Gifford Pinchot National Forest is seeking comments by Dec. 20, 2014 on restoration

By The Columbian
Published: December 12, 2014, 6:02 AM

 TROUT LAKE (Ore.)— The Gifford Pinchot National Forest (map) is seeking comments by Dec. 20 on a proposed restoration project in the Bear Creek watershed north of Carson in Skamania County.

The project’s goals include developing old-growth characteristics in dense Douglas fir plantations, maintaining the quality of the domestic water supply for Carson, restoring Oregon white oak habitat and improving big game winter range.

Specifically, actions would include commercial thinning on 657 acres, harvesting small trees on 28 acres to improve oak habitat, decommissioning or closing roads causing damage and improving culverts, water bars and road shoulders at 21 locations on Pinchot roads Nos. 68, 6808, 6830 and 6835.

Comments may be mailed, faxed or delivered to Mose Jones-Yellin, Mount Adams District Ranger, 2455 Highway 141, Trout Lake, 98650. Electronic comments may be submitted to comments-pacificnorthwest-gifforpinchot-mtadams@fs.fed.us.

Electronic comments should be within the email message or as an attachment in .pdf. .doc or .rtf formats and specify Bear Creek Restoration in the subject line.

More information is available from Erin Black at 509-395-3411 or ekblack@fs.fed.us.

Noble Oaks: New Nature Conservancy Site near Willamina, Oregon

Sneak Peak: Noble Oaks Preserve

Near Willamina, Oregon's newest preserve covers 470 acres and connects two conservation easements. Together, these sites will establish a habitat “anchor” in Oregon's wine country.

Save the Ancient Oaks in Salem

NOTE:  The Oregon White Oak is a slow-growing tree and supports many native species of animals --- activism around the trees should be focused on saving the Oaks.

California Oak Symposium slated for Visalia

From the Porterville Recorder,

Saturday, October 25, 2014 

THE RECORDER recorder@portervillerecorder.com


The foremost oak researchers in California and the Pacific Northwest, plus researchers from Spain and South Korea, converge in Visalia (California) for the seventh California Oak Symposium Nov. 3-6. This is the symposium’s first appearance in the San Joaquin Valley since its inception 35 years ago.

“The drought will be a major focus of the symposium,” said Rick Standiford, UC Cooperative Extension forest management specialist based at UC Berkeley, and symposium coordinator. “We will also have cutting-edge research and policy presentations on sudden oak death, gold-spotted oak borer and conifer encroachment in black and Garry oak woodlands, among much more.”

California’s oak woodlands cover 10 percent of the state, and oaks are a key ecological component of conifer forests. There are more than 20 species of native California oaks; several are found nowhere except within the state’s borders and some others range only as far as Canada and Mexico. Oak woodlands are the most biologically diverse habitat in the state, making conservation a policy and management priority.

The symposium begins with tours of regional oaks on Nov. 3. One group will tour the Visalia urban oak forest; a second group visits the Kaweah Oaks Preserve and Dry Creek Preserve. Over three days, scientists will present 58 research papers on oak management, wildlife, ecosystem services, ranching and utilization, gold-spotted oak borer, oak restoration, and sudden oak death. Ten of the projects focus on oak conservation, touching on such topics as economic incentives for oak conservation, the oak conservation program at Tejon Ranch, and the establishment of Oregon white oak and California black oak in northwestern California.

The wildlife series of presentations provides new information about native and introduced species that make their homes among the oaks, including European starlings, Pacific fishers, bats and wild pigs. Some of the ranching topics to be discussed include the public and private incomes from forests in Andalusia, Spain; economic incentives related to recreational use of private oak woodland; and acorn production and utilization in South Korea.

Since 1979, the California Oak Symposium has been held every five to seven years; the last one was in Rohnert Park in 2006. Visalia was selected for the symposium because of its geographic convenience for both northern and southern California oak scientists, and the city’s commitment to the preservation and protection of native oak trees.

Threatened species found at Salem Hospital site

Text from Willamette Live, October 15, 2014
Photos from copyright free sources

Western Grey Squirrel

A Willamette University student and several local educators are concerned that the “clear cutting” development of the Salem Hospital property where the School for the Blind was may predict the end of two species of native wildlife in Salem’s city core.

Maya Kaup, a sophomore Biology student is studying the Western Grey Squirrel population in the Salem area.  The Western Grey Squirrel, which evolved to reside here millions of years ago, is rapidly losing ground to the Eastern Grey Squirrel, a competitive species introduced by humans in 1919, as well as by human-caused loss of habitat.

Eastern Grey Squirrel *

In 2006, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) identified the Western Grey Squirrels as a “species of concern in need of conservation”.  The animals receive legal protection in the State of Washington.  In the Willamette Valley, the Western Grey is classified as a State Sensitive Species – Vulnerable,” according to ODFW.  According to the Portland Audubon Society Western Grays have “almost completely disappeared” from the Portland area.

In her research, Kaup found that Western Grey Squirrels had no foothold within Salem city limits – in any park or neighborhood – with the exception of two individuals she discovered on the land east of South Church Street between Pringle Creek and Mission Street S.E. – the hospital property.  Kaup noticed the two in January, a sight traditionally seen every five years or more, but for only a few weeks.  However, Kaup continued to see the two and later, two additional, smaller others, which suggests that the first are a breeding pair who have settled on the property.  The group can still be seen, living off the large trees that are currently slated for cutting.

This “mature oak-conifer habitat,” Kaup says, “is crucial for the survival of Western Gray Squirrels… Westerns are closely associated with oak woodlands, and due to the loss of these in the Willamette Valley they are losing their habitat, in addition to being driven away by invasive squirrels and the roar of human development.”

Kaup’s advisor, Dr. David Craig, is chair of the Department of Biology at Willamette University, is equally concerned.  If the trees on the hospital property are cut, as currently planned, he says, “only one thing will happen; the Western Grey Squirrel will be quickly gone and we’ll have local extinction.”

Dr. Jason Niedermeyer teaches Biology and Animal Behavior at South Salem High School and did several undergraduate research projects on squirrels when he was a Willamette student.  “We’ve seen occasions,” Niedermeyer says, “of the Western Grey Squirrel attempting a comeback here, but they never seem to make a toehold.”  From an aesthetic standpoint, he adds, “they’re just a beautiful squirrel.  They’re a beautiful slate grey; their vocalizations are very musical.  For 53 million years they’ve been the quintessential squirrel here, and now in Oregon’s state capital it’s kind of sad they aren’t the tree squirrel any more.  There’s something sad about our leaving the world less dense than we found it.”

The hospital property is also a successful breeding site for several pairs of the slender-billed white-breasted nuthatch, another animal identified by the ODFW as a “species of concern.”  For both the Western Grey Squirrel and the nuthatch, the Oregon Conservation Strategy specifically identifies private development and removal of Oregon white oaks as contributing problems and asks for voluntary conservation action.

On October 2, Craig wrote to Alan Costic, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Salem Hospital, identifying the two species and saying that if the hospital elected to cut the significant trees on the property, “you choose to destroy some of Oregon’s unique natural heritage, and increase the likelihood that we will end up with two more endangered species requiring expensive investments to prevent extinction.“

In his letter, Craig asked Costic and Salem Hospital to “return to the drawing board” and develop a site plan that preserves at least 30 of the 40+ trees currently targeted for removal.  He expressed particular interest in saving most, if not all, of the ancient Oregon White Oaks, Douglas Firs and trees of greater than 24” diameter.

“The Western Grey Squirrels were here first,” Kaup says.  “It seems sad that people drove them out and then, just when they’re trying to come back, we decide to cut their trees down.”
 

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NOTE:  to read more about Western Grey Squirrels, see Neighborhood Naturalist's Winter 2012-13 Newsletter.

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* Eastern Grey Squirrel photo by BirdPhotos.com (BirdPhotos.com) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

WOODLANDS WORKSHOP, 10/22/2014, The Dalles, Ore.

Oak Woodlands Workshop at the Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles

Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

Free Continental Breakfast provided, “BYO” Lunch.

Topics will include plant and wildlife communities unique to Oregon white oak woodlands, fire ecology, vegetation management for specific goals, grazing management in oak woodlands, and conservation programs.

Please RSVP by 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, to karen.lamson@or.nacdnet.net or call her at 541-296-6178 ext 121

Salem, Ore: Neighbors object to “clear cutting” historic trees

From Willamette Live, September 17, 2014


Salem Hospital plans to cut more than forty trees on the 8.42-acre parcel it purchased in 2010 from the School for the Blind along Mission Street.  Among the trees are nine several-hundred year old Oregon White Oaks which were once part of the ancient woodland that covered the area.  The trees were growing before the first European settlers arrived in the 1800’s.
Thus far, the City of Salem has approved the hospital’s plan to remove the trees and install in their place a 264-space parking lot, a rehab center and an enlarged a maintenance shed, by allowing a variance to city laws that protects the trees.

A neighborhood association wants the trees to live.

The law in question comes from Chapter 68 of The City of Salem’s code, the tree preservation ordinance.   It says that no one can cut down a “significant” tree, an Oregon White Oak greater than 24-inches at breast height, except under certain limited circumstances, which the hospital does not meet.

This spring, as part of their process to develop the land, Salem Hospital asked the city for a variance to the law and for approval to cut the trees.  On June 25th, their request was granted by the City’s Planning Administrator.

SCAN, the South Central Association of Neighbors, appealed the decision, but on August 28th, Hearings Officer Scott A. Fewel sided with the Hospital.

On September 10, SCAN voted to appeal.  Its appeal to the State of Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals will be filed as Salem Weekly goes to press.

“We think we were right and the Hearings Officer was wrong,” says a SCAN member.  “We are convinced that the opinion will not hold up.  You look at the parking the hospital put on the old Bush Elementary School land between Capitol and University Street, and you’ll see the clear-cut that will happen if the hospital prevails.”

Salem Hospital’s plans show that about 5 trees would remain in the main part of the 8.42-acre parcel.  Nearly all the trees in the center of the property would be cut to allow for earthmovers to scrape and re-grade the site for parking.  Among the variety slated to be cut are seven, 100-foot tall historic Douglas Fir trees.  Observers who visit the site can note the trees with a dash of red on their metal tags; the red denotes a tree the hospital intends to cut.

SCAN says that all the hospital’s objectives could be achieved with far less destruction of trees if its planners placed a value on doing so.

"Noble Oaks" Restoration Project by the Nature Conservancy, in Polk County Oregon

From The Polk County Itemizer Observer:

June 9, 2014

POLK COUNTY — The Oregon Wildlife Center off Steel Bridge Road in northern Polk County near Willamina will soon belong to The Nature Conservancy.

The Bonneville Power Administration is funding the $1.5 million purchase of the 472 acres as part of its efforts to protect, restore and enhance habitat for wildlife, according to BPA project manager Dorie Welch in a letter to affected landowners.

Although the sale is not complete, members of the conservancy have been out on the property surveying what already lives and grows there.

“So far they have found six or seven somewhat rare (plant) species that they were surprised to find already living there,” said Mitch Maxson, director of marketing for The Nature Conservancy. “It added to what we already thought would be a great ecological location.”

The sale should be final in late July, and will belong to The Nature Conservancy, which will manage the property.

The first project phase will be active restoration work done by contractors, Maxson said.

“The intent is to open it to the public for some sort of use at some point in the future,” said Dan Bell, Willamette Basin director for The Nature Conservancy.

Public access would be through guided tours or with specific permission for the foreseeable future, according to the grant documents filled out by The Nature Conservancy.

The project will provide an opportunity to engage volunteers, communities and organized groups in onsite work parties, the documents state.

“That specific location is still in the midst of coming into our possession,” Maxson said. “Next spring, we would like to have some people out there to help with all sorts of things, helping to create trails for more access, all sorts of things like that.”

The land most recently was used for the care of rare African wildlife, Welch said.

“That use is in the process of winding down, and the focus going forward will be on native Willamette Valley wildlife habitats,” Welch said.

The land is in the Willamette River Basin, which covers more than 11,500 square miles and stretches from its headwaters in the Cascade Mountains to its confluence with the Columbia River, Welch said.

The property — comprised of about half well-maintained pasture and half oak woodland, with some remnant upland prairie — has not been open to the public under its current ownership. 

The Nature Conservancy will conserve and restore regionally imperiled prairie and Oregon white oak savanna and open oak woodland systems, according to the grant documents. The prairie habitat is dominated by non-native pasture grasses.

The area is in an ideal location to help a nearby population of Fender’s blue butterfly, an endangered species. The butterfly is known to live about three miles from the property.

The area also will help grassland bird populations, such as the western meadowlark and streaked horned lark

.

The Noble Oaks property is the ancestral home of the Yam Hill (Yamhill) band of Kalapuyas, an antecedent band of Grand Ronde, said Michael Yarnosh, ceded lands program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, in a letter of support for the project.

The land is part of a larger area ceded by the tribe to the United States through the 1855 Willamette Valley Treaty, he said.

The 472-acre property will form a connection between two adjacent conservation easements, creating a larger block of about 700 acres of conserved land in the area, Yarnosh said.

Salish Seed Project

Seed-by-seed; habitat recovery in the works

From the Journal of the San Juan Islands, April 25, 2014

The San Juan County Land Bank and San Juan Preservation Trust recently announced a new cooperative venture: the Salish Seed Project.

Currently underway in Friday Harbor, the Salish Seed Project will produce plants and seeds of native island wildflowers and grasses for local restoration projects.

“Many of our local wildflowers are in decline," Land Bank steward Eliza Habegger
said. "Learning how to raise them from seed to flowering makes us hopeful and proud. Most of the plant species selected for the project are impossible to find commercially.”

The Salish Seed Project will further both organizations’ efforts to care for and recover vanishing Garry oak savannah and prairie habitats for future generations.

“Both the Land Bank and the Preservation Trust share similar visions for restoration," Preservation Trust stewardship manager Kathleen Foley said. "By sharing facilities and resources, we can maximize the effectiveness our efforts to restore our beautiful Garry oak and prairie habitats.”

Initially, plants and seeds produced through the project will be used at restoration sites on Land Bank and Preservation Trust preserves, but the partners hope the project will make plants or seeds available for other conservation areas and to private landowners eventually.

Established in September 2013 at the Land Bank’s office in Friday Harbor, a wildflower nursery is now producing small plants, or plugs, of native perennials, bulbs, Garry oaks, and an assortment of other local plants.

This June, the San Juan Preservation Trust’s Red Mill Farm in San Juan Valley will become home to a new, larger nursery facility.

With support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Salish Seed Project’s nursery at Red Mill Farm will focus initially on producing seeds of the golden paintbrush, considered a threatened species by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and plants that grow in association with paintbrush.

“Community involvement is central to the Salish Seed Project,” Habegger said. “We are seeking volunteers to collect seed from the wild, tend the nursery, and eventually plant in restoration zones on preserves.”

More info is available by contacting Habegger at 378-4402, or eliza@rockisland.com, or Foley, at 378-2461 or kathleenf@sjpt.org.

 

 

A City Council refuses to help expand White Oak Savanna

West Linn City Council nixes grant to help expand White Oak Savanna 
From The Oregonian,  OregonLive:

Neighbors for a Livable West Linn would like to purchase the remaining six acres of the White Oak Savanna Park.

The West Linn City Council on Monday shot down a grant application aimed at expanding the White Oak Savanna, riling a chamber packed with the park's supporters.

The council voted 3 to 2 against a resolution to submit the grant, which would help pay for the purchase of the expanded park. Cost to the city, a short deadline and unusual process caused reservation among some councilors.

Just after the vote, a parade of supporters expressed disappointment with the decision.
“We’ve worked on this for five years and you’ve effectively killed it,” said Roberta Schwarz, a West Linn resident who has led the effort to preserve the area. “I’m so ashamed of you.”

For years, Schwarz and others protested plans for development of the area near 2445 Tannler Dr. -- 20 acres of one of the largest intact oak savannas in the northern Willamette Valley. In 2009, West Linn, Metro and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department purchased 14 acres of the savanna from the property owner for $1 million.

Now, supporters want to acquire the other six acres from a developer for $1.72 million.

A developer is offering to sell the six-acre property for $1.72 million.

 

Schwarz, through her group Neighbors for a Livable West Linn, recently received a $500,000 grant to help purchase the remaining land. The group has until mid-2015 to find $1,000,000 to match the grant.

Last month, Schwarz requested the city complete a grant application for $250,000 from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

“We’re not asking for any money,” Schwarz said at a March 17 council meeting. “We’re just asking for permission for the grant to be written.”

On Tuesday, city councilors analyzed various resolutions to approve the grant application. Though several resolutions stated that the city is not committing additional financial support for the project, councilors learned the city would be on the hook for some costs in the future.

The area requires an estimated $2 million in intersection and street improvements and $100,000 to construct a parking lot and play area, according to city code. Rezoning the park is likely to cost $10,000, said assistant city manager Kirsten Wyatt.

Some of these costs are already required with the purchase of original 14 acres, noted councilor Mike Jones.

Currently, the area brings in $40,500 in tax revenue to the city, with potential to bring in much more if developed, Wyatt said. If designated a park, the land would generate no revenue.
Council President Jody Carson said she’d like to see the park expanded, but wasn’t comfortable committing the city to park’s financial obligations at this time. Councilor Thomas Frank agreed, adding that the process has lacked transparency.

“A few councilors were courted off to the side,” Frank said. “We haven’t had a public hearing on this.”

Councilors Jones and Jenni Tan voted for the resolution, but the rest voted no.

“I think this would be a good park, but this is not the right time and the right way to go about this,” Carson said.

-- Michael Bamesberger

April 01, 2014

Oak Harbor leadership cuts down 330-year-old tree in secret plan

inSh By JESSIE STENSLAND,  Whidbey News-Times Assistant editor 
Mar 25, 2014 at 3:04PM

Many in the community expressed outrage this week that the landmark Garry oak tree at the Oak Harbor, WA, Post Office was sawed down Sunday morning without prior public notification.

The tree was determined to be 330 years old, based on the number of rings counted.

Some people, including a former council member and a state expert on open government, question the secret way in which the city administrator chose to axe the beloved tree, and whether the issue was properly discussed with City Council behind closed doors.

“I’m in shock,” said Sheilah Crider, former councilwoman and current  Island County auditor.

“They did it in the stealth of the night. It is very regrettable.”

Crider, who emphasized that she was speaking as a private citizen, was involved as a councilwoman in saving the giant oak tree in 2004 after city officials planned to cut it down over safety concerns because of a fungal infection; an expert in Garry oak trees was brought in who advised that the tree could be saved.

Melissa Duffy, a naturalist educator, said she is “deeply saddened.” 

Duffy helped lead the effort to save the tree a decade ago; she contacted experts in Garry oaks who said the tree had at least a 100 years left of life. 

Duffy planted the gardens surrounding the tree and used to coordinate the volunteers who care for it; she said none of the people who loved and cared for the tree knew ahead of time that it would be cut.

“I understand that there are safety issues, but I don’t agree with doing it without a second or third opinion.”

John Cline, a North Whidbey woodworker, said he is also very upset and is planning a ceremony at the tree and march on City Hall 11 a.m. Saturday. He claims he looked at the cut sections of the tree and saw only superficial rot.

“I’m not one of your hippie tree huggers, but there are things that matter,” he said. “It’s really disappointing.”

Oak Harbor Mayor Scott Dudley said the decision to fell the tree was made after an arborist from Tree Solutions assessed the risk of failure as “high” in 2012, and then two giant limbs from the oak fell in May and June of 2013.

“It’s obviously something we didn’t want to do,” he said. “In an ideal world, the tree would have lived forever.”

Dudley said an arborist will give a presentation about the tree at the City Council meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 1.

Dudley said he made the decision not to tell the public about the plans ahead of time in order to lessen the city’s exposure to a potential lawsuit if the tree would have caused injury or damage.

“I tend to listen to our attorney,” he said, adding both the city attorney and city’s insurance provider advised the city to cut the tree. 

City officials looked at other options, such as cabling or eliminating access under the tree, but nothing panned out.

Part of the problem is that the limbs extended over  Post Office property as well as two roads and sidewalks, the city reported in a press release sent out after the tree cutting started.

Acting City Attorney Grant Weed, however, said he didn’t advise the city to keep the plans a secret. 

When to cut the tree and when to tell the community was a policy decision made by the city administration, Weed said.

“It’s not my role to make policy decisions,” he said.

Likewise, City Admin-istrator Larry Cort said the city administration — which is ultimately the mayor — made the decision not to inform the public ahead of time in order to lessen potential liability in case of an event.

Speaking in public about the arborist’s report and the city’s plans to cut the tree down could have led unscrupulous folks to bring litigation they may not have otherwise, Cort said.

“There could be some folks out there who would see a potential chance for a claim,” he said.

Crider points out that the liability is there whether or not the issue was publicly discussed. Cort agreed that the arborist report is a public document. 

Cort said he didn’t have an answer as to why the public wasn’t warned about the dangers outlined in the arborist’s report two years ago instead of keeping the issue secret. Obviously, people walk under the tree just about every day.

Michele Earl-Hubbard, an attorney with Allied Law Group and an expert in open government, said in an email she sees potential reason for concern with the way the tree went down.

“Seems like if there was really harm, they needed to rope it off and warn people — not hide in closed meetings with a lawyer to discuss how if it fell on someone that they could be sued,” she said. 

“As my child would say, ‘No duh.’”

Councilman Rick Almberg isn’t pleased about the secrecy surrounding the felling, but said the issue was only discussed during executive session and he felt he couldn’t talk about it publicly.

“We’ve had more executive session under this mayor than we had under Slowik’s entire term,” he said, referring to former Mayor Jim Slowik. 

Almberg pointed out that Dudley promised greater transparency during his administration.

Earl-Hubbard said facts that exist beyond an attorney’s legal analysis — such as the arborist report and facts about tree limbs falling — are not necessarily privileged. 

“Officials are not supposed to hide behind the coat tails of lawyers because some facts the city possesses and discusses could lead to legal liability,” she said. 

“Yes, I see red flags. Anytime agencies use reasons like this to avoid disclosing information to the public, and make decisions in secret, I see a huge red flag. And the public probably should too.”

Earl-Hubbard also questions whether it was proper to hold an executive session about the issue at all, as opposed to discussing it publicly. 

Under state law, closed-door sessions are allowed to discuss “potential litigation,” but Earl-Hubbard doesn’t think it would cover this type of discussion; she opined that the city would lose if challenged in court on the issue.

The grand old oak tree, however, will not be gone completely. 

Parks Manager Hank Nydam said the trunk was cut in two giant sections in order to preserve as much as possible of the wood for artwork or other projects. He said a lot of different things could be done with the wood; he said one idea is to have a contest to see what ideas artists and woodworkers can come up with.