by Anna Ramthun September 2018 The thinleaved peavine (Lathyrus holochlorus) is a climbing perennial forb, or non-grass, prairie wildflower. Native to Oregon and Washington, it depends on transitional habitats, like edges of prairie and oak savanna, fence rows, and roadsides, and woodland clearings. Appropriate habitat areas have declined drastically, as prairie and oak savanna ecosystems […]
Category Archives: Habitat Restoration Program
Seasons of Herbert Farm Natural Area
By Anna Ramthun September 2018 The Herbert Farm Natural Area is undeniably special. Located just south of Corvallis, the area was an important gathering and foraging spot for local Native American tribes, and is still regarded as an important cultural area by the modern Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde. The Institute for Applied Ecology […]
Restoring Pioneer Butte, one stick at a time
By Andrew Esterson September 2018 Wow, what a day and what a great volunteer crew we had to help with the Institute for Applied Ecology’s (IAE) Pioneer Butte restoration project! First and foremost, thank you to all of the Oregon State University students that volunteered for IAE’s Pioneer Butte project with the Center for Civic […]
Tramplers, Stumblers and Rollers: Observations from our first 2 weeks as interns
By Samantha Hooper and Mary McKean May 1, 2018 The first two weeks of Conservation Research field work were an immersion in the spectacularly interconnected landscape of Oregon’s native and exotic plant life. We joined Andrew from IAE’s Habitat Restoration team at the West Eugene Wetlands for our first field day, where we mulched a […]
Volunteers help restore endangered Willamette daisy (Erigeron decumbens) at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge
By Ashley Ottombrino-Haworth, April 2018 This spring, staff and volunteers from the Institute for Applied Ecology and US Fish and Wildlife Service teamed up to plant over 4100 Willamette daisy starts at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, 10 miles west of Salem, Oregon. Twenty-three total volunteers helped plant for this two-day field trip. The reason: […]
Children learn culture through growing plants
Peter Moore, March 2018 Young children got their hands dirty and planted some bulbs and seeds of culturally important species recently at the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde (CTGR) Youth Education Building. Stacy and Peter Moore from the Institute of Applied Ecology teamed up with Jeremy Ojua of the Tribe’s Natural Resources Department to provide […]
Students Love to Dig Holes for the Rare Thin-Leaved Peavine!
When middle school students from Eugene, Oregon were asked what they liked most about helping plant new populations of a rare plant, many enthusiastically replied, “digging holes is the best thing ever!” IAE’s Habitat Restoration and Ecological Education Programs teamed up on a project to not only teach students about a rare plant that occurs […]
The Cavalry from Coffee Creek Help with Habitat
IAE has been helping restore the Cannery Hill Unit of Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge since 2011, converting non-native grasses of this former dairy pasture into a healthy coastal meadow to support reintroduction of the federally threatened Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene ippolyta). The species favors salt-spray meadows, but has declined to the point that […]
Tribal Nursery Raises Plants and Awareness
Pre-schoolers and children from the Elementary Chinuk Language Program had a great day digging up bulbs at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde nursery in early November. The Natural Resources Department tribal nursery is part of the “Plants for People” project, funded by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, which is improving access to culturally important […]
Clearing Meadows for Nelson’s Checkermallow
The range of Nelson’s checkermallow consists of highly fragmented, mostly small, populations within the Willamette Valley and flanks of the Coast Range, Oregon. One problem the species faces in the Coast Range is that meadows are being over-run with shrubs and Douglas-fir. In the past these meadows would have been kept open by more frequent […]
Willamette Daisy Planting at Baskett Slough NWR
This spring IAE staff and volunteers, as well as many folks from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, helped over 1700 Willamette daisy plants find a new home at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), located about 10 miles west of Salem. It was a perfect day for planting – not too hot, not too cold, […]
Put a Bird on It!
Do you ever get the feeling that you are being followed? That there’s something out there watching your every move? Well, on the last Crater Lake seed collection trip, the team discovered that was exactly the case. As they harvested seed from marumleaf buckwheat (Eriogonum marifolium), they discovered they were being shadowed by a tiny […]