A conservation easement completed in the fall of 2019 will permanently protect one of the largest blocks of oak habitat in the Willamette Valley. The 1,610-acre Creswell Oaks property, a working cattle ranch south of Eugene that was zoned for golf course development, is home to the valley’s largest population of imperiled Oregon Vesper Sparrows and nine other priority bird species.
The easement purchased by the Center for Natural Lands Management, with funding provided through the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program, will protect more than 950 acres of oak woodlands and 650 acres of grasslands. The Bonneville Power Administration funded the project to help offset its impacts on wildlife habitat in the Willamette basin.
Read the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's press release.
