HISTORICAL VEGETATION OF CENTRAL SOUTHWEST OREGON, BASED ON GLO SURVEY NOTES Final Report to USDI BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Medford District October 31, 2011 By O. Eugene Hickman and John A. Christy Consulting Rangeland Ecologist Oregon Biodiversity Information Center Retired, USDA - NRCS Portland State University 61851 Dobbin Road PSU – INR, P.O. Box 751 Bend, Oregon 97702 Portland, Oregon 97207-0751 (541, 312-2512) (503, 725-9953) [email protected] [email protected] Suggested citation: Hickman, O. Eugene and John A. Christy. 2011. Historical Vegetation of Central Southwest Oregon Based on GLO Survey Notes. Final Report to USDI Bureau of Land Management. Medford District, Oregon. 124 pp. ______________________________________________________________________________ 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................................ 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 7 SW OREGON PRE-GLO SURVEY HISTORY ....................................................................................................................... 7 THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE, ITS FUNCTION AND HISTORY............................................................................................ 10 Transition to Southern Oregon ................................................................................................................................. 10 SW Oregon GLO Survey Program ........................................................................................................................... 11 PROJECT OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................................................................... 12 PRODUCTS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Viewing GLO Data and Project Deliverables .......................................................................................................... 12 STUDY AREA .................................................................................................................................................................. 13 BLM FUNDED PROJECT .................................................................................................................................................. 13 OSU PROJECT AND COMBINED STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................. 16 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING ............................................................................................................................................. 17 Ecological Divisions ................................................................................................................................................. 17 Geology .................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Topography .............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Climate ..................................................................................................................................................................... 21 Soils .......................................................................................................................................................................... 24 THE GLO SURVEY SYSTEM AND RECORDS ......................................................................................................... 26 LOCAL SURVEY PROCEDURE .......................................................................................................................................... 26 GLO RECORDS ............................................................................................................................................................ 27 Bearing or Witness Tree Data .................................................................................................................................. 27 Section Line Measurements, Intercepts and References ........................................................................................... 27 Descriptions of Section Lines ................................................................................................................................... 28 General Description of Townships ........................................................................................................................... 28 Township Plat ........................................................................................................................................................... 28 COMMENTS REGARDING THE USE AND INTERPRETATION OF GLO RECORDS ................................................................. 28 METHODS AND PROCEDURES ................................................................................................................................. 30 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................... 30 PREPARATION OF ACCESS DATABASE ............................................................................................................................. 32 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Township Table Preparation .................................................................................................................................... 32 Line Table Preparation ............................................................................................................................................ 32 Completed Line Tables ............................................................................................................................................. 33 PREPARATION OF HISTORICAL VEGETATION MAPS ........................................................................................................ 33 Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Development of Fine-Scale Map Units (Vegetation Subclasses) .............................................................................. 33 Development of Coarse-scale Map Units (Vegetation Classes) ............................................................................... 34 Forest. ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Woodland. ............................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Savanna. .................................................................................................................................................................................. 35 Shrubland. ............................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Prairie. ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 2 RESULTS: GLO SURVEY, PRODUCTS AND DISCUSSION .................................................................................. 36 SOUTHWEST OREGON GLO SURVEYS ............................................................................................................................. 36 Surveyors .................................................................................................................................................................. 36 Quality of the Historic Records ................................................................................................................................ 38 GLO Survey Progress ............................................................................................................................................... 38 SOIL CLASSES AND SOIL FEATURES REPORTED BY GLO SURVEYORS ............................................................................ 42 CULTURAL RESOURCE INFORMATION TRANSCRIBED FROM GLO DIARIES ..................................................................... 42 VEGETATION PRODUCTS AND DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................... 43 Native Plant Check List ............................................................................................................................................ 43 Common Name Cross Reference to Scientific Names ..............................................................................................