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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 114 / Wednesday, June 16, 2021 / Rules and Regulations indicate a moderate amount of organic sediment with some mineral soil in wetland substrates may be optimum for water howellia presence and growth.
Water howellia occupies habitats across its range that vary in the extent of canopy cover, suggesting some flexibility to potential effects of disturbance on canopy cover. Many water howellia occurrences are surrounded or nearly surrounded by forested vegetation Mincemoyer 2005, p. 7, with numerous observations reporting water howellia occupying shaded portions of ponds and wetlands Isle 1997, p. 32; McCarten et al. 1998, p. 4. Conversely, on the Joint Base Lewis-McChord JBLM military base in Washington, occupied ponds were historically surrounded by prairie vegetation and, as a result of years of fire suppression, are now surrounded by forest Gilbert 2017, pers. comm..
Currently, water howellia is occurring in portions of ponds that receive the most light and least shade Gilbert 2017, pers. comm.. In Montanas Swan Valley, water howellia was present in 78
percent of sites with prior disturbance roads, fire, grazing, and/or vegetation treatments of vegetation surrounding the ponds Pipp 2017, p. 6, indicating
some plasticity to the effects of disturbance on extent of canopy cover.
Range, Distribution, Abundance, and Trends of Water Howellia The distribution of water howellia before European settlement and modern development in the Pacific Northwest is unknown. However, after European settlement, water howellia is known from the Pacific Northwest, with historical occurrences documented in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana Shelly and Moseley 1988, pp. 6, 9. The species still occurs in all five States. Since listing in 1994, new occurrences of water howellia have been documented in all five States, generally in areas within these States known historically to support the species.
At the time of Federal listing 1994, 107 water howellia occurrences were known across the species range 59 FR
35860; July 14, 1994. In 2020, a minimum of 307 occurrences were documented see Table 1, below. The majority of extant occurrences 91
percent are within three metapopulations occupying distinct geographic areas in Montanas Swan Valley Lake and Missoula Counties;
Department of Defense property at
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JBLM, Pierce County in western Washington; and Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge Turnbull Refuge, Spokane County in northeastern Washington see the figure, below. The three metapopulations have enabled the species to remain viable across its range Freckleton and Watkinson 2002, p.
419. Small, isolated occurrences that are not part of a metapopulation can be more vulnerable to extirpation Lesica 1992, p. 420. Consequently, identification of these metapopulations is important for directing conservation efforts toward the regional availability of suitable habitat Freckleton and Watkinson 2002, p. 432. Currently, 258
of the 307 84 percent reported water howellia occurrences are on lands administered by the Federal Government. There are 37 reported occurrences of water howellia on private property; however, little is known about them, as limited monitoring of these occurrences has taken place over the years. Two occurrences of water howellia are on State land and the remaining occurrences exist in areas with several jurisdictions i.e., straddle public and private lands.

TABLE 1CURRENT NUMBER OF WATER HOWELLIA OCCURRENCES AND PERCENT OF TOTAL KNOWN OCCURRENCES BY
STATE
Number of occurrences
State Montana
Idaho
Washington
Oregon
California

220
7 72
2 7

72
2 23 <1
2

Total

308

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Percent of total known occurrences
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