View the Full Publication
(Click the image to read the full issue.)
Restoring Forest Waterways
WATER & WILDLIFE
They swim thousands of miles, leap up waterfalls, and brave the deepest oceans. Then, the coho and other salmon return to their birthplace in coastal Oregon to continue the cycle. PFT is working to ensure that the five species of salmonids that pass through Oregon’s van Eck forested watersheds have a safe journey back to their home-waters.
While van Eck’s waterways boast rich estuaries and nurseries, many of the larger streams lie within flat valleys which were converted by early settlers to farmland and pasture. Clearing the forests here invited invasive plants and stripped the waterways of downed logs, which provided refuge sites, eddies, and pools vital to fish habitat.
Now, thanks to a multi-year grant from the Alsea Stewardship group, we’re cleaning up the neighborhood—working in stream channels to create a healthy environment for salmonid-spawning upstream and -rearing downstream. In the upland areas, we’re working to reverse the damage of previous industrial logging by retaining large shade trees and strategically placing downed logs in streambeds.
In 2013, we started removing noxious weeds and planting native trees on the Big Elk and Sugarbowl Creeks. So far, we’ve removed eight acres of invasive plants and planted 1,885 seedlings.
A similar project begins later this year on Wright Creek, a tributary of the Yaquina River, near Newport. This project is funded by a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and partners, including the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service.
With your help and the support of our partners, we’re making sure that the waters of the van Eck forests remain pristine highways and homes for fish on their incredible journeys.
Fixing our Dry Forests:science meets societal goals
Report suggests effective science-based restoration plans require social collaboration to succeed.
SCIENCE
Jerry Franklin; PhD, Professor of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, and PFT Board member; shared with us a recently published research article that examines the complexity of restoring dry forests in conjunction with societal goals. The following is a brief digest. A link to the article and its citations is provided below.
Millions of acres of dry, frequent-fire woodlands and forests in western North America are at high risk of rapid and extensive loss of forest cover. Unnatural density and fuel loads make these forests vulnerable to fire, drought, and disease—a situation expected to worsen as climate change advances. These threatened landscapes also represent a significant threat to human populations; private and public infrastructure; and high-value resources and ecological services such as watershed protection, habitat for wildlife and biodiversity, recreation, and timber.
Recent mega-fires have raised public awareness of the risks associated with current conditions in dry forests. In fact, the USDA Forest Service recently adopted restoration as its primary mission in managing the national forests. But actually implementing restoration activities (defined as forest treatments to conserve or restore ecosystem functions and increase the capacity to resist and adapt to current and future stressors) is fraught with societal complications. It seems clear that the public does not want to see its forests burn down, even if they do not fully understand the issues involved.
Significant social barriers remain related to funding, conflicting goals (smoke vs. human health and restoration vs. preservation of species habitat), and stakeholder trust. Landscape ecology and ecological forestry provide a set of principles that can guide such programs, but society ultimately determines the goals for dry forest restoration, as well as the resources for and constraints on the restoration programs. A collaborative approach is needed to plan, adequately fund, and implement restoration activities at the large spatial scales needed.
The paper outlines the natural history and human-influenced transformation of dry forests to their current, imperiled state, and summarizes methods to restore health and resilience. Generally, dry forest restoration projects need to: plan and implement restoration activities at the landscape level; retain diverse conditions; focus on functioning ecosystems rather than single goals like fuels reduction; and use historical conditions as a guide.
Public engagement and education is key to implementing science-based dry forest restoration programs. A collaborative approach can resolve conflicts and build support for the significant funding needed to restore and maintain our dry forests.
Interactions between societal goals and restoration of dry forest landscapes in western North America Landscape Ecology, Volume 29, Issue 7, bit.ly/dryforest Jerry F. Franklin, R. Keala Hagmann and Lauren S. Urgenson.
If forests are the lungs of the earth, wet meadows are almost certainly its sponges.
They capture and store forest run-off, carefully mete it out throughout the year, and help tame both floods and droughts. They host thousands of species large and small—from amphibians and birds, to plants and insects. Their water comes naturally filtered, and they often sit at “the top of the tap” in forest watersheds crucial to our farms and cities.
It’s no surprise, then, that these sponges and the forests that support them are a high priority for conservation. PFT’s Working Forest Conservation Easements (WFCEs) reward landowners for conserving natural values, of which wet meadows are so important. Now PFT is working to close our largest WFCE to date on a property with almost 2,000 acres of wet meadows, springs, and riparian zones.
The Hancock-McCloud Working Forest’s wet meadows and streams flow into the pristine McCloud river. It provides water for the farms, fisheries, and 25 million Californians downstream. The watershed has been identified as a High Priority Landscape, and was highlighted in the USDA Forest Service’s study Forests to Faucets for its significant contributions to drinking water. Its network of waterways, drainages, seasonal creeks, and rivers host 11 miles of fish bearing streams—and connect into the larger system of habitats crisscrossing the Klamath-Cascade’s forests.
McCloud’s wet meadow habitats don’t just benefit the waterborne. Rare plants and ferns flourish in the soggy environment; supporting forests host the Pacific fisher, offer nesting environments for the willow flycatcher, and shelter larger herbivores such as elk and deer. This project will connect across landscapes to ensure the species of the Klamath-Cascade are more secure in a changing climate.
PFT’s option to secure a WFCE for this major conservation opportunity expires in February 2015. We’re working hard to raise significant funds to complete this project by then.
The Land Trust Alliance welcomes your thoughts on PFT
The land trust accreditation program recognizes land conservation organizations that meet national quality standards for protecting important natural places and working lands forever. The Pacific Forest Trust is pleased to announce it is applying for renewal of accreditation. A public comment period is now open.
The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance, conducts an extensive review of each applicant’s policies and programs. The Commission invites public input and accepts signed, written comments on pending applications. Comments must relate to how the Pacific Forest Trust complies with national quality standards. These standards address the ethical and technical operation of a land trust. For the full list of standards see www.landtrustaccreditation.org/tips-and-tools/indicator-practices.
To learn more about the accreditation program and to submit a comment, visit www.landtrustaccreditation.org, or email your comment to info@landtrustaccreditation.org. Comments may be faxed or mailed to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, Attn: Public Comments: (fax) 518-587-3183; (mail) 112 Spring Street, Suite 204, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. Comments on the Pacific Forest Trust’s application will be most useful by May 23rd, 2015.
Stepping up to the Climate Challenge
Strategic Conservation for a Resilient Future
POLICY
From drought and extreme fire to deluges and mudslides, the more advanced the symptoms of climate change become, the more obvious it is that our approach to conservation must change. Well-functioning natural ecosystems provide us with the keys to a resilient future: stable clean water supplies, abundant wildlife, and sustainable wood products. If we want a more resilient future, we need a new landscape-scale approach and supporting systems for conservation.
Ecosystem science shows us the way forward: Prevent fragmentation; re-build connectivity; and restore native species and habitat structures. We need to systematically identify which ecosystems and geographies provide us with the most essential services: water supplies, climate stabilization, vital habitat, and rural sustainability. Then we can develop conservation plans for these systems, and commit funding to accomplish them.
Passion for special places has inspired some great conservation, most of it made possible with sporadic, minimal funding and sheer force of will. We have a terrific legacy of protected lands and parks, but it is a patchwork across the landscape. This legacy is also at risk because protected lands must be better connected as a whole to function well and provide lasting benefits.
With a more integrated systems approach, we can build on the lands we’ve already conserved to create healthy landscapes. Natural systems don’t start and stop at property lines, so we need to work across ownerships to protect them. The services and goods we need from functioning ecosystems cannot be taken for granted, nor are they free. We must compensate landowners for their role in protecting water supplies, stabilizing the climate, and providing habitat for wildlife. And we need the policies and programs in place to fund these efforts.
California is leading the way, taking steps to direct funding from cap and trade auction revenue to lands conservation and stewardship. AB 32 will yield hundreds of millions of dollars in the next few years for land use planning, strategic growth and resource conservation to mitigate climate change and reduce CO2 emissions at their source. As a start, Department of Fish and Wildlife will be investing nearly $25 million a year in watershed and wetlands restoration actions that reduce CO2 emissions while also advancing California’s Water Action Plan. Such strategic, multi-benefit investments are what we need to build a resilient future in the face of climate change, ensuring healthy water, wildlife, and climate for future generations.