A Conservation Business Plan to Revitalize the Prairie-Oak Habitats of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST AUTHORS
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A conservation business plan to revitalize the prairie-oak habitats OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AUTHORS Bob Altman American Bird Conservancy Sara Evans-Peters Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture Elspeth Hilton Kim Center for Natural Lands Management Nicole Maness Willamette Partnership Photo: Bruce Taylor Photo: Jaime Stephens Klamath Bird Observatory Thank you to the following individuals for their review of this document: Bruce Taylor Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture Bradley Bales (Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture), Marko Bey (Lomakatsi Restoration Project), Kevin Blakely (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife), Greg Block (Sustainable Northwest), Belinda Brown (Lomakatsi Restoration Project), CalLee Davenport (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Caitlyn Gillespie (Klamath Bird Observatory), Terry Fairbanks (Bureau of Land Management), Matthew Gibbons (The Nature Conservancy), Mary Linders (Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife), James Miskelly (Saanich Native Plants), Kristen Miskelly (Sannich Native Plants), Steve Niemela (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife), Ann Rothe (Halcyon Consultants), Jonathan Soll (Metro Regional Government), Elaine Stewart (Metro Regional Government) Cover Photo: Bruce Taylor TABLE OF CONTENTS Adrian Wolf © South Sound Prairies 2016 © South Sound Prairies Adrian Wolf 04 FOREWORD 06 INTRODUCTION 07 PRAIRIE,OAKS, AND BIRDS AND THE PACIFIC FLYWAY 08 NEED FOR A CONSERVATION BUSINESS PLAN 09 GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 10 CHALLENGES 11 CHANGING CLIMATE 12 BY THE NUMBERS: PRAIRIE-OAK SPECIES AND HABITATS 14 OPPORTUNITIES 15 STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 18 COST OF RECOVERY AND RESTORATION 20 MOVING FORWARD 21 CROSS-CUTTING STRATEGIES 24 PARTNERSHIPS 25 OUTCOMES FOR PEOPLE 26 SUCCESS STORIES 32 TABLE 1. REGULATORY STATUS OF PRIORITY PRAIRIE-OAK SPECIES 35 TABLE 2. ECOREGIONAL POPULATION STATUS OF PRIORITY PRAIRIE-OAK SPECIES 38 TABLE 3. GENERAL HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS OF PRIORITY PRAIRIE-OAK SPECIES 41 LITERATURE CITED Photo: Bruce Taylor Photo: FOREWORD 125 º 120 º 115 º 50º Prairie, Oaks, and People urrounded by the vast conifer forests of the Pacific S Northwest, prairie-oak habitats were once a haven 45º of open spaces and big oak trees. People historically had a strong connection with the prairie-oak ecosystem in a unique and a mutually beneficial relationship. Native peoples need- ed resources provided by the prairie-oak ecosystem – acorns, camas bulbs, deer and elk, shelter and cover of the big oak trees – that were essential for their survival. The prairie-oak ecosystem needed people to regularly initiate the process of THE VISION renewal through fire. Today, however, that bond between people, prairies, and oaks is tenuous in many places, and The Pacific Northwest has an completely gone in others. These have always been the plac- interconnected network of prairie-oak es where people have wanted to live. Over time, however, habitat that sustains native species across the historic partnership has been fractured and nearly lost 125º the region and provides ecological services with the expanding impact of the human footprint. 40º for future generations. The prairie-oak ecosystem needs help. In some places it is on life support – species are gone or barely hanging on, and in others, the native habitat has been so overwhelmed by invasive species as to become unrecognizable. Rescue is now dependent on us to step up with the necessary resources to start rebuilding the relationship. It will never be the same as before; the shift to human dominance is complete. However, in some places with immediate intervention and regular nur- turing, the human connections to prairies and oaks can be reestablished, not only to save this imperiled ecosystem and its species, but to rekindle a lost heritage. 45º Distribution of Oregon White Oak (U.S. Forest 35º Service) PRAIRIE, OAKS, AND PEOPLE 4 0 100 200 300 400 MILES 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 KILOMETERS When I think “ about oak trees I think about a really important cultural plant to our people. Myself, I’m Kalapuya. My family signed the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855. Oak trees are something you need to manage for generations to produce food. So one gen- eration produces enough food for a person. 25 years. 50 years enough for 3 peo- Meredith ple. 75 years, then a whole Rafferty family of people can live off © the food.” South Sound —DAVIDHARRELSON, Prairies TRIBAL HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER, CONFEDERATE TRIBES OF GRAND RONDE SOURCE: From Oregon’s Oak – A Vanishing Legacy. 2015. Produced by Yamhill Watershed Stewardship Fund and AH Creative. PRAIRIE, OAKS, AND PEOPLE 5 INTRODUCTION wo iconic features define the prairie-oak ecosystems of to today, these continue to be the places where people By bringing together people with common goals that tran- T the Pacific Northwest. First is the signature oak tree – want to live and farm. As a result, these intertwined mixes scend geographic and organizational boundaries, we can typically Oregon white oak (quercus Garryana) from north- of meadows, tree-dotted savannas and dense woodlands align and unite our efforts to achieve larger conservation ern California to British Columbia, and California black oak extending from northern California to British Columbia are gains across the region. (quercus Kelloggii) at the southern end of the region. Oak disappearing at an alarming rate and are among the region’s This business plan seeks to create the economic, social, trees provide nesting habitat for almost 200 wildlife species, highest priorities for conservation. and political climate to fund and support the interventions representing all classes of terrestrial vertebrates, sustaining a Without proactive approaches to maintain and restore im- necessary to preserve and enhance prairie-oak habitat and reservoir of native biodiversity. portant prairie-oak habitats, the endangered species list will the species that rely on it throughout the Pacific Northwest The second feature is the open prairies that dominate some grow, resulting in ecological crisis and regulatory conflict. for the use and enjoyment of future generations. With this parts of the landscape and are scattered among the oak With a sound conservation business strategy, strong partner- overarching strategic framework, this document presents habitats in other areas. Prairies support the most vulnerable ships, and carefully targeted investments, however, we can the business case for a 10 to 15-year investment strategy for elements of the region’s biodiversity, including endangered protect and restore the habitat needed to sustain species as prairie-oak conservation. butterflies whose survival is inextricably linked to the flowers these landscapes change. of threatened and endangered plant species found only in We have started by bringing together a network that unites these increasingly rare habitats. – Bob Altman, Sara Evans-Peters, Elspeth Hilton Kim, participating organizations, agencies, tribal sovereign gov- Nicole Maness, Jaime Stephens, and Bruce Taylor, Many other vulnerable and threatened plants and animals ernments, private landowners, and land managers around on behalf of the Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership, that depend on Pacific Northwest’s prairie-oak habitats, in- a common vision for long-term conservation of prairie-oak Klamath-Siskiyou Oak Network, Pacific Birds, and our cluding birds and squirrels, are already listed as threatened habitats in the Pacific Northwest. many participating partners. or endangered in the U.S. or Canada. Integrating the more specialized needs of vulnerable prairie Prairie-oak landscapes also support the majority of the hu- species into conservation of oak habitats creates holistic man population in the Pacific Northwest – from settlement strategies that optimize biodiversity conservation benefits. Photo: Bruce Taylor Photo: By bringing together“ people with common goals that transcend geographic and organizational boundaries, we can align and unite our efforts to achieve larger conservation gains across the region.” PRAIRIE, OAKS, AND PEOPLE 6 PRAIRIE-OAKBIRDS ANDTHEPACIFIC FLYWAY igratory birds traveling from their breeding sites M in prairie-oak habitats of the Pacific Northwest to their ultimate wintering destinations to the south and back again are both a shared natural resource and a shared responsibility. Most of the approximately 50 species highly associated with these habitats make this journey every year along the Pacific Flyway. Some, like Oregon vesper sparrow and Lewis’s woodpecker, spend their winters in California, but many go well into Mexico and Central America and some, like common nighthawk, all the way to South America. These birds link our prai- rie-oak conservation efforts with other peoples and places on their journey and amplify the impact of our Adele work far beyond the Pacific Northwest. The shared inter- Buttolph national responsibility to support the full life cycle needs of migratory birds extends to the cultural heritage of the many places they go. © 2016 Common Nighthawk PRAIRIE, OAKS, AND PEOPLE 7 FRAMEWORK cross the Pacific Northwest, from Mendocino County, and inefficient allocation of scarce conservation resources to Need for a A California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, dozens meet our goals. We also risk failure. of partners are working to protect and restore prairie-oak To attract investment, we are presenting our strategies in the habitats and implement recovery actions for species listed form of a conservation business plan. Conservation business conservation under the United States’