The Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative (SOFRC), the Model Forest Policy Program (MFPP) and the Rogue River-Siskiyou Forest Service (RRSFS) have a shared vision to enhance the resiliency of our communities and forests. In 2012, the Collaborative took the leadership role to engage in the Climate Solution’s University (CSU) Plan...
On Feb. 24, 2011, thirty-one people met at the Charleston Power Squadron building in Charleston, Oregon, to develop a foundation for a Partnership for Coastal Watersheds (PCW) Collaboration Compact. This document outlines the commitment of Partnership members and the practice of ―collaboration‖ as a central feature of the PCW. On...
The Coos Estuary Inventory Project, an in-depth assessment of environmental and socio-economic status and trends, is part of Phase 2 of the Partnership for Coastal Watersheds. The project began in January 2013 and is focused on the larger Coos estuary and its direct tributaries.
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The Arapaho Ranch is an interesting study regarding the relationship between good land stewardship and the implementation of the current CCX range protocol. The Arapaho Ranch appears to be a model of the ways in which sustainable rangeland management and economic diversification, including profitable niche marketing and payment for ecosystem...
The Sun Ranch, located in the Upper Madison Valley, served as the pilot project for the Chicago Climate Exchange’s (CCX) Rangeland Soil Carbon Sequestration Offset Program, launched in 2007. The protocol for the new offset program was developed by a CCX Technical Review Team in consultation with former Sun Ranch...
Ecologically sound practices often cost landowners more than less environmentally friendly tactics. However, some consumers are willing to pay more for the assurance of production practices they value. Third-party certification is a way to acknowledge sustainable production practices beyond what is required by law.
The market for such products is...
Salmon recovery requires restoration of spawning habitat to improve egg-to-smolt survival. Private lands play a crucial role. Funds for restoration are available from both federal appropriations and legal settlements for dam mitigation. Federal agencies responsible for recovery are often limited in their ability to work on private lands however, not...
Fish recovery in rivers depends on sufficient instream flows to maintain water quality and habitat. In many areas, water rights for agriculture present direct competition for these flows, and “use it or lose it” water rights provide little flexibility to landowners who may be able to contribute unneeded rights.
An...
Landowners who want to restore and improve their land may be unsure of how to navigate the programs that are available to help them reach their goals. A ranch family in southern Oregon has tackled these barriers and successfully combined multiple projects, partners, and funding sources to improve ecological and...
Twelve years ago I was new to the Oregon coast and eager to learn about the natural setting. Field guides were available to birds, marine mammals, tide pools, seaweeds, and forest plants. Not so geology. I looked at a field guide to rocks and minerals, but it was hard to...
This fact sheet series highlights innovative ways that family forest and ranch owners are prospering from protecting and enhancing ecosystem services on their land. Ecosystem services are the benefits people receive from nature like water quality, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration.
This document is a companion to the Partnership for Coastal Watersheds State of the Watersheds assessment (also accessible from the Partnership for Coastal Watersheds web site) which is a summation of newly collected and existing data which describe the environmental and socioeconomic conditions in the South Slough and Coastal Frontal...
The Partnership Steering Committee has developed a set of vision statements or desired conditions for the future of the project area (20-25 years). The community vision describes desired future conditions we want to see in 20 years in our quality of life, environment and economy. We will work toward attaining...
This report describes results of baseline monitoring at the Ni-les’tun tidal wetland restoration site, Bandon National Wildlife Refuge, Coquille River estuary of Oregon. Baseline monitoring provides a basis for comparison to post-restoration conditions, allowing future determination of project effectiveness. The report focuses on 2010-2011 baseline data, but it also includes...
The metric is encompassed in two documents, the Sagebrush/Sage Grouse Habitat Metric User’s Guide and a Sagebrush/Sage Grouse Habitat Metric Calculator.
Partnership for Coastal Watersheds (PCW) Phase 2 projects are aligned with the following three objectives to be pursued in parallel: Coos Estuary Inventory Project, Coos Estuary Monitoring Tools, and Phase 1 PCW Action Plan Implementation, Partnership for Coastal Watersheds, [2012].
This assessment outlines an enhanced planning approach for West Coast estuaries that incorporates an evaluation of the regional context for estuarine conservation and recommends an approach to site-scale planning with more focus on ecological processes and functions.
This report summarizes the presentations and discussions at the Regional Gravel Initiative Workshop. The Workshop was designed and conducted by the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) and Oregon Sea Grant (Sea Grant) on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) and...
The Guano and Thousand-Virgin Sub-basins occupy over 1.8 million acres in Harney and Lake Counties in Oregon. The portions of the sub-basins in Nevada are not assessed in this document. Harney County Watershed Council (HCWC) watershed assessments focus on summarizing data from existing research, resource inventories, and management plans. This...
Coos Watershed Association (CoosWA) and the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (SSNERR) are interested in forming a community stakeholder group as the foundation of the Partnership for Coastal Watersheds project. CoosWA and SSNERR have engaged Oregon Consensus to conduct a neutral assessment of issues related to the convening of...
Green Point Consulting created a GIS layer of current and likely former tidal wetlands in the Yaquina and Alsea estuaries, working from the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) mapping and applied their field knowledge of the estuaries, as well as newly available data such as LiDAR and recent aerial orthophotos. They...
Ecosystem services markets represent potential revenue streams for small- and medium-scale rural agricultural and forest producers, many of whom have faced significant economic downturns over the past several decades. Demand for ecosystem services (ES) in the form of investments by public agencies, mitigation funds from regulated entities, and voluntary payments...
The video "Harold Otley AV-Oral History 362" was filmed by Dorothea Purdy & Barbara Lofgren at the Harney County Library on June the 8th, 1994, in Burns, Oregon. A copy of the transcript is included.
This oral history is part of the Claire McGill Luce Western History Room at the...
The Lakes Basin Bibliography consists of over 600 references relating to the natural resources of Oregon’s Lakes Basin. Forty percent of the items listed are available to anyone online though not all links are persistent. The remaining sixty percent are held in at least one library either in print or...
This comprehensive bibliography is collection of refereed research related to climate change, wetlands and wetland restoration published before January 1, 2008.
This report is laid out as a progressive exploration of how the economics of ES production interacts with finance, broadly construed, in actual credit transactions. The inquiry proceeds in several steps. First, the economics of ecosystem services production is explored to provide critical context for potential financing approaches. This section...
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...
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 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...
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).
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 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 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 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,...
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...
"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...
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...
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...
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 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...
The Biodiversity Monitoring Workgroup (Appendix 1)—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. The Workgroup’s idea of hosting...
In order to reduce long-term idling along the Oregon I-5 corridor, the US Environmental Agency entered into a collaborative research and implementation program with Oregon State University, the Oregon Climate Trust, and Shurepower (producers of truckstop electrification equipment) to install Shurepower stations at truck stops in Oregon. This research component...
The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) has established two new research programs – the Surface Transportation Environment Planning (STEP) Cooperative Research Program and the Future Strategic Highway Research Program II (F-SHRP II). The creation of these new programs provides an opportunity for transportation...
Fish viewing station at Winchester Dam in Winchester on the North Umpqua River. This project was implemented by the Project Leadership class of 2000, and the project cost was $100,000.
This log placement project took place on Argue Creek, a tributary to Big Creek in the Smith River Basin. ODFW habitat biologists designed and inspected this project in 2004.
This project included 8 miles of fencing, 18 stock water tanks, 10 acres of riparian planting, 1 hardened crossing and 1 culvert crossing. Six landowners participated in the project.
Two Rapid-Span bridges were installed on property owned by Donna Woolley. The total project cost was $130,000. The bridges have concrete running surfaces over two large I-beams.
This pipe was installed in 2005 by Johnson Rock Products. The culvert has aluminized weir plates welded to the inside of the pipe at 10-foot intervals. The tributary on which this culvert was installed flows into Paradise Creek, a tributary to the main Umpqua west of Drain.