etc. Includes summary and detail pie charts showing funding levels for various types of work. Provides drill-downs to work element detail.
Dimensions:
Work Class, Work Element, Work Element Budget, Account Type (Expense or Capital), NPCC Province, NPCC Subbasin
Stats and Overview
Number of active contracts using Work Element #47 by FY
Top 5 BPA Project Managers using this Work Element:
