Watershed assessment is a process for evaluating how well a watershed is working. The purpose of this assessment was to determine how natural and human-induced changes have impacted the sustainability of salmon populations in the Nehalem River Watershed. Both historical and current information is included regarding the watershed’s ability to...
This project, commissioned in 1998, is part of the MidCoast Watersheds Council's efforts to better understand the status and condition of the area's natural resources and to work with interested landowners to enhance and protect important areas.
Coho salmon have been the most important variety of salmon caught commercially in Oregon. Until recently, coho were also the most common variety in most coastal streams. Based on records from salmon canneries, coho in Oregon north of Cape Blanco (near Port Orford) numbered about 1.25 million adults annually 100...
This analysis was performed for two reasons: 1) the KWG needed a way to focus and synthesize the results of applied research on the condition and trends of natural resources, and the factors affecting those resources; and 2) a detailed watershed analysis was needed to supplement watershed assessments planned for...
Anglers and naturelovers prize steelhead trout for their mystique and power. Oregon has two subspecies of steelhead (so-called because of the metallic appearance of maturing adults) or rainbow trout: a coastal form and an inland form.
The purpose of this document is to
help guide the Council toward its goals of improving, maintaining and
protecting watershed health, and fostering stewardship and
understanding of the watershed.
Chinook salmon are the largest of any of the salmon in Oregon. Mature fish range from less than 2 pounds to more than 70 pounds. In the late 1800s, chinook salmon were almost the only species taken for canning in the Columbia River, with production peaking at 43 million pounds...
The Lower Alsea River Watershed Analysis contains information which characterizes the processes and trends for resources of concern, and provides a context relating the function of this lower portion of the watershed to the Alsea River Basin as a whole. Critical problem areas both inside and outside federal lands are...
Coastal cutthroat trout is one of three cutthroat subspecies found in Oregon. The coastal subspecies, which is closely related to steelhead/rainbow trout and Pacific salmon, displays the most diverse and flexible life history of any of the Oregon salmonids. Coastal cutthroat can be found in streams and rivers from the...
Based on oral interviews with tribal informants, current and former state and federal fisheries personnel, review of records and literature, and presence/absence sampling, it is apparent that Pacific lamprey were once abundant in ceded area streams of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (John Day, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Tucannon, and Grande Ronde...
The purpose of this document is to summarize the best scientific information presently available for bull trout (Salvelimus confluentus) throughout Oregon and to review their historical and current status. What started out as a relatively simple exercise to review and update the status report by Ratliff and Howell (1992) based...
Fire history from years 1150 to 1985 was reconstructed by analyzing forest stands in two 1940-hectare areas in the central-western Cascade Range of Oregon. Serving as records for major fire episodes, these stands revealed a highly variable fire regime. The steeper, more dissected, lower elevation Cook-Quentin study area experienced more...
Little research has been directed toward determining the status and ecological role of riparian areas in agricultural landscapes of the Willamette Valley, Oregon. A research project has been designed to contribute to the development and evaluation of alternative future scenarios and to improve the basic understanding of the role of...
We compared the potential fire behavior and smoke production of historical and current time periods based on vegetative conditions in forty-nine 5100- to 13 500-hectare watersheds in six river basins in eastern Oregon and Washington. Vegetation composition, structure, and patterns were attributed and mapped from aerial photographs taken from 1932...
Throughout the Applegate watershed, dense, overstocked, immature stands of mixed
conifers and hardwoods and declining stands of mature conifers present significant
and complex silvicultural problems. Stand stagnation is common, as is loss of largediameter
conifers from insects and wildfire. Treatments designed to maintain or
encourage development of large-diameter conifers have...
In the 1980s, resource managers were increasingly concerned about effects of timber harvest on ungulates in National Forests. Land and resource management plans incorporated restrictions on timber harvest to maintain cover for Rocky Mountain elk
(CeNus e/aphus ne/soni V. Bailey) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus RafinesqueJ, and habitat models...
A contingent valuation methodology was applied to old-growth forests and critical habitat units for the Northern Spotted Owl in Oregon to esimate the economic value to the public in knowing that rare and unique ecosystems will be protected from fire for current and future generations. Generalizing to the whole state,...
Six high-use destination areas were studied in the Alpine Lakes, Mount Jefferson, and Three Sisters Wildernesses in Washington and Oregon. Exit interviews were conducted with visitors, and recreation impacts and visitor encounter rates between groups were quantified. Encounter rates were extremely high and impacts were substantial but localized. Visitors were...
The report describes the results of model calibration and validation, and evaluates the extent to which runoff response to timber harvesting and increased road densities in East Fork Lobster Creek Basin can be simulated, using Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), a deterministic, destributed-parameter-modeling system.
Mixed-conifer stands of grand fir (Abies grandis (Dougl. ex D. Don) Lindl., Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) were fertilized with nitrogen and combination treatments of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur to test their effects on trees and associated insects during...
A pandora moth (Coloradia pandora Blake) outbreak began in 1991 in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex. Laws) spacing study area that also included scattered sugar pine (P. lambertiana Dougl). The relation of defoliation to five tree spacings (with and without understory vegetation) was examined, and stand growth reduction...
An interagency project demonstrated the feasibility of integrating Federal surveys of terrestrial natural resources and offers a vision for that integration. At locations selected from forest inventory and analysis, National forest system Region 6, and national resources inventory surveys in a six-county area in Northern Oregon, experienced teams interpreted and...
The purposes of this report are to describe the quality of shallow ground water in alluvial aquifers of the Willamette Basin and to identify relationships between shallow ground-water quality and various natural and anthropogenic factors. Several natural and anthropogenic factors (soil characteristics, cumulative thickness of clay above open interval of...
This report reviews and summarizes available information on aquatic biological communities in the Willamette Basin through 1995. Specifically, the report describes (1) the distribution, abndance, and trends of three taxonomic groups--algae, macroinvertebrates, and fish--and, to a lesser degree, other selected semi-aquatic taxa (i.e., taxa frequenting but not living wholly in...
Off-channel features such as alcoves and side channels can have important ecological functions for large rivers such as the Willamette River. Some species and age classes of fish may select these features instead of the main channel to feed, avoid predation by other fish, escape fast water, or seek out...
This document presents information from various land managers and researchers to guide livestock management in riparian areas using their unique responsiveness to accomplish management objectives. Riparian areas, as interfaces between the aquatic and upland components of the ecosystem comprise mosaics of landforms, communities, and environments within the larger landscape. The...
Seedlings were thinned to spacings of 5, 9, 12, 15, and 18 feet and measured periodically. Twenty-seven years after treatment, quadratic mean diameters increased curvilinearity (p < or = 0.05) as spacing increased, but total height did not differ significantly (p < or = 0.05) with spacing. Corresponding basal areas...
The goal of this project is to recommend a broadly-acceptale efficient and effective methodology for characterizing streamside riparian attributes in forested settings at the site grain for regional monitoring. The authors consider monitoring design in the context of three interacting constraints: ecological functions, capabilities of technologies, and user needs. The...
This report presents results of an investigation of water and streambed-sediment quality in selected tributaries of the South Umpqua River. Concentrations of inorganic constituents in water (major and minor ions, nutrients, and trace elements) and streambed sediment (primarily trace elements), along with standard field parameters, are tabulated for samples collected...
Arsenic concentrations exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) current Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 50 micrograms per liter are widespread in ground water in the Willamette Basin. The Oregon Water Resources Department and the U.S. Geological Survey began a cooperative study in the Willamette Basin in 1996. One goal...
The objective of this Biological Opinion (BO) is to determine whether the action to restore emergent vegetation to wetlands on Sauvie Island is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of Upper Willamette River chinook salmon and Lower Columbia river chinook salmon or destroy, or adversely modify proposed critical habitat.
This report presents the concentrations of major ions, nutrients, and trace elements in water and bottom sediments collected in the four-tributaries during the low-flow condition of September 9-13, 1996. Stream-water chemistry results are contrasted, and trace-element concentrations compared with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chronic aquatic life toxicity criteria. Bottom -sediment...
Local (Country) variations in key social and economic indicators are important in Oregon and Washington. Covered employment, wage and salary, unemployment, and population data for 1987 through 1997 showed regional trends in these indicators, which are compared with national trends. Future updates will be published in the 'Production, Prices, Employment,...
We describe concepts, rationale, and analytical procedures for characterizing physical habitat in wadeable streams based on raw data generated from methods similar or equal to those of Kaufmann and Robison (in PB99-139156). We provide guidance for calculating measures or indices of stream size and gradient, sinuosity, substrate size and stability,...
The authors varied the number of red alder retained with 300 Douglas-fir per acre on a high-quality site in coastal Oregon. Alder densities of 0, 20, 40, and 80 per acre were tested. The authors' fifth treatment eliminated nitrogen-fixing alder, but substantial nitrogen fertilizer. Treatment 6 had neither thinning nor...
On February 11, 1998, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) requested that a representative of NIOSH conduct a health hazard evaluation (HHE) to evaluate and compare timber marker's (also called Forestry Technicians) exposures to a new waterborne formulation of tree marking paint developed for use by the U.S. Forestry Service. NIOSH...
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has worked cooperative with the Unified Sewerage Agency of Washington County (USA) since 1990 to assess water quality in the Tualatin River Basin. The objectives of this study were to: assess the occurrence and magnitude of trace element and selected organic contaminants in streams of...
This biological assessment (BA) documents the potential effects of existing Forest Service (FS) Land and Resource Management Plans (LRMPs), or 'Forest Plans' and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land Use Plans (LUPs) on the Canada Lynx (Lynx canadensis), hereafter referred to as the lynx. LRMPs and LUPs are collectively referred...
The Northwest economic adjustment initiative (NWEAI) provides economic assistance to a region including western Washington, western Oregon, and northern California. Timber harvests have fallen markedly in this region since 1990. The forest products industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the region, and employment has followed the downward trend in...
There are many parallels between the 1978 legislation to expand Redwood National Park and the Northwest Forest Plan, which together with the Northwest Economic Adjustment Initiative formed the 1993 Pacific Northwest Initiative. In both situations, the Federal Government sought to promote retraining for displaced workers, to undertake watershed assessment and...
Repeated thinning to five growing-stock levels resulted in widely differing tree sizes and volumes per acre after 30 years. Largest trees but the least cubic-volume yield per acre were produced in the heaviest thinning level, whereas highest board-foot yields were found in intermediate thinning levels. partial defoliation by larch casebearer...
This paper reports prices for aggregations of lumber grades that are representative of the quality and volume of lumber produced from small-diameter timber stands in the Intermountain West area encompassing Idaho and Montana and land east of the Cascade Mountain range in Oregon and Washington. Price data are reported for...
Corvallis scientists report on a multi-organization study that looked at biodiversity as a two stage problem. The first stage is finding those places over a region of study that have the greatest combined biodiversity, and the second stage is studying those important places to see what effects changes in land...
An analysis of lumber prices provided regressions for price trends during the period 1971-95 for composite lumber grades of major timber species found in the Pacific Northwest west of the crest of the Cascade Range. The analysis included data for coastal Douglas-fir and hem-fir lumber; coastal and inland Pacific Northwest...
Experimental prescriptions compare agroforestry systems designed to increase financial returns from high-elevation stands in the southern Oregon Cascade Range. The prescriptions emphasize alternative approaches for joint production of North American matsutake mushrooms (also known as North American pine mushrooms; Tricholoma magnivelare) and high-quality timber. Other agroforestry byproducts from the system...
The purpose of this pilot program was to determine whether or not forward looking infrared (FLIR) videography could be used to develop thermal maps of the mainstem Klamath River to access habitat limitations due to high stream temperatures for fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).
On March 24, 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published its final decision to list the Upper Willamette River evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) of chinook salmon as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The effective date for the final listing was May 24, 1999, and the ESU is...
As the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management turn toward ecosystem and adaptive models of forest stewardship, they are being called on to develop meaningful and lasting relations with citizens. These new management styles require not only improved strategies for public involvement but also methods to examine the...