 | GEOREV-2000-015-00 | Proposal Version 1 | Existing Project | Pending BPA Response | 2000-015-00 | Oxbow Conservation Area | The Oxbow Conservation Area was purchased as a high priority project in 2001 with BPA mitigation funds by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (Tribes). The 1,022-acre property has since received BPA annual funding for O&M as part of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Tribes and BPA. Under the MOA, the Tribes are under obligation to coordinate with local agencies and residents, disclose their management to BPA and the public, and provide public access. The MOA also outlines Tribal and BPA obligations related to ongoing project funding, prohibited uses, responsibilities contracted to both parties, and the provision that Tribal members may use the land as provided by their Treaty.
The Oxbow Conservation Area is located in the John Day River Subbasin, which represents a unique opportunity to restore and protect critical fish and wildlife habitat in the Columbia River Basin. Given the subbasin’s exclusive wild anadromous fish management, lack of mainstem impoundments, and rural population base, the subbasin may be the ultimate location for proving fish population recovery is possible without artificial production. The property is located within the John Day Subbasin Plan’s highest priority 5th Field HUC, Camp Creek, for the Middle Fork subwatershed. This property holds a high concentration of adult spring chinook salmon through the high temperatures and low flows of the summer months, offers spawning and rearing habitat to chinook salmon, ESA-listed as Threatened Mid-Columbia summer steelhead and bull trout as well as access to the five fish-bearing perennial tributaries that come into the property from National Forest lands.
The Tribes have been actively engaged in habitat management in the John Day subbasin in order to protect their Treaty Rights as well as their cultural and natural resources. The Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon of June 25, 1855, 12 Stat. 963, established today’s Warm Springs Reservation and included the Chiefs and headmen of seven tribes and bands of “Middle Oregon.” The Treaty describes the lands ceded to the United States by the Confederated Tribes and it takes in the entire John Day Subbasin. Within this ceded lands boundary the Confederated Tribes maintains its exclusive co-management authority regarding fish and wildlife, forest products, grazing of livestock and other resources. The treaty ensures native people rights to fish, hunt, gather and pasture livestock on these ceded lands. Accordingly, the Tribes have a vested interest in the stewardship of the natural and cultural resources therein. Salmon are also an integral part of tribal culture. They are likely the single most significant cultural resource to the tribes of the Pacific Northwest, having shaped the lives, religions, politics, and economies of the region since time immemorial. Most agencies have a goal of performing habitat improvements to de-list threatened and endangered species. However, the goal of the Tribes goes far beyond de-listing. The Tribes aim to restore salmon populations to viable levels to sustain harvest by their people. Their dedication to the health and prosperity of this place is indisputable.
Past activities on the property severely impacted its habitat potential via overgrazing, dredge mining, invasive plant introduction, and the clearing of trees and shrubs from riparian areas. Since acquisition, the Tribes have been working to protect existing habitat, restore degraded habitat, and assess conditions within the property and its valuable fish and wildlife habitat. The Project will continue to follow the goals, objectives, and guidelines presented in the BPA approved property management plan. Biological objectives for this Project target habitat for anadromous fish populations and other ESA-listed and sensitive species found on the property. Ideally, the Oxbow Conservation Area will become capable of sustaining productive populations of fish, wildlife, and plant species based on our recovery strategies.
The work on the Tribal properties is significant because historically, the John Day River was one of the most important anadromous fisheries in the Columbia River Basin. The John Day River today is the third longest undammed river in the conterminous United States. Spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead populations are two of the last remaining intact wild populations of anadromous fish in the John Day Basin. The conservation areas contain critical habitat for rearing juvenile fish before they start their journey to the ocean as well as spawning habitat for return runs of adult salmon and steelhead. The Oxbow Conservation Area along with another tribal property, the Forrest Conservation Area, have averaged just under 50% of all spring Chinook spawning for the Middle Fork John Day River over the last 12 years. We anticipate that on the Oxbow Conservation Area, steelhead and Chinook salmon spawning numbers will be maintained or increased from our restoration work; instream habitat for all life stages of fish will be increased; riparian vegetation will be increased; and water temperatures in the tributaries and river will be decreased through increased shade and decreased channel widths.
This Project will continue to address aquatic priorities outlined in the John Day Subbasin Plan:
•Protect High Quality Existing Habitat – achieved through various property O&M, education and outreach, riparian fencing, controlled access, monitoring trends, etc.
•Enhance Riparian and Instream Habitat – achieved through channel restoration of historically dredged and degraded streams, intensive riparian planting, adding large wood for habitat and stream complexity where needed, and controlling invasive plants in riparian corridors.
•Fish Passage and Habitat Connectivity – achieved through improving irrigation diversions, and replacing outdated fish screens. Improved passage to Ruby Creek will also be addressed through the channel restoration efforts planned for 2014.
•Flow Restoration - achieved through protection of existing water rights, removing juniper, careful use irrigation for riparian enhancement and groundwater storage, and monitoring of flows surrounding such usage.
Anadromous fish are benefitting from the Tribal efforts on the Oxbow Conservation Area Project in many ways. First, management of this property by the Tribes protects and enhances fish habitat through conservation ethics, best management practices, passive habitat recovery, and habitat protection efforts. The Oxbow Conservation Area has a BPA-approved management plan that ensures that property use and activities protect and enhance fish as a primary mission.
Second, Tribal staff engage in conservation and restoration projects to actively improve habitat conditions. The Project's management plan addresses limiting factors for listed fish species (water temperatures, flow, riparian habitat, and instream habitat.) Projects are planned through 2020. These projects include installing large wood structures into streams to increase rearing and cover habitat for fish, planting riparian shrubs and trees to increase riparian vegetation, and fencing out sensitive areas to cattle. Tribal staff also take on larger restoration projects including channel construction restoration using partners and contractors for design and implementation.
Third, the Oxbow Conservation Area makes use of public outreach, education, and conservation demonstration to promote the importance of fish in our ecosystems. These activities include public access for education and recreation, production of outreach materials, engagement with schools, community events and the media, and demonstrating that agricultural activities can take place while protecting fish and enhancing habitat.
Finally, the Oxbow Project monitors habitat, fauna, and property conditions. We are monitoring instream habitat recovery, fish use, riparian recovery, and temperature and flow trends, as well as some of our other specific projects. The Tribes engage with many partners to share data and allow for additional monitoring activities to occur. This monitoring helps tell the story of fish habitat recovery. Monitoring also circles back to public outreach, explaining the importance of the conservation and restoration actions. | Brian Cochran (Inactive) | | | 12/13/2012 | 11/26/2013 | Brian Cochran (Inactive) | Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs | Habitat | None | 2013 Geographic Category Review | 2013 Geographic Review | BiOp, Fish Accord |
Help
Mitigation work
Reporting
Funding
Search
Log in
Follow this via RSS feed. Help setting up RSS feeds?
Go to main Proposals page
