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...
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...
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...
Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. and Wyoming Wildlife Consultants, LLC initiated a greater sage-grouse radio-telemetry study at an existing wind energy development in southeastern Wyoming in 2009. The University of Wyoming joined this collaborative effort in January 2010, and the National Wind Coordinating Collaborative joined the effort in March 2011. The...
In a January 26, 2000 letter, the Portland District Army Corps of Engineers (COE) requested Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 informal consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on the proposed issuance of a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit (Permit ID No. 00-32) to allow an instream...
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 scientific literature on logging after wildfire is reviewed, with a focus on environmental effects of logging and removal of large woody structure. Rehabilitation, the practice of planting or seeding after logging, is not reviewed here. Several publications are cited that can be described as 'commentaries', intended to help frame...
This report has been prepared in support of the Pacific Northwest
Coastal Ecosystems Regional Study (PNCERS) to provide
a summary and compendium of the management of estuaries
in the Pacific Northwest of the United States that lie between Puget
Sound, Washington, and Cape Mendocino, California. Federal, state,
and local government...
Effective conservation of the greater sage-grouse and its habitat requires a collaborative, landscape-scale, science-based approach that includes strong federal plans, a strong commitment to conservation on state and private lands, and a proactive strategy to reduce the risk of rangeland fires.
Since public lands make up roughly half of the...
Senate Bill 100 (1973) and the Oregon Land Conservation and Development
Commission’s (LCDC) goals (1975) required:
- Cities to adopt urban growth boundaries (UGBs) to contain sprawl, and
- Counties to use zoning to limit 15.6 million acres of farmland to farm use, and 8.0
million acres of forest land...
On June 27, 2000, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) received a biological assessment (BA) and request from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for Endangered Species Act (ESA) section 7 formal consultation for a bridge replacement project over Butte Creek along Oregon Highway 211 (Woodburn to Estacada Highway) in Marion...
This field guide combines classifications of common streamside plant communities and native freshwater wetland communities in Northwest Oregon. It is a condensed version of two separate works which are both available on the CD that accompanies this book. The information is also available for reference or to download as a...
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...
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 ponderosa pine ecosystem of the West have changed dramatically since Euro-American settlement 140 years ago due to past land uses and the curtailment of natural fire. Today, ponderosa pine forests contain over abundance of fuel, and stand densities have increased from a grange of 49-124 trees per ha (20-50...
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...
The purpose of this report is to review existing wildfire prevention activities and recommend strategies to reduce the number and severity of human-caused wildfires in Oregon.
Oregon’s forest protection system was created in 1911. At that time, timber harvesting, forest management, and other land-clearing activities were the predominant uses of...
About 6 million acres of Oregon wildlands have no organization responsible for suppressing wildfires. Most of these lands are in remote areas of the state with low population density and relatively low resource values. Some wildfires on these lands become large fires that damage adjacent landowner resources and property, threaten...
The Basin Investigation Section, Oregon State Game Commission (now a part of the Environmental Management Section, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) studied the John Day Basin to provide the State Water Resources Board with fish life water requirement data. Field studies were conducted during 1966, 1967, and 1970. Principal...
The fish and wildlife resources of the Middle Coast Basin (Fig. 1), their present status, value, limiting factors and water requirements are reviewed in this report. Minimum and optimum stream flow recommendations are presented and field study methods outlined.
The flow recommendations for fish life are primarily for use by...
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.
FishXing (fish crossing), a computer aided stream crossing culvert model designed to analyze fish passage through culverts was compared with results of an Oregon Department of Forestry fish passage monitoring report. FishXing was created at Humboldt State University through sponsorship from the US Forest Service, USDA, Stream Team, Six Rivers...
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 elevations and characteristics of floods are major factors that influence land-use planning of the flood plains of any stream. As the lowlands become more intensively used, it becomes increasingly important to have a firm basis for assessing the risk of flood damage. Land-use zoning is not only a legal...
As part of the 2004 Oregon Fire Program Review, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) formed the Forest Fuels and Hazard Mitigation (FFHM) Committee to assess hazardous fuel loading issues, and recommend ways to reduce risk, and improve and strengthen the multiple hazard mitigation strategies in Oregon.
A statewide wildfire...
Large fallen trees in various stages of decay contribute much-needed diversity of ecological processes to terrestrial, aquatic, estuarine, coastal beach, and open ocean habitats in the Pacific Northwest. Intensive utilization and management can deprive these habitats of large fallen trees. The publication presents sound information for managers making resource management...
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...
The Grant County CWPP is the result of a countywide effort initiated to reduce forest fire risk to citizens, the environment, and quality of life within Grant County. Citizens, fire districts, county staff or elected officials, and agency representatives have worked together to create a plan that would be successful...
This document outlines the priorities, strategies and action plans for fuels reduction treatments in the greater Bend wildland urban interface. This CWPP also addresses special areas of concern and makes recommendations for reducing structural vulnerability and creating defensible spaces in communities at risk. It is intended to be a living...
This report delineates reasonable objectives, based upon the best scientific and commercial data available at the time of its release, for the conservation and survival of greater sage-grouse. Individual team members contributed by providing technical information and data, participating in critical discussions, providing critical reviews and edits, or authoring sections...
Presentation intended to provide basic public information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 12-month finding for the greater sage-grouse, conducted pursuant to the 2004 Endangered Species Act.
Greater sage-grouse Centrocercus urophasianus populations across North America have been declining due to degradation and fragmentation of sagebrush habitat. As part of a study quantifying greater sage-grouse demographics prior to construction of a wind energy facility, we estimated apparent net nest productivity and survival rate of chicks associated with radio-equipped...
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...
Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were once found in most grassland and sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats east of the Cascades in Oregon. European settlement and conversion of sagebrush steppe into agricultural production led to extirpation of the species in the Columbia Basin by the early part of the 1900s, but sagebrush...
The condition of the sagebrush ecosystem has been declining in the Western United States, and greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), a sagebrush-obligate species, has experienced concurrent decreases in distribution and population numbers. This has prompted substantial research and management over the past two decades to improve the understanding of sage-grouse and...
Counts of males attending leks in the spring have been the primary means employed by states to monitor status of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophansianus) populations for over 75 years. Despite limitations and potential biases, lek count data remain the only long-term, range-wide dataset available for evaluating trends in sage-grouse populations....
The purpose of this document (Framework) is to communicate some of the factors the Service is likely to consider in evaluating the efficacy of mitigation practices and programs in reducing threats to sage-grouse. The recommendations provided here are consistent with the information and conservation objectives provided in the 2013 Conservation...
Prior to settlement in the 19th century, greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter referred to as ‘sage-grouse’) inhabited 13 western States and three Canadian provinces, and their potential habitat covered over 1,200,483 square kilometers (km) (463,509 square miles (mi)). Sage-grouse have declined across their range due to a variety of causes...
Clatsop Beaches, characterized by flat beach-face slope (1:70) and small sandsize (0.2 mm.), have supported commercial and recreational fisheries for the razor clam (Siliqua patula) for many years. Tracing the linear growth of two year classes through more than one year following set led to a validation of the ring...
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...
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...
This site provides a variety of tools and resources for citizens and local governments interested in developing, revising, or evaluating local tree ordinances. Rather than using a "model ordinance" approach, we describe how tree ordinance development can be integrated with an overall community tree management program. The site includes annotated...
The Oregon Department of Forestry, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, offers this publication as a guide for cities and counties to use in the development of urban forest practice regulations.
This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides policy on how to assess habitat for Gunnison and Greater Sage-Grouse, including the Bi-State Distinct Population Segment, (hereafter referred to as "sage-grouse") and under what circumstances the habitat assessment is required.
This volume is divided into two parts. Part 1 discusses estuary and estuarine habitat classification as a basis for resource planning. A hierarchical classification system is presented and suggested as an appropriate system for Oregon estuaries. Part 2 of the report suggests guidelines for estuarine resource inventories, including a list...
This paper provides some background information on coarse to medium scale habitat monitoring techniques and proposes a framework for a statewide system. It is designed for state fish and wildlife agencies and their partners to help them meet the monitoring requirement in the development of wildlife strategies.