Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Cooperative Restoration Project: Bringing back peatlands while reducing catastrophic wildfire threats Sara Ward, USFWS Raleigh Field Office TNC Fire and Pocosins Conference, October 11, 2011

Overview Introduction Pocosins and fire regimes History of fire at PLNWR Recent NC peatland fires A tool for the toolbox – peatland restoration example, Pocosin Lakes NWR Restoration approach Restoration Benefits Costs Restoration Implications Summary

Pre-Alteration Pocosin Fires Frequency: natural return interval determined by soil type, depth, water tableand vegetative community Severity: peat ground fire dependent on water table; mostly above ground fire 1962 pocosin distribution (Richardson 2003) Today: 70% habitat loss Histosols – fire return interval between 7 and 300 years Peat bogs with plant communities like those burned at PLNWR and GDSNWR: higher end of range In particular, AWC-associated return interval > 50 years Source: Frost, 1995

(in Frost, 19951) 1Frost, Cecil C. 1995. Presettlement fire regimes in southeastern marshes, peatlands, and swamps. Pg 39-60 in S.I. Cerulean and R.T. Engstrom, eds. Fire in wetlands: a management perspective. Proc. of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf., No. 19. Tall Timbers Res. Station, Tallahassee, FL.

(in Frost, 19951) PISE = pond pine 1Frost, Cecil C. 1995. Presettlement fire regimes in southeastern marshes, peatlands, and swamps. Pg 39-60 in S.I. Cerulean and R.T. Engstrom, eds. Fire in wetlands: a management perspective. Proc. of the Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf., No. 19. Tall Timbers Res. Station, Tallahassee, FL.

PLNWR Fire History Allen Road Fire March 1985 95,000 ac burned Peat loss: ≤ 1 m Estimated C loss: 1-3.8 million tons C1 Evans Road Fire 6/1/2008 – January 2009 40,704 acres Peat burned Non Federal land (private and NC State Park): 24” over 15,350 ac Federal land west of Western Rd – 12” over 16,100 ac Federal land east of Western Rd – 6” over 9,650 acres Estimated C loss: ~10 million tons C1 Credit: NCFS-Chris Carlson 1Michler and Welch, 2011

2011 Peatland Wildfires in NC ~ 88K acres burned to date: Source: InciWeb, Incident Information System, www.inciweb.org/

So, why are we seeing more frequent and severe pocosin wildfires than predicted?? In a word…drainage! Historically: Summer water table drawdown (up to 1 m+1) in domed peat caused some peat fire; rewetting regularly occurred Seasonal soil saturation limited ground fire potential; allowed vegetation to burn (necessary in pocosin ecosystems) Now: Extensive drainage network limits duration of seasonal flooding Water table is lowered; peat is aerated/drier Drainage prevents even significant rainfall (tropical) retention on landscape Much more frequent ground fire; significant soil loss 1Ingram and Otte, 1982

Fire Return Interval: PLNWR

Fire Return Interval: GDSNWR Predicted RI > 50 yrs; Actual – 3 yr. Wildfire recurring in footprint 2008 South One Fire footprint 2011 Lateral West Fire footprint

Above ground fuel reduction not always enough…need to address fire vulnerability of peat soils Hydrology restoration Raises water table Allows water storage before (prevention) and during (suppression) wildfires Permits above ground fire for habitat and fire management with less risk Cost effective Many restoration “co-benefits” Credit: USFWS-V. Carver

Hydrology restoration: a tool for the practitioner’s toolbox PLNWR Cooperative Restoration Project Example Photo: D. Suiter, USFWS Healthy pocosin wetlands

PLNWR : Refuge History Land south of Lake Phelps ditched /drained in 60’s for ag and peat mining Refuge established 1990 with a focus on pocosin restoration Hydrology restoration plan 1994 Restoration and research on-going since

Restoration Approach Install water control structures and culverts Use raised roads along the canals as levees Re-saturate historically drained areas via rainfall Promote sheet flow via water level management Photo: S.Ward, USFWS Photo: E. Hinesley, NCSU

2008: PLNWR partial restoration likely helped Infrastructure complete Infrastructure in progress Planned restoration Importantly, observations made during that fire documented that partially-restored pocosins burned far less than their neighboring drained lands. Undrained pocosins and areas where restoration work was complete did not burn.

Importance of pocosin restoration Benefits beyond reducing wildfire threat/impacts: Carbon and nitrogen sequestration Restore wildlife habitat and threatened ecosystems Water quality Adaptation to climate change Human community benefits Photo: USFWS Water Quality Drainage network enhances Hg and nutrient delivery to sensitive downstream waters, this will fix it Aquatic Habitat Improve/reconnect important essential nursery habitat Anadromous fish use Terrestrial Habitat AWC globally threatened Pond pine canebrake critically endangered Adaptation to sea level rise by preventing incremental (oxidation) and catastrophic (burning) soil loss and promoting soil genesis Photo: SSEC

Pocosin restoration = ideal N & C offset Peatland drainage promoted organic matter decomposition and loss of N and C to atmosphere Restoration stops soil loss: incremental (oxidation) and catastrophic (burning) Since acquisition in 1990, hydrology restoration a priority; project accelerated that effort Drained Condition loss of nitrogen, C and Hg via oxidation (SOURCE) Restored Condition nitrogen, C and Hg sequestration (SINK)

Emerging C Markets for “Rewetted” Peatlands In NC peatlands, sequestration driver is amount C retained that would otherwise be lost without hydrology restoration Estimated sequestration potential: 200 lb/ac/year of N 6500 lb/ac/year of C Project sequesters the amount of C in ~82,000 tons of CO2/yr 2. Soil C as soil genesis reestablished 3. Amount in AGB Emphasize that estimates are being verified now by DUWC Equivalent to the average annual CO2 impact of 11,000 Americans Photo: E. Hinesley, NCSU

Costs of Restoration Conservative cost range for restoration on conservation lands between $140 (in- house) and $310 (contract) per acre We estimate PLNWR project cost of ~ $5M if work completed through external contracts One time investment… annual return Encourage group to think about the costs of not doing it… Photo: E. Hinesley, NCSU

Restoration Implications: Avoided Losses Avoided loss of valuable ecological habitat Avoided wildfire response costs: Evans Rd – nearly $20M by Jan 2009 Juniper Road - $3.5M as of 7-29-2011 Pains Bay - >$14M as of 8-9-2011; up to $350K/day at peak Peat soils have potential value in C markets upon restoration C trading at $10/ton, peat worth up to $139M was lost during Allen Rd and Evans Road fires combined Peat soils exhaustible – fires can burn to depth of underlying mineral soil

Summary Restoration will not prevent fire in pocosins; just promotes return to more nature fire regime Frequency and intensity of fires in drained pocosins exceeds natural baseline for these fire-dependent habitats with significant costs Ecological community impact (e.g. globally threatened AWC) Fire fighting costs/resources in tough budget times Feet of soil loss in sea level rise vulnerable areas CO2 emissions equivalent to industrial releases Tourism and health impacts Evans Rd Fire – positive impact of partial restoration Partially-restored pocosins burned far less than neighboring drained lands Undrained pocosins and areas where restoration work was complete did not burn

Summary (cont.) Restoration is cost-effective preventative measure Potential for restoration projects to be important in carbon markets Restored peatlands are a valuable resource Took geologic time to form; support unique habitats; rapid loss Value of peat lost exceeds $100M on Evans fire alone New partners / external funds focused on C or N may expand restoration and even acquisition in future C and N benefits and project costs estimated; 3-year verification study underway…those tools may help others with similar projects

Thanks! NCDENR William Ross Dempsey Benton NCSU Horticultural Eric Hinesly U.S. Geological Survey Duke University Wetlands Center The Nature Conservancy Conservation Fund FWS - Raleigh Mike Wicker Tom Augspurger FWS - Refuges Howard Phillips Chris Lowie Mike Bryant Dave Kitts Wendy Stanton Fred Wurster www.fws.gov/raleigh/pdfs/PeatlandRestoration_CSeqBenefits_Jan2010.pdf sara_ward@fws.gov Photo: Hollingsworth, USFWS

NC Pocosins with Restoration/Enhancement Potential

NC Pocosins with Restoration/Enhancement Potential

Juniper Road Fire, 2011 Left: June 19, 2011. Right: July 21, 2011. Photo Credit: USGS