Working for Healthy Forests and Woodlands
By Laura Taylor, West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District
The Tualatin Mountains (also called the West Hills) of western Multnomah County are a rare and precious place. They form a long narrow arm of the Oregon Coast Range that reaches a great distance east to the confluence of the Willamette, Tualatin, and Columbia Rivers. Despite their close proximity to the largest metropolitan area in Oregon, the mountains are still largely covered with forest. This is perhaps in part due to their steep rugged slopes which make building and development a challenge. This area also holds a rich tribal history. It was and remains a place of convergence for many Native American tribes who originally inhabited this land, including the Multnomah, Atfalati (Tualatin Kalapuya), Stl’pulmsh (Cowlitz), Clatskanie, and several other tribes.
Over the past few centuries, the forests of the Tualatin Mountains have been resilient – able to successfully recover following the many changes and challenges they have experienced. With new threats on the horizon, the continued health and resiliency of these forests, and the wildlife and residents of the communities within them, is the focus of our forestry work.
The Tualatin Mountain forests have seen several rounds of logging over the past century and a half. This has resulted in the forest structure becoming more simplified than it was when the local tribes maintained it as old-growth mixed conifer-hardwood forests and Oregon white oak woodlands. Now there’s a prevalence of smaller trees of similar age, less tree diversity, fewer and smaller logs and snags (standing dead trees), and a less complex and diverse understory.
In some places, Douglas-fir has grown back in thick stands, leaving little else growing under the closed-in canopy. In other areas, efforts to reestablish conifers largely failed, and the live roots of the cut native bigleaf maple trees resprouted and grew into whole forests of dense maple clumps. There’s nothing wrong with either Douglas-fir or bigleaf maple, but a healthy forest generally has both of these species plus several more, rather than being made up entirely of one or the other.
The proximity of a growing port city also brought in many invasive weeds such as Armenian blackberry, Scotch broom, and English ivy that have significantly impacted forest health and resiliency by reducing the diversity and complexity of the forest understory. More recently, increased drought and high summer temperatures have severely taxed the health of many trees in the Tualatin Mountains, causing die-offs, especially of western redcedar growing in vulnerable locations. These trends have also led to a growing risk of wildfire in this region. These growing challenges have left the health and resiliency of the Tualatin Mountain forests more tenuous. Yet despite this, the ethic of stewardship held by the residents of this area is a beacon of hope for this forest ecosystem. Through efforts great and small, independent and collective, the Skyline Ridge community is taking an active role to help improve the health and resiliency of these forests, and we are helping residents in this effort.
Our services in action
Over the past year, our Forest Conservationist provided information and technical advice to 34 woodland owners through site visits and follow-up communications, and co-developed 3 comprehensive forest stewardship plans with landowners that cover a total of 82 acres.
In a forest stewardship plan, we include a description of the forest’s current conditions that we gather during a series of site visits. We describe forest structure and diversity, wildlife habitat, weed presence, road conditions, water features, and other elements that might influence the condition of the forest. Plans also include forest management recommendations and a list of resources. Management recommendations are tailored to fit the goals of the landowner, but some common examples include: forest thinning, gap creation, invasive weed removal, wildfire fuel reductions around homes, planting native trees, shrubs, and ground covers, and pollinator and other wildlife habitat enhancement.
For participants who have developed a forest stewardship plan and are ready to begin implementing some of the recommendations, we help identify and access financial assistance, and in some cases, assist with project management. Once funding has been secured and the project is ready to get started, our Forest Conservationist and other staff may be able to assist in managing its implementation, including mapping and marking project areas, securing and supervising contractors, selecting and securing appropriate plant species, and monitoring project outcomes.
Taking on a forest health project is a big and complex undertaking for most, and we are helping many woodland owners navigate the process. In the past year, in addition to the planning work described above, we have also helped implement projects on 14 properties benefiting a total of 114 acres.
Many woodland owners who have taken advantage of our services say the effort has been worth it. They share their delight at now hearing birds singing in thriving trees, sightings of elk, salamanders, and bumblebees, and satisfaction at seeing clear cool water flowing in the streams.
Long-Term Conservation Easements
West Multnomah SWCD is partnering with The Forest Park Conservancy (FPC) to help woodland owners in the Tualatin Mountains protect their land into the future through conservation easements. Properties must demonstrate significant conservation value and fulfill a number of other criteria to be eligible for this program. For example, the property must be within the Greater Forest Park Conservation Initiative service area. FPC develops the conservation easement with the landowners, and then holds and manages them into the future. West Multnomah SWCD contributes to the partnership by developing forest stewardship plans for the properties, either beforehand or in the early stages of the process. The forest stewardship plan helps inform the easement by describing baseline conditions, outlining long-term conservation goals, and specifying forest management strategies that the landowners can use to move the condition of the forest toward those goals. To learn more, visit https://forestparkconservancy.org/conservation-program/
RR 1022
The Tualatin Mountains (also called the West Hills) of western Multnomah County are a rare and precious place. They form a long narrow arm of the Oregon Coast Range that reaches a great distance east to the confluence of the Willamette, Tualatin, and Columbia Rivers. Despite their close proximity to the largest metropolitan area in Oregon, the mountains are still largely covered with forest. This is perhaps in part due to their steep rugged slopes which make building and development a challenge. This area also holds a rich tribal history. It was and remains a place of convergence for many Native American tribes who originally inhabited this land, including the Multnomah, Atfalati (Tualatin Kalapuya), Stl’pulmsh (Cowlitz), Clatskanie, and several other tribes.
Over the past few centuries, the forests of the Tualatin Mountains have been resilient – able to successfully recover following the many changes and challenges they have experienced. With new threats on the horizon, the continued health and resiliency of these forests, and the wildlife and residents of the communities within them, is the focus of our forestry work.
The Tualatin Mountain forests have seen several rounds of logging over the past century and a half. This has resulted in the forest structure becoming more simplified than it was when the local tribes maintained it as old-growth mixed conifer-hardwood forests and Oregon white oak woodlands. Now there’s a prevalence of smaller trees of similar age, less tree diversity, fewer and smaller logs and snags (standing dead trees), and a less complex and diverse understory.
In some places, Douglas-fir has grown back in thick stands, leaving little else growing under the closed-in canopy. In other areas, efforts to reestablish conifers largely failed, and the live roots of the cut native bigleaf maple trees resprouted and grew into whole forests of dense maple clumps. There’s nothing wrong with either Douglas-fir or bigleaf maple, but a healthy forest generally has both of these species plus several more, rather than being made up entirely of one or the other.
The proximity of a growing port city also brought in many invasive weeds such as Armenian blackberry, Scotch broom, and English ivy that have significantly impacted forest health and resiliency by reducing the diversity and complexity of the forest understory. More recently, increased drought and high summer temperatures have severely taxed the health of many trees in the Tualatin Mountains, causing die-offs, especially of western redcedar growing in vulnerable locations. These trends have also led to a growing risk of wildfire in this region. These growing challenges have left the health and resiliency of the Tualatin Mountain forests more tenuous. Yet despite this, the ethic of stewardship held by the residents of this area is a beacon of hope for this forest ecosystem. Through efforts great and small, independent and collective, the Skyline Ridge community is taking an active role to help improve the health and resiliency of these forests, and we are helping residents in this effort.
Our services in action
Over the past year, our Forest Conservationist provided information and technical advice to 34 woodland owners through site visits and follow-up communications, and co-developed 3 comprehensive forest stewardship plans with landowners that cover a total of 82 acres.
In a forest stewardship plan, we include a description of the forest’s current conditions that we gather during a series of site visits. We describe forest structure and diversity, wildlife habitat, weed presence, road conditions, water features, and other elements that might influence the condition of the forest. Plans also include forest management recommendations and a list of resources. Management recommendations are tailored to fit the goals of the landowner, but some common examples include: forest thinning, gap creation, invasive weed removal, wildfire fuel reductions around homes, planting native trees, shrubs, and ground covers, and pollinator and other wildlife habitat enhancement.
For participants who have developed a forest stewardship plan and are ready to begin implementing some of the recommendations, we help identify and access financial assistance, and in some cases, assist with project management. Once funding has been secured and the project is ready to get started, our Forest Conservationist and other staff may be able to assist in managing its implementation, including mapping and marking project areas, securing and supervising contractors, selecting and securing appropriate plant species, and monitoring project outcomes.
Taking on a forest health project is a big and complex undertaking for most, and we are helping many woodland owners navigate the process. In the past year, in addition to the planning work described above, we have also helped implement projects on 14 properties benefiting a total of 114 acres.
Many woodland owners who have taken advantage of our services say the effort has been worth it. They share their delight at now hearing birds singing in thriving trees, sightings of elk, salamanders, and bumblebees, and satisfaction at seeing clear cool water flowing in the streams.
Long-Term Conservation Easements
West Multnomah SWCD is partnering with The Forest Park Conservancy (FPC) to help woodland owners in the Tualatin Mountains protect their land into the future through conservation easements. Properties must demonstrate significant conservation value and fulfill a number of other criteria to be eligible for this program. For example, the property must be within the Greater Forest Park Conservation Initiative service area. FPC develops the conservation easement with the landowners, and then holds and manages them into the future. West Multnomah SWCD contributes to the partnership by developing forest stewardship plans for the properties, either beforehand or in the early stages of the process. The forest stewardship plan helps inform the easement by describing baseline conditions, outlining long-term conservation goals, and specifying forest management strategies that the landowners can use to move the condition of the forest toward those goals. To learn more, visit https://forestparkconservancy.org/conservation-program/
RR 1022