Restoration and maintenance work is the bread-and-butter conservation work Metro does every day. It includes controlling weeds, planting native trees and shrubs, removing unnecessary or rundown culverts and roads, maintaining existing roads and infrastructure, decommissioning unauthorized trails, improving connections between streams and wetlands, and strengthening habitat for fish and wildlife.
After Metro acquires a property, the conservation staff takes time to get to know the new natural area and develop a stabilization plan. Stabilization is like the renovation process for a fixer-upper home: it’s a lot of big projects to create a livable habitat. During this process, invasive weeds start getting treated, and dilapidated buildings, septic systems and other structures are removed. Once acquired, it takes at least five years for properties to go through a process to return the land to stable conditions to support fish and wildlife.
This initial work is paid for with money from the 2019 natural areas bond measure.
After a site is stable, a site conservation plan is developed to identify the most important actions to improve water quality and habitat for fish and wildlife. A site stewardship plan is also developed to detail weed treatments and maintenance of fence lines, signs and more. Restoration work – often supported with money from the levy – can take years or even decades to complete, after which a site transitions to long-term maintenance. Throughout this process, the natural area becomes more resilient to climate change and provides benefits to the region’s people and wildlife alike.
Wildflower comeback
During the 51-year history of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, fewer than 60 of the species it has listed as threatened or endangered have recovered enough to warrant being taken off the list. But last year, two flowers found in the Pacific Northwest achieved delisted status: the golden paintbrush and Nelson’s checker-mallow. Their stories show how cooperation, effort and community support have drastic impacts when it comes to conservation and restoration work.
In both cases, the flowers’ recovery plan was overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Institute of Applied Ecology in Corvallis. They, in turn, enlisted a wide range of groups to help in the effort: government agencies, tribal governments, conservation nonprofits, private landowners, universities – and Metro.
“I felt very excited and a little bit of pride that our program was able to contribute to taking a species away from the brink of disappearing from the planet,” said Metro science and stewardship division manager Jonathan Soll. “We weren't the leader, and we weren't even one of the most important partners necessarily, but we played a good role.”
The golden paintbrush is a bright-yellow, long-stemmed perennial that does, indeed, resemble a paintbrush reaching toward the sky. It was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. At one point, there were no wild populations in Oregon at all.
Golden paintbrush thrives in sunny, open upland prairie – the most endangered type of habitat in the Willamette Valley, due to ranching, grazing and development. In 2010 the USFWS unveiled its plan to recover prairie species in western Oregon and southwest Washington. It identified Metro as a potential partner for repopulating species.
Metro identified three parks with proper habitat and soil conditions to plant golden paintbrush: Howell Territorial Park, Graham Oaks Nature Park and Cooper Mountain Nature Park. Metro and partners across the Pacific Northwest planted and managed the seeds given to them by USFWS. In total, 48 sites were established. The plants especially thrived at Howell Territorial Park, with nearly 50,000 plants counted in 2018.
From: Metro's role in bringing two wildflowers back from threatened status