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Vantage to Pomona Heights Chapter 3 230 kV Transmission Line Project FEIS Affected Environment PAGE 3-133 cliffs also provide nesting and roosting habitat for raptors. The NAP is accessed from the Yakima River corridor and SR-821 and includes an interpretive trail system and parking area. In 1980, the basalt daisy (Erigeron basalticus) was included on the Endangered Species Act species list, but it was delisted in 2007. Even though it was federally delisted, the basalt daisy is currently on the DNR Natural Heritage Program list as a state-listed threatened species. The basalt daisy is found exclusively in a 10-mile stretch of the Yakima River Canyon, growing in the Yakima Basalt formation along Selah Creek and the Yakima River Canyon. DNR has not completed the public process to establish a boundary for the proposed Wanapum Natural Area Preserve and, as a result, will not be using grant money (Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office [RCO] Grant # 08-1185, 10-1474, and 12-1182). DNR may pursue future grant funding to acquire land in the vicinity. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife The WDFW manages the Lower Crab Creek and Priest Rapids Units of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area in Grant County north of the Saddle Mountains and east of the communities of Schawana and Beverly. The wetlands and riparian areas along the creek and the seep ponds and uplands on the bench north of the creek, provide a diverse habitat for many species of wildlife. Washington Department of Transportation The WSDOT manages land within its ROW corridors for the purposes of operating and maintaining transportation related facilities within the I-82, SR-24, and SR-243 corridors. WSDOT manages a parcel north of the eastbound Selah Creek Rest Area as a non-regulatory environmental management buffer for the conservation of cultural, biological and scenic resources. In 1993, the Selah Cliffs NAP, an interpretive trail system located at Mile Marker 3 on SR-821, was established to protect the largest known basalt daisy population (see DNR discussion above). In order to provide additional protection to potential basalt daisy habitat on WSDOT property, WSDOT established an approximately 102-acre “environmental management buffer” in 2008 (Inventory Control No. 5-39-08073). This parcel is located within the western half of Section 15 west of I-82 and north of the Selah Rest Area. The environmental management buffer is non-regulatory in nature and was created to alert WSDOT and others to the presence of the basalt daisy and, if feasible, to avoid impacts to this species from WSDOT or other projects. WSDOT requires that any temporary and permanent impacts related to construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed Project be assessed prior to use of its property. Surveys to identify any biological or cultural resources on WSDOT property will be needed, and mitigation for any impacts to those resources is required. Potential impacts related to scenic views from the eastbound Selah Creek Rest Area and the Manastash Ridge viewpoints will need to be assessed and mitigation for any potential impacts is required before granting an easement across WSDOT-owned property. Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office Funded Project Sites The RCO is a state agency that manages a number of boards and offices tasked with creating outdoor recreation opportunities, protecting wildlife habitat and farmland, and enhancing salmon populations and habitat. This collection of boards and offices provides leadership, funding, and technical assistance to local communities, state, and federal governments and others. The RCO provides federal and/or state funded grants for the protection of resources. Sites that are acquired with RCO funding are protected in perpetuity for the original grant purposes. Eligible grant recipients include local governments, special taxing districts, state agencies, federal agencies, tribes, nonprofits, businesses, and private landowners. General resource protection categories generally include parks, trails, shooting ranges, boating, salmon recovery, farmland preservation, and habitat conservation. The Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program are among the grant programs used to fund the protection of resources. Any conversion of a RCO funded property acquisition to other uses would need to be approved in advance by RCO.