 |
RYAN GARDNER/Gazette-Times
Wood chips fly as the brush surrounding oak trees is cleared away. |
Greenbelt Land Trust works for natural scene at Owens Farm
By JESSE SOWA
Gazette-Times reporter
Residents are hoping to return a local plot of land at the city's edge to the way they believe the land was before being inhabited by 19th-century settlers.
This week, the Greenbelt Land Trust began work to restore a 5-acre woodland covered by overgrown oak trees at Owens Farm along Oregon Highway 99W north of Corvallis. The group hopes to transform the area into an open savanna, which was typical in the region before Euro-American settlement in the mid-1800s.
Funding for the 5- to 10-year project comes from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Private Lands Program, which helps landowners restore properties to their previous uses and habitats. The program also works with people to understand how to best help the habitats.
Karlene McCabe, the land trust's executive director, said one of the goals of the project is to establish a native plant community. The savanna is an important habitat for bird species, particularly the white-breasted nuthatch, she added.
In addition, Jackson and Frazier creeks, which run through the property and into the Jackson Frazier Wetland across the highway, are deemed necessary to the health of the wetland. The land trust hopes to help maintain that health by managing the adjacent land.
Oak savanna restoration in the Willamette Valley began in the past 10 years or so, making it an experiment of sorts.
"It's fascinating to see what works and what doesn't," she said. The land trust has plans to coordinate with others doing similar work.
"I think there's tremendous potential there," said Steve Smith, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service private lands biologist who oversees the grant program.
It's important for the land to be maintained for the future of the adjacent wetland, Smith agreed.
The area became overgrown when fires set by the Kalapuya Indians to prevent its evolution into a coniferous forest ended with the 19th-century settlement.
Among the invasive plant species now being removed from the woodland area by large machinery — a timber cat run by Miller Tree Service — are Himalayan blackberry, wild cherry and Douglas fir. Smaller oaks are also being removed to eliminate competition with larger, established trees.
Clearing will continue next year, and native grass seed will be planted underneath the oaks. A plant survey will be conducted in the spring; planting will be done in the fall.
In a three-year cycle, the land trust hopes to bring the ever-present blackberries under control and help native species regain control of the soil.
In February 2002, the land trust bought 95 acres from Tom Owens, who also sold property to the city of Corvallis and nearby Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Between 20 and 25 acres of the land trust property is oak woodland. Owens still lives in a house on the property. The land trust purchased the land for $1.12 million, with the majority coming in donations.
The land trust works to set aside land, either by purchasing it or receiving it through donation, for open space in Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties. Land trust members work with city employees to open as much space as possible.
McCabe said the land trust hopes to open the land to the public in three to five years, making it available for recreation.
Restoration of a lowland field near the soon-to-be oak savanna area has also begun. The field, typically planted in rye grass, will become a wetland prairie, believed to be its previous state. Like the oak savanna, it is also a rarely seen habitat in the Willamette Valley.
The area is wet most of the year, and standing water remained there until late spring this year. Late last week, a native wetland prairie mix with a high grass seed content was planted there. American slough grass seeds collected by land trust volunteers will be added to the mix.
Funding was provided through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Private Stewardship Grant, which partnered with The Nature Conservancy and the McKenzie River Trust. The land trust received $60,000 of the $289,760 grant, the second-highest amount in the country.
The grant will be used at areas around the country to benefit more than 20 populations of plant and animal species of concern to federal agencies and conservation groups. Grant funding is given to individuals and groups working on private lands to protect endangered and threatened species.
Jesse Sowa covers general assignments for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at jesse.sowa@lee.net or 758-9521.
|
|
You must be logged
in to comment.
It's free and quick!
|
|
|
 |
RSS 
GT Reader Comments