From 3 April – 23 September 2009 we monitored the distribution, abundance and productivity of the federally Threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) along the Oregon coast. From north to south, we surveyed and monitored plover activity at Sutton Beach, Siltcoos River estuary, the Dunes Overlook, North Tahkenitch Creek,...
INR’s long-term goal with this and other projects is to help revitalize rural economies and contribute to rural sustainability, while increasing ecosystem restoration and thoughtfully developing ecosystem services markets. To assist in meeting these goals, this project aims to understand and overcome a significant hurdle on the supply side of...
This report was written as a resource for water quality managers, watershed councils, municipalities and citizens to help understand the status of watershed conditions in the Willamette Basin. Our interpretations are based on chemical, physical and biological indicators at three different spatial scales: the basin scale, the subbasin scale and...
The Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center (Oregon BEST), an independent nonprofit organization, is a catalyst for research and university-industry collaboration in green building and renewable energy to create business opportunities and jobs in Oregon. Oregon partnered with the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) to conduct a series of...
This project was part of the Siuslaw Watershed Restoration Initiative. We designed and established a monitoring program at five sites totaling 319 A: two tidal wetland restoration sites (97A) and two reference sites (205 A) in the Siuslaw River estuary, and one 17 A reference site in the Yaquina River...
The United States is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, yet accessing enough healthy, fresh food to meet basic nutritional needs is a critical issue faced by millions of Americans. There are a number of reasons for food insecurity in the United States, the primary causes being lack...
The Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) breeds along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in California, Oregon, and Washington and at alkaline lakes in the interior of the western United States (Page et al. 1991). Loss of habitat, predation pressures, and disturbance have caused the decline of the coastal...
The purpose of this report is to characterize the December 2007 storm and long-term storm variability along the Oregon and Washington coast, present the results of a rapid assessment of randomly selected OWEB restoration projects (restoration activities including large wood placement, fish passage, and riparian planting), and based on the...
From 1 April – 24 September 2008, we monitored the distribution, abundance and productivity
of the federally Threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) along the Oregon
coast. From north to south, we surveyed and monitored plover activity at Sutton Beach, Siltcoos River
estuary, the Dunes Overlook, North Tahkenitch Creek,...
The Rural Studies Program (RSP) at Oregon State University (OSU) and the OSU Libraries collaborated to create a Rural Communities Explorer portal (phase 1). (www.oregonexplorer.info/rural).
The research reported here was conducted to identify interests and needs among various sectors of the Oregon agricultural community regarding sustainable agriculture. The study also sought to gauge potential for establishing a program in Oregon to serve those needs.
HARNEY COUNTY HISTORY PROJECT
AV-Oral History #469
Interviewee: Eileen O'Keeffe McVicker
Interviewer: Karen Nitz
Subject: Homesteading on the South End of Steens Mountain
Date: October 16, 2008
Place: Chester & Helen Felt Recording Room, Harney County Library, Burns, Oregon
The project focuses on nonequilibrium ecosystem dynamics, a body of scientific research that characterizes and interprets ecosystem change. INR summarizes knowledge from this field, describes ways in which the current management framework may be inconsistent with scientific findings, and helps identify options for future management. This paper is designed to...
The Vital Signs Indicators Project incorporates multiple goals, most particularly:
1. Provide a tool upon which to base statutory assessment of the effectiveness of the Management Plan in implementing the Scenic Area Act;
2. Increase performance accountability and tie Commission actions to the purposes of the Act;
3. Foster dialogue...
Archival information about fish and water in the Umpqua Basin can be found in reports housed in disparate locations (e.g., offices of various State and Federal agencies and local organizations). A comprehensive bibliography of grey literature, important or uncataloged reports, and published reports is one means of recording what research...
In 2008, the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) asked the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) to assess whether the Oregon Land Use Program, as designed, is helping the state meet its land use goals. More specifically, this intensive but highly time-limited research effort set out to answer the...
"Oregon's waters are an integral part of sustainable communities, a viable state economy and a healthy environment - and they are fundamental to our quality of life. Oregonians recognize the need to manage our waters in a way that protects the unique natural resources of the state in balance with...
The purpose of this project was to conduct a preliminary examination of the environmental use of plants in Oregon by gauging the breadth of opportunities and challenges faced by growers, users, and researchers who are involved in the general area of the environmental uses of plants. More specifically, the project...
A systematic review of evidence was conducted concerning the effects of large wood placement on salmonids. In contrast to a general literature review, a narrowly focused question was targeted. The question was formulated before the review commenced and specified the subject, treatment, and outcomes of interest. The primary review question...
This report documents an Oregon Department of Forestry pilot project conducted through the Institute for Natural Resources at Oregon State University on a science synthesis method known as systematic review- a rigorous, transparent literature review technique developed and now widely used in clinical medicine. A systematic review focuses narrowly on...
"This report summarizes the preliminary ideas of Oregon’s Big Look Land Use Task Force for reforming Oregon’s Land Use Planning Program. The Task Force was formed to evaluate Oregon’s Land Use Planning Program and make recommendations for how it should be adapted to address the challenges of the future...
"The...
This chapter is divided into three main sections. The first section discusses land cover map development. It begins by providing background information on the regional division of labor and the regional land cover legend. It then focuses on our land cover mapping methods, including a description of data sources, the...
This is a response prepared by Henry R. Richmond of the American Land Institute to the SB 82/"Big Look" Task Force report, "Big Look: Choices for the future" (issued, May 30, 2008). It appear was written on July 11, 2008 and consists of three files: comments, updated cover page for...
From 3 April – 21 September 2007, we monitored the distribution, abundance and productivity of the federally Threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) along the Oregon coast. From north to south, we surveyed and monitored plover activity at Sutton Beach, Siltcoos River estuary, the Dunes Overlook, North Tahkenitch Creek,...
The purpose of this Management and Action Plan is to help guide the Nestucca-Neskowin Watersheds Council (Council) in accomplishing three main goals:
To provide opportunities for watershed-related education to the people who live, work, and recreate in the watershed
To update the Nestucca/Neskowin Watershed Assessment (May 1998).
To protect and...
When voters considered Measure 37 in 2004, what it would do was a guessing game. Moreover, arguments made to justify the measure were untested. Today, three years and 7,462 claims later, what Measure 37 would do is increasingly clear. In addition, new research shows two key Measure 37 justifications were...
Summertime wind stress along the coast of the northwestern United States typically exhibits intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) with periods from ≈15 to 40 days, as well as fluctuations on the 2- to 6-day “weather-band” and 1-day diurnal time scales. Coastal upwelling of cool, nutrient-rich water is driven by extended periods of...
"This interim report of the Big Look Task Force synthesizes the research and conclusions made by the
Task Force in Phase I (identifying major issues) and Phase II (framing the issues) of its work program.
Work has begun on Phase III (targeted outreach), which is anticipated to coincide with Phases...
This study examines the ways in which land-use regulations in general and Oregon’s land-use planning system in particular may affect property values. The study is focused on Oregon, but it is framed within the broader context of research in economics. Our analysis of Oregon land value data finds no evidence...
The Oregon University System, working in partnership with the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department, commissioned a bio-fuels industry readiness survey for Oregon. This report serves as one component of the readiness survey. The report has three primary sections:
• An overview of the current forest products industry in Oregon...
The purpose of the study is to gauge the scope of bioenergy opportunities by identifying and profiling bioenergy projects and potential projects in Oregon, and learning directly from developers the key challenges and issues this nascent sector faces. Bioenergy projects are defined as projects that would produce biofuels (ethanol and...
In summary, as detailed below in Section III, we recommend the 2007 Legislature put
Measure 37 back on the track of fair and honest compensation for all claimants, and corral the
threat to Willamette Valley agriculture at the same time, by providing as follows:
• Whether in the form of...
ORNHIC maintains extensive databases of Oregon biodiversity, concentrating on rare and endangered plants, animals and ecosystems. The program is managed by OSU, but has been a
cooperative project, with significant support from The Department of State Lands, The Nature Conservancy in Oregon, USFWS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the...
The Lower Nehalem Watershed Council utilized information from several sources to identify culverts in the watershed that are most likely to block migration of Coho. Our approach builds upon the GIS data layers provided by Portland State as part of their assessment of the watershed. Additional data layers were obtained...
This report examines the Bridge Program efforts undertaken, methods used, obstacles encountered, accomplishments, and lessons learned. It is not a performance evaluation; it is a case study focusing on the social, organizational and institutional dynamics of transforming a vision for environmental streamlining into a working program. The Bridge Program is...
Executive Summary
This report analyzes how land use regulations – and government programs
generally – have affected the value of private real property in Oregon. Its objective is to
inform discussion of the issues surrounding the current debate over Measure 37.
Measure 37 was passed in 2004 in response to...
From 2 April – 14 September 2006, we monitored the distribution, abundance and productivity of the federally Threatened Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus) along the Oregon coast. From north to south, we surveyed and monitored plover activity at Sutton Beach, Siltcoos River estuary, the Dunes overlook, North Tahkenitch Creek,...
The overall goal of the Greater Sage-grouse Comprehensive Conservation Strategy (Strategy) is to maintain and enhance populations and distribution of sagegrouse by protecting and improving sagebrush habitats and ecosystems that sustain these populations. This Strategy outlines the critical need to develop the associations among local, state, provincial, tribal, and federal...
The Biodiversity Monitoring Workgroup which consists of federal, state, university, NGO’s, and private landowner stakeholders who are involved in aspects of monitoring biodiversity in the states of Oregon and Washington—conceived of the idea of exploring the possibilities of creating a Regional Biodiversity Monitoring Partnership.
This white paper seeks to provide facts about the history of land use planning in Oregon while
also identifying some of the key challenges facing planning in the future. It also includes useful
information about the work of the Oregon Task Force on Land Use Planning (the “Big Look”
task...
INR’s mission is to provide Oregonians with ready access to current, science‐based information and methods for better understanding resource management challenges and developing solutions and after the 2004 release of the Governor’s Advisory Group on Global Warming (GAGGW’s) extensive report, The Oregon Strategy for GHG Reductions, INR recognized the need...