Forest & Oak Habitat Restoration
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Project: Bunchgrass Community Restoration Trail
Client: Columbia Land Trust
Date: 2005 - Ongoing
Services Provided: IRM developed a series of burning, herbicide and native grass seeding treatments and implemented these in oak savannas on the Dillacourt Conservation Area, in Klickitat County, Washington. The goals of this project center on developing techniques to restore native Idaho fescue/prairie junegrass bunchgrass communities currently dominated by non-native annual grasses. This study will be monitored over a 10-year period by IRM and the results published.
Project: Oak Knoll Restoration at Hendricks Park
Client: Friends of Hendricks Park, Salix Associates
Date: 2005 - Ongoing
Services Provided: IRM was hired to design and layout restorative prescriptions at Oak Knoll, within the heavily used Hendrick's Park. The focus of this work is to release Oregon white oak and California black oak, while protecting the scenic and recreational values in this area.
Project: Carnine Oak Restoration
Client: Doug and Linda Carnine
Date: Ongoing
Services Provided: The Carnine family are deeply committed to sustaining biological diversity on private lands. They have recently taken a very active role in this movement by purchasing over 600 acres of cutover lands in the Southern Willamette Valley and are restoring them in a mosaic of multi-species forests (land that will be available in the future to generate modest timber harvest under strict FSC management guidelines) and open native prairies and oak and pine savannas (for the benefit of many “open habitat” species at risk). IRM worked on stewardship plans for these three properties and pursuing funding to aid in restoration with help from the Forest Restoration Partnership. 2004 was a busy year on the Carnine’s properties. LightfootTM was used to control major blackberry populations. These areas were sprayed and planted with western redcedar and valley pine. Old slash piles were burned, roads brushed to improve access for fire control restoration activities. In 2005 botanical surveys will be completed to identify remnant and rare plant populations. A major oak and pine savanna restoration effort is planned for 2005-06 using thinning, noxious weed control and re-establishment of native grasses and forbs. Funding for harvest of Douglas-fir trees that are choking the savanna will help subsidizes other treatments.
Project: Gill Oak Restoration
Client: McKenzie River Trust
Date: Ongoing
Services Provided: The Gill property consists of 200 acres of remnant oak woodland and savanna near Oakland, Oregon. The land has high habitat potential due to remnant native grass populations and large oaks, yet years of neglect, overgrazing and tree harvest by the previous owner had left the property choked with noxious weeds and overstocked with young oaks. IRM worked closely with the landowner to develop a management plan that stresses restoration of remnant high value oak habitats while allowing limited grazing and future tree cutting. Funding was secured through USFW grants to cover costs of much of this work. A host of experimental treatments are being implemented on the tract to reduce English hawthorne in oak savannas, expand native grasslands, restore habitat for a number of at-risk species including the Columbia white-tailed deer, white breasted nuthatch, and western pond turtle.
Project: Reichman Oak Woodland Thin
Client: Lynn Reichman
Date: Summer-Fall 1005
Services Provided: IRM was hired to complete a variable density thinning on 100 acres of oak woodlands outside of Eugene, Oregon. The oak woodland had been encroached with Douglas-fir trees. One of the objectives of this project was to remove as many of the encroaching Douglas-firs as possible. The second objective of this thinning was to help create a healthy stand by harvesting the mature Grand firs that have become infested by the fir engraver beetle. The third objective was to generate revenue for the present and future oak restoration work that will be conducted on this property. The landowner is currently working towards being granted a conservation easement to ensure that the property is low-impact harvested in the future and that oak restoration continues.
Project: Rowena Wilds Oak Restoration and Fuels Reduction
Client: Rowena Wilds Landowners
Date: Winter 2004
Services Provided: Rowena Wilds is a planned rural housing development that was designed around strict ecological covenants. The 200 acres community located at the eastern edge of the Columbia Gorge, southeast of Mosier, Oregon contains high-quality remnant pine and oak habitats that have been encroached with fir and oak regeneration. IRM worked closely with Rowena Wild’s landowners to design forest restoration prescriptions to reduce forest fuels and restore savanna habitats. Funding was provided by a fuel reduction grant from the Oregon Department of Forestry. IRM designed silvicultural prescriptions that achieved the fuel reduction standards required by the state, while enhancing oak habitat, and preserving the visual qualities of the forest using a technique called “mosaic thinning”. Restorative treatments were tailored to the specific needs of each landowner to maintain a desired aesthetic. IRM completed thinnings, removed slash and re-seeded burn piles.
Project: Philomath Prairie Spray
Client: The Nature Conservancy
Date: Summer 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management was contracted by The Nature Conservancy to treat false brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum), a highly invasive woodland grass species on the Philomath Prairie Preserve, outside of Corvallis, Oregon. False brome populations were located in the understory of oak and conifer woodlands and sprayed with careful attention to not damage native grasses and forbs.
Project: Big Island Restoration
Client: McKenzie River Trust
Date: Summer 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management worked with the McKenzie River Trust (MRT) to restore Big Island on the McKenzie River in the Southern Willamette Valley. IRM used the LightfootTM to reduce blackberry populations in the understory of riparian gallery forests and in old farm fields, which will be planted with trees. IRM also treated Japanese knotweed (a highly invasive noxious weed) patches with an innovative herbicide injections system that eliminates pesticide drift by directing herbicide in a uniform dose directly into the stem of the plant.
Project: Green Island Restoration
Client: McKenzie River Trust
Date: Summer 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management worked with the McKenzie River Trust (MRT) to restore Green Island on the Willamette River in the Southern Willamette Valley. IRM used the LightfootTM to reduce blackberry populations in the understory of riparian gallery forests and in old farm fields, which will be planted with trees. IRM also treated Japanese knotweed (a highly invasive noxious weed) patches with an innovative herbicide injections system that eliminates pesticide drift by directing herbicide in a uniform dose directly into the stem of the plant.
Project: Gossler Farms Spray
Client: McKenzie Watershed Council
Date: Summer 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management completed a release herbicide spray treatment of conifer and hardwood seedlings planted by the McKenzie Watershed Council along Cedar Creek, a tributary of the McKenzie River. The spray achieves excellent results targeting invasive weeds including reed canary grass and Armenian blackberry.
Project: Nelson Family Oak and Pine Forest Management and Restoration Plan
Client: Nelson Family
Dates: Fall-Winter 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management assisted the Nelson family in developing a forest management plan on their 500 acre property overlooking the town of Lowell. This ownership contains abundant oak and pine woodlands including some of the largest valley pine in the state. These old growth remnants date back 400 years when the foothill landscape around Lowell was cloaked in oak and pine savanna. The trees are in decline due to overstocking from encroaching fir trees. It is also a prominent landmark for the town. Therefore, maintaining a visually appealing landscape is a big concern and will guide future forest management activities on the property. IRM helped the Nelson’s decide how to manage the forest resource, by analyzing an optimum mosaic of prairie, savanna, and woodland habitats to benefit remnant old growth trees, life cycles needs of wildlife species associated with each of these conditions, and visual concerns. Specific restorative prescriptions were developed to guide the Nelson family, who will be carrying out most of the restoration work. A fascinating aspect of this property is that the Nelson’s are experimenting with using goats to reduce noxious weeds and maintain desired species composition, cover and condition. IRM will be working closely with the family to determine how these “biological brush mowers” can be utilized in an integrated weed management system that includes limited herbicide use, mechanical brush mowing, and fire.
Project: Klickitat Landscape Level Oak Restoration Project
Client: Columbia Land Trust, Vancouver, Washington
Date: Summer-Fall 2004
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management restored oak savannas and woodlands in the Klickitat River Canyon, an area that contains the largest concentration of these habitats in Washington State. Activities included thinning stands to remove conifers and over-stocked oak, use of goats and brush mowing to reduce shrub cover, and native seeding to re-establish bunchgrass communities. Silvicultural prescriptions were based on reducing extreme fire behavior and associated fire effects, increasing mast production and tree vigor, and habitat needs of the western grey squirrel. A combination of low impact skid steer (LightfootTM) with a sheer, and hand crews were used during thinning operations.
Project: Ridgeline Oak Release
Client: City of Eugene
Date: January 2003
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management prepared silvicultural prescriptions and marked trees for removal as part of a trial oak restoration project at Spencer Butte Park, a heavily used City of Eugene property.
Project: Oak Savanna Restoration
Client: Linda Boyer, Consulting Botanist, Mark Krautman, Landowner
Date: Summer 2002
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management used a low-impact skid steer equipment to remove overtopping Douglas-fir and thin dense young oak woodland to a savanna density on 10 acres.
Project: Stump Springs Prescribed Burn Plan, Dixie National Forest, Escalante Utah
Client: Sub-contractor to David Evans and Associates, per Region 4 Professional Services Contract. Dave Keefe
Date: November 2001 - May 2002
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management prepared prescribed fire prescriptions for the 5,000 acre Stump Springs Planning Area.
Project: Snag Creation
Client: Willamette National Forest, Amelia Sorseth
Date: October 2001 - December 2001
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management assisted the WNF by creating snags by saw-topping on Blue River Ranger District. Trees were topped between 40 and 100' in height, and innoculated with various types of pathogens.
Project: Oak Restoration Plan and Implementation for Cooke Family Forest
Client: Cooke Family, Oregon Department of Forestry, Contact Jim Cathcart
Date: February 2001
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management developed a resource management plan prioritizing the restoration of oak habitats on 60 acres of pasture and degraded woodlands. Plans included prescriptions to restore understory vegetation in mature oak stands, and thin dense younger oak stands to improve tree vigor. Restoration treatments were designed to create target future desired habitat conditions based on objectives of supporting home range needs of western meadowlarks and acorn woodpeckers. Treatments varied with initial condition and future habitat objectives. In open pasture, an integrated approach is being used to control invasive species and restore oak. Repeated brush mowing of blackberry and scotch broom with low ground pressure equipment depleted root reserves followed by spot spraying of re-sprouting plants in some areas. A combination of mowing, hand cutting and hack-n-squirt treatments of exotic woody shrubs and trees were used. Oaks were regenerated by direct seeding and protecting existing seedlings and saplings from browse damage. Native grasses were restored in stages using direct seeding and interplanting techniques. In woodland habitats oaks were thinned using a variable density approach to increase tree vigor and modify tree architecture towards an open grown form of certain trees. Competing conifers were removed along with exotic cherry and hawthorne. Native grasses were seeded in using a staged approach.
Project: Restoration of Oak and Pine Habitats on BLM, Eugene District
Client: Bureau of Land Management, Eugene District Contact: Peter O’toole
Date: November 2000 - September 2002
Services Provided: Integrated Resource Management worked with a team of professionals from the Northwest Habitat Institute, Oregon Herpetological Society, Salix and Associates Botany Consultants to develop a plan to restore oak woodlands and savanna on lands managed by the Eugene District Bureau of Land Management. This project was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant. Integrated Resource Management completed a stand level inventory of oak resources among sites on BLM lands, characterizing pre-settlement conditions, and developing silvicultural prescriptions for restoration of conifer dominated sites back to oak and associated understory plant communities. Restoration practices included conifer removal using a combination of helicopters and a low-impact skid-steer crawler, small jackpot burns for fuels reduction succeeded by native grass and forbs seeding and plug planting. Pre and post treatment monitoring is planned along with development of additional treatments in this long-term project.
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Pile burning may be part of a prescription for oak restoration, as shown here in Maupin, Oregon. |
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 "Click to enlarge")
