Oregon Roundup
November 9th, 2010
An occasional update on what's happening with joint venture partners and habitat conservation around Oregon. –
Bruce Taylor, Oregon Habitat Joint Venture (503-697-3889)
Measure 76 victory
Getting 954,000 Oregon voters to say yes to anything, much less funding for conservation, is pretty remarkable. But the
69% vote in favor of the Water, Parks and Wildlife initiative also included majorities in every county (with a high of
77.5% in Benton County and a low of 53.6% in Grant County), according to the final Measure 76 tally. Many joint venture
partners can share in the credit, but we all owe a big debt of gratitude to The Nature Conservancy, which provided much
of the leadership and the bulk of the money for the successful campaign. Looking forward, the most significant change
for the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board's grant program will be the elimination of the current distinction between
capital and non-capital expenditures, which should open the door to a more holistic approach to project funding. Joint
venture partners will also be seeking statutory and administrative changes to improve OWEB's process for land acquisition
grants.
BPA settlement
The state of Oregon's $150 million settlement with the Bonneville Power Administration for mitigation of wildlife habitat
affected by the federal hydroelectric system in the Willamette Basin cleared the way for last-minute closing of two big
land deals in late October. The Nature Conservancy completed its $23.4 million purchase of the 1,270-acre Wildish
property at the confluence of the Willamette River's coast and middle forks, long identified as one of the highest
conservation priorities in the Willamette Valley. BPA provided $20.8 million for the Wildish purchase, OWEB contributed
$2.5 million through its Willamette Special Investments Partnership, and TNC tapped its
Northwest Wildlife Conservation Initiative for $100,000 from the Doris Duke foundation. The settlement agreement also included BPA's $9.7 million
purchase of a conservation easement on the 1,310-acre Trappist Abbey property near Lafayette, one of the valley's largest
remaining blocks of upland forest.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, BPA will provide an additional $2.5 million a year in 2011-13 for projects
recommended by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, increasing to $8 million per year from 2014 to 2025. BPA will
also give ODFW $837,000per year in 2011 and 2012 to operate the mitigation program, including maintenance of conserved
lands, increasing to $1.7 million per year starting in 2014.
Ongoing projects
BPA funding this fall allowed the McKenzie River Trust to buy a 56-acre addition to its Green Island preserve at the
confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers. Estuary restoration projects wrapped up construction work at Bandon
Marsh National Wildlife Refuge (400 ac) and Tillamook Bay's Miami River (45 ac). The Columbia Land Trust opened up
the
remaining dikes on 80-acre Haven Island in Youngs River south of Astoria.
Beaver Creek
Governor Kulongoski formally opened the new Beaver Creek State Natural Area (300 ac) at a ceremony in September that
highlighted The Wetlands Conservancy's leading role in developing the Beaver Creek Natural Area partnership with the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and other joint venture partners.
Westside refuge planning
The Fish and Wildlife Service is kicking off development of its comprehensive conservation plans for a number of western
Oregon refuges, including coastal refuges at Bandon Marsh, Nestucca Bay, and Siletz Bay and the
Tualatin River National
Wildlife Refuge.
More stories
The latest edition of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's newsletter,
On the Ground: the Oregon Conservation
Strategy at Work, has great stories on a number of joint venture-related activities, including the Klamath Bird
Observatory's new aquatic bird site database and a good overview of the recent workshop at the Oregon Zoo on managing
lands to minimize impacts to birds.
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