MidCoast Grant!
The Wetlands Conservancy, MidCoast Watersheds Council and MidCoast Land
Conservancy will partner to purchase Yaquina estuary wetlands.
The Oregon Joint Ways and Means Committee approved Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board's budget bill, including acceptance of a US Fish and
Wildlife Service coastal grant for purchase of 624 acres of Yaquina Bay
wetlands
The Yaquina Bay project, a partnership between TWC and the MidCoast
Watershed Council will purchase approximately 624 acres of estuarine
marsh in Poole and McCaffrey Sloughs, on the south side of the bay,
upriver from Newport. The properties to be purchased
include 375 acres owned by Simpson Timber Company and other parcels
owned by small landowners. The properties will be owned by The Wetlands
Conservancy.
A similar grant was approved for purchase by the North Coast Land
Conservancy of more than two miles of frontage along the Necanicum
River and most of Circle Creek, a small but highly productive salmon
and steelhead stream. The property also encompasses a 160-acre
spruce swamp, a wetland type that has been reduced by almost 90 percent
in Oregon, and about 60 acres of seasonal freshwater marsh.
Urban Wetland
Research
TWC is working to restore fish and
wildlife habitat at Pascuzzi Pond, Barnes Road, Apache Bluff and Knez
Wetland Preserves. We are conducting studies of seasonal hydrologic
fluctuations, water quality parameters, beaver use, invasive plant
species establishment and control, and wildlife use of the preserves.
The information collected from the research projects will be used to
amend the preserve management plans, implement changes in preserve
management and share information with other groups doing restoration in
the Tualatin Basin.
We have opportunities for volunteers to work on our Washington County
Preserves .
Come join us, call the TWC office at (503) 691-1394.
Removal of Non-Native Species
A major component of the preserves conservation and enhancement
strategies is the removal of non-native species that are crowding the
native species and reducing the habitat quality.
Activities will focus on reducing the amount of reed canarygrass
(Phalaris arundinacea), in order to conserve the diversity of plants
present at the site.
Research is being conducted on the application of selected
"traditional" and alternative removal techniques.
Each technique will be evaluated for it's short and long term
effectiveness, the resources required to employ it and overall cost.
Additionally, the impacts that soil type and characteristics and
hydrologic regime may have on reed canarygrass establishment and
potential control strategies will be studied. Removal techniques that
can be effectively and economically used by other non-profits,
community groups, schools and private landowners will be emphasized.
Goal
To develop an adaptive management approach that combines manual,
mechanical, flooding/inundation and competitive re-vegetation
techniques .
While herbicide treatments have been found to be very successful
removal techniques, there are times when safety, wildlife and water
quality impacts, expense and landowner or steward philosophy serve as
barriers to their.
This study will focus on non-chemical approaches that will compliment
the other reed canarygrass studies which are primarily focuses on use
and effectiveness of herbicides.
Water Quality
We are collecting data on water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and
turbidity over time, in order to determine and detect changes as reed
canarygrass and other invasive species are removed and diverse and
abundant native plantings are added.
Wildlife Surveys
Wildlife species and abundance surveys will be conducted to document
change in species diversity and numbers overtime with restoration and
habitat enhancements.
Project Partners
Clean Water Services
Portland State University Environmental Science and Resources Department
CRUE Corps Restoring the Urban Environment
Salmon Corps
Merlo Station High School
Juvenile Justice Work Group
The Nature Conservancy
Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve
Friends of Cedar Mill and Johnson Creek
Tualatin Enhancement Coalition ;
For further information Contact Us.
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