"99% of the terrestrial portion of the Willamette Valley-Puget Trough-Geogria Basin ecoregion is either private or tribal land. Nearly three-quarters of the populations of British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon live within this ecoregion."
- TNC Willamette Valley-Puget Trough-Georgia Basin Ecoregional Assessment
This greatly impacts conservation and how we and our partners approach conservation actions.
In light of this and to strengthen relationships with private landowners, in 2024 the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network and the Umpqua Oak Partnership worked together to update the original oak landowner guide to expand the geography and reflect new information and advances in restoration.
Originally published in 2014 and updated in 2020 by the Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network, Klamath Bird Observatory, and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, this valuable resource describes in detail how to apply conservation practices for Oregon white oak and California black oak habitats on private lands in southwestern Oregon and northern California.
What’s Inside
The guide covers the history and ecological importance of oak habitats from Oregon to Northern California and provides detailed guidance for oak habitat restoration. Throughout the guide, the authors reinforce the importance of working alongside Indigenous partners and embracing Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK) in approaching oak restoration.
The guide also provides a landowner worksheet, which takes landowners through their landscapes and helps direct them to the most useful parts of the guide for their property and goals.
Geographic Scope
The guide applies to oak habitats in Douglas, Josephine, Jackson, and Klamath Counties in Oregon, and Siskiyou County in California. However, many of the restoration recommendations inside will likely be relevant to other regions where oaks occur.
Focal Species and Focal Habitats
The guide includes information on six oak species; Oregon White Oak, Brewer’s Oak, California Black Oak, Valley Oak, Canyon Live Oak, and Tanoak. Restoration guidelines emphasize Oregon white and California black oak habitats including Oak Chaparral, Oak Savanna, Oak Woodland, and Mixed Oak-Conifer.
The guide also provides a landowner worksheet, which takes landowners through their landscapes and helps direct them to the most useful parts of the guide for their property and goals.
Oak habitat restoration is not a one-and-done process. It requires many years of restoration work and often continued management to sustain healthy, thriving oaks. The guide covers in detail seven characteristics of health, functioning oak ecosystems, and guidelines to help achieve each condition across habitat types.
The seven desired characteristics the guide covers are:
- Diverse Habitat Structures
- Large, Old Oak Trees
- Snags and Downed Wood
- Restored or Retained Native Understory
- Frequent, Low-intensity Fire
- Healthy, Functional Chaparral
- Balanced Grazing
The guide covers the importance of each characteristic, threats to it, guidelines for maintaining each trait, and key bird species that rely on specific habitat conditions.
Tips and Resources
In addition to providing detailed management recommendations, the guide includes tips for oak cultivation, managing wildfires, and implementing prescribed burning, thinning, and girdling techniques across species, seasons, and locations. It also contains a list of supplemental resources including contacts for restoration assistance, step-by-step monitoring instructions, and more. Finally, the guide shares what to expect after restoration, examples of success stories from private landowners who have embarked on their oak restoration journey, and a how-to section for monitoring bird response.
Read the guide and learn more on the new Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network website.
