Habitat Restoration in the Blue Mountains, Oregon
This is an adaptive management project designed to restore habitat for wildlife throughout a large planning area (200,000 acres of private and public lands) in Wallowa County, Oregon, in the northeast corner of the Blue Mountains ecoregion. In particular, two habitats that have been identified as high priority for nongame landbirds by Partners-in-Flight conservation planning efforts are targeted for restoration: aspen (Populus tremuloides) and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). Restoration of aspen will be achieved using a combination of fencing (to exclude ungulate herbivores), prescribed burning (to restore fire), and selective vegetation management (to remove competing species); restoration of ponderosa pine will be achieved primarily through prescribed burning and selective vegetation management. Our long-term proposal calls for restoration of these important habitats over a period of at least ten years (2000 – 2010) and includes the establishment of an extensive avian monitoring program that will allow us to measure the effectiveness of the restoration efforts. Partners include Wallowa Resources, Inc., the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
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