Frank D. Lospalluto © Creative Commons
The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) is a major source of conservation funding in Oregon. Their mission is to help protect and restore healthy watersheds and natural habitats that support thriving communities and strong economies. OWEB’s Focused Investment Partnerships Program made a major investment this year in oak and prairie habitats with its partnership awards.
Awards Will Lead to Multiple Conservation and Cultural Benefits
The Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON), a partnership whose mission is to conserve oak habitats on private and public lands in southern Oregon and northern California, was awarded a 6-year, $7 million award for the Little Butte Oak Initiative. The Initiative will catalyze tribal, federal, and private landowner collaboration, support, and capacity for oak restoration. KSON plans to restore 2,480 acres of oak habitat within the Little Butte Creek Watershed and Table Rocks using prescribed fire, reduced encroachment, noxious weed abatement, and native understory planting.
Shown: Lindsay Cornelius, Natural Area Manager at Columbia Land Trust, works on a restoration project in the East Cascades.
© Rollin Bannow
Further north along the Columbia River, the East Cascades Oak Partnership (ECOP) also received an OWEB grant to help achieve their mission: empowering people to make decisions and take actions that improve outcomes for Oregon white oak systems. ECOP, housed at Columbia Land Trust, was awarded $7.1 million to advance habitat conservation, stewardship, outreach, and monitoring in the East Cascades. (See the press release.) In the next few years, the project will protect 15,000 acres of priority habitat, restore 17,000 acres, and conduct outreach to engage private landowners. It will also support the use of prescribed fire, expand access to native plant information and materials, and provide for the implementation of new monitoring and assessment tools.
Columbia Land Trust Conservation Director Dan Roix was one of many people excited to hear this news. "It is incredible to think that this effort started six years ago with a $10,000 grant from Pacific Birds. After a lot of relationship building, investments from partners, and strategic planning, we are excited to launch this major conservation effort for oaks."
The Power of Strategic Partnerships
As noted by Dan Roix, almost ten years ago now Pacific Birds made an investment in oak ecosystems. After the selection of Oak and Prairie as one of our conservation priorities, Pacific Birds worked to empower people and existing as well as new partnerships to convene, organize, and plan for the future. As a result of investments that supported needed capacity–combined with passionate leadership at many levels–both KSON and ECOP grew into the strong partnerships they are today. With strategic and communications plans in place, and a clear vision of what needs to be done, these partnerships are well poised to implement substantive actions for local communities and the larger regional oak and prairie landscape.
"Consistent funding support for convening around oak conservation was an essential piece of KSON’s growth. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the help of Pacific Birds and other entities who believe in the power of partnerships." – Jaime Stephens, Klamath Bird Observatory Science Director and KSON Coordinator
