By Kimiora Ward January 2019 Widespread attention to pollinator declines has motivated land managers, farmers, and gardeners to plant wildflowers for pollinator habitat at large and small scales, but the question always arises – which native plant species give us the biggest bang for our buck? IAE’s new Southwest Office Restoration Program Coordinator Kimiora Ward […]
Flight of the Fender’s Blue
By Carolyn Menke January 2019 Fender’s blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi) was listed as an endangered species primarily because of its extreme rarity due to upland and wet prairie habitat loss and fragmentation. Sites with the butterfly across its range in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, have been monitored on a mostly annual basis for almost […]
Kids Go Wild Learning about Migratory Birds
By Dionné Mej̨ía November 2018 “Cool, I love the red throat on the hummingbird,” claimed a young student during Lincoln Elementary School’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) night on November 14th. Numerous students examined bird study skins and nests to learn about three particular birds—the black-throated gray warbler, the great blue heron, and […]
Season’s Plantings
by Anna Ramthun December 2018 As the planting season and the year draw to end, we are feeling incredibly grateful for our volunteer base! With their help, the Habitat Restoration Program was able to plant 34,460 plugs, bulbs, trees, shrubs, and bare-root native plants this year. Of these, 4,885 were plugs of threatened and endangered […]
From Seedlings to Sagebrush: A Year of Success at Warner Creek Correctional Facility
By Amy Zimmer November 2018 Supporting over 300 species of birds, mammals and fish, the sagebrush ecosystem comprises the landscape surrounding the communities of Paisley and Lakeview in Eastern Oregon. Encompassing roughly 120 million acres of the western United States, this delicate ecosystem has been impacted over the past century by an increasing number of […]
A Project for Collaboration and Community
IAE is thrilled to be a part of a coalition of environmental organizations launching The Confluence, a shared space office center the be constructed in Corvallis. The groups have been collaborating since 2014 on the project. A feasibility study was conducted to assess the shared space center concept in our community, identify potential sites, conduct a […]
First Foods Celebration at Champoeg State Park
By Andy Neill October 2018 On Saturday October 13th, IAE staff took part in a cultural event at Champoeg State Heritage Area and State Park near Wilsonville, Oregon, that was the culmination of the efforts with our partners at Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde (CTGR) and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). The event […]
Do Pacific Northwest tidal wetlands do their part to moderate local effects of climate change?
By Craig Cornu, Estuary Technical Group, and Coordinator of the PNW Blue Carbon Working Group November 2018 You may already know that the tidal wetlands you see fringing Oregon’s coastal bays are valued for their natural abilities to purify estuary waters, reduce storm flooding, and provide nurseries for great numbers of commercially- and recreationally-important fish […]
Gaining good ground at OSU Vegetable Farm
By Emily Wittkop, November 2018 IAE currently manages 66 restoration sites in Oregon and partners with agencies such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for plug and seed production. In order to produce seed for restoration, IAE has expanded our farm program to the Oregon State University […]
Migratory bird habitats connect Oregon and Mexico in ‘Classrooms Across Borders’
Michel Wiman, October 2018, with special thanks and photos courtesy of Tara Davis, Willamette River-Rio Laja Twinning Project; Heath Keirstead of the Benton Soil and Water Conservation District; and Kathleen Westly of Marys River Watershed Council. Why are one-third of all migratory bird species worldwide in decline? Most research points to habitat loss as the […]
The Progress and the Peavine
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 […]
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 […]
Behind the scenes at the 2018 Invasive Species Cook-off
by Michel Wiman, August 2018 Photography by Owen Dell On a perfect sunny August afternoon near Wren, Oregon, I walk through tables dressed with apple-green tablecloths and little wreaths of Queen Anne’s lace and burdock. As the band warms up and guests arrive, community supporters bring dish after dish to the Cook-off contest table. This […]
In search of Willamette Daisy!
By Marisa Mancillas, Jillian Demus, Chelsea Osbron, and Amy Zimmer August 2018 This field season, IAE’s Habitat Restoration and Conservation Research Programs partnered to conduct a range-wide inventory of the endangered Willamette daisy (Erigeron decumbens). The goal of this project was to obtain an up-to-date status of this endemic plant and its associated habitat […]