2015 INReview

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION1 A Message from the Director of INR3 Biodiversity and Conservation 3 Fishers by Sean Matthews 5 Caught in the Act: Identifying Snowy Plover Nest Predators by Eleanor Gaines 7 Sage-Grouse Conservation in Oregon by Theresa Burcsu and Jamie Damon9 Landscape Assessments 9 The Oregon Natural Areas Plan by Jimmy Kagan 10 Updating Strategy Habitats for Oregon by Jimmy Kagan 11 Multivariate Maps in the Rangelands by Emilie Henderson 14 Blue Mountains Forest Resiliency by Miles Hemstrom 15 Ecosystem Services by Jimmy Kagan

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION 17 Information Access 17 Oregon iMapInvasives Data Leads to Treatment of Two New Noxious Weed Sites by Lindsey Wise 19 Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH) Science Panel by Jeffrey Behan 21 ORBIC Determines Bald Eagle Grade for Willamette River Report Card by Lindsey Wise 23 Oregon Explorer’s Year by Janine Salwasser 24 Available Science Assessment Project by Jeffrey Behan 24 Water 25 Oregon Water Institute by Todd Jarvis 26 Arsenic Aces by Todd Jarvis 27 Groundwater Flooding and Guerilla Trenches by Todd Jarvis 29 INR Student Highlight

A MEBSSIAOGDE IFVROEMRSTHITE YDIRAENCTDORCONSERVATIONLeadership Team A MESSAGE FROM THELisa Gaines, Director DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTEJimmy Kagan, INR-Portland and ORBIC DirectorTodd Jarvis, Director Institute for Water and FOR NATURAL RESOURCES Watersheds I am pleased to report on both INR’s major accomplishments and to describe the wideJanine Salwasser, Oregon Explorer Program Lead range of projects we have taken on over the last few years. With the outstanding andJulie Bain, Assistant to the Directors dedicated work – of what I consider to be the best group of people I’ve ever worked with – INR is reaching many of our very ambitious goals, and I enjoy coming to work at both of ourAdvisory Board offices.Bill Boggess, Associate Dean, College of We set out three primary goals in our 2013-2017 Strategic Plan: (1) to increase the Agricultural Sciences (OSU) ability of others to efficiently and effectively deliver environmental and resource outcomes; (2) to extend the reach of knowledge and information to inform natural resource decisionFaye Chadwell, Don and Delpha Campbell making; and (3) to enhance the relevance and delivery of INR’s distinctive suite of services and University Librarian and OSU Press Director (OSU) products. To facilitate progress on these goals we moved away from “programs” and have instead integrated our programmatic services into four focus areas – Biodiversity andDar Crammond, Director, USGS Oregon Water Conservation, Landscape Scale Assessment, Information Access, and Water. Science Center In their own words, INR staff highlight some of our 2015 work and accomplishments inSteve Emery, CEO, Earth2o this year-in-review report including our work with many state, private, and federal partners inJohn Fink, Vice President for Research and developing the Oregon Sage-grouse Conservation Strategy, leading to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services decision not to list the sage-grouse; updating the Oregon Conservation Strategic Partnerships; Interim Director Institute Strategy and the Natural Areas Plan; redesigning and creating a more integrative Oregon for Sustainable Solutions (PSU) Explorer; and working with scientific panels to synthesis the science around specific subjectRich Holdren, Associate Vice President for areas. Research (OSU)Sue Kupillas, Allied Solutions by Kupilas, LLC (former Jackson County Commissioner)Chris Lauver, Co-Leader PNW Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit and National Park Service Research CoordinatorEsther Lev, Director of The Wetlands ConservancyThomas Maness, Dean, College of Forestry (OSU)Rob Miller, Mt. Jefferson FarmsCass Moseley, Associate Vice President for Research; Director, Institute for Sustainable Environment (UO)Scott Reed, Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement (OSU)Cynthia Sagers, Vice President of Research (OSU)Cy Smith, Director of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services Geospatial Enterprise OfficeMark Sytsma, Director, Center for Lakes and reservoirs (PSU)Sara Vickerman, Citizen at largeRichard Whitman, Oregon Governor’s Natural Resource Policy DirectorEditorSarah Brennan, Graduate Student in Water Resources Policy and Management. See page 29. Page 1

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR We have had other important achievements as well. Through INR by the NumbersSenate Bill 202, we are staffing a legislative task force that is chargedwith evaluating and assessing the need for independent scientific reviews IN OPERATIONfor natural resources in Oregon. In consultation with the OregonDepartment of Forestry, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and the 14 YEARSOregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and individuals and organizationsinterested in management, marketing or research matters related to PERCENT OF FUNDINGTHROUGH GRANTS AND CONTRACTSwestern juniper harvesting, INR is working to identify and map highquality marketable stands of western juniper that can be harvested in a 85%commercially and environmentally reasonable manner for use inmanufacturing (House Bill 2998). LOCATIONS CURRENT STAFF We also continue to make great strides toward significantly 3  Corvallis 32improving our information on water through a new partnership  Portlandagreement between Governor Kate Brown’s Natural Resources Office, the  Coos BayOregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and INR, called the Clean WaterPartnership. This will be a focus of work for INR and the Institute for NUMBER OF PROJECTS IN 2015Water and Watersheds in 2016, and will expand our relationships withthe Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon FIFTY-FIVEDepartment of Agriculture; and hopefully assist state and federalagencies as well, to expand information on water quality, availability,groundwater, aquatic habitat, and the fish and wildlife these aquaticresources support. As we move through 2016, we look forward to continuing to workwith faculty, decision makers, and stakeholders to stimulate newcollaborative problem solving, to translate and synthesize science, and tointegrate data and make it accessible. - Lisa Gaines, DirectorPage 2

BIODBIVIEORSDITIYVAENRDSCIOTNYSEARVNADTIOCNONSERVATION FISHERS By Sean Matthews The fisher is a house-cat-sized member of the weasel family, a relative of the wolverine, and culturally significant to many Native American communities of the Pacific Northwest. Native to the late-successional coniferous or mixed forests of North America, it is semi-arboreal, dens in tree cavities tens or even hundreds of feet off the ground. Large for a weasel, fishers are one of the most adept carnivores in our western forests – one of the few predators that regularly prey on well-fortified porcupines. Despite their many talents, fishers have suffered measurable population declines and range contractions throughout the Pacific Northwest, attributed to commercial fur trapping, predator-and pest-control campaigns, and habitat loss associated with logging. Thus, fishers in Washington, Oregon, and California are proposed for listing as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. New threats are also emerging, as we are gaining insights into the devastating impacts of rodenticides used in marijuana cultivation on fisher throughout their range. The Institute for Natural Resources (INR) is actively working with a suite of federal and state agency, academic, tribal, non-profit, and private industry partners to address fisher population declines and contemporary threats. Our goal is to achieve long-term fisher conservation throughout Pacific Northwest forests. INR is actively involved in fisher research and conservation measures throughout the Pacific Northwest. We are working to inform agency, academic, tribal, and private-industry partners about fisher ecology through collaborative research projects, working groups, scientific publications, and management recommendations. In California, we are working with the U.S. Fish and Page 3

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATIONWildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and increased risk of mortality and what changes might be made toWildlife, North Carolina State University, Sierra Pacific reduce mortality risk.Industries, and the Forest Foundation to monitor theestablishment of a self-sustaining population of fishers in In Oregon, INR is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlifethe northern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California Service, the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Researchfollowing translocation between 2009-2011. We are also Station, and Oregon National Forests on several coordinatedworking with our partners to monitor the impacts of efforts to survey for mid-sized carnivores, particularly fisher. Theremoving fishers from a portion of the Klamath National U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating the feasibility ofForest, one of the translocation source populations. This reintroducing fishers to formerly occupied areas in the state andlong-term dataset and a 2014 wildfire is also providing us understanding the current distribution of fishers is a criticalthe opportunity to evaluate the effects of wildfire and step. We are also coordinating with the Bureau of Landsalvage logging on fishers in the region. Management and U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station on a fisher telemetry study in southwestern Oregon to INR is also working with the Hoopa Valley Tribe, the better understand fisher habitat and den site selection in aU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of checkerboard of federal and private land ownership.Fish and Wildlife, the University of California Davis, andHumboldt State University in northwestern California tolearn about the trees fishers use to raise their young,develop innovative methods of monitoring the status offisher populations, and identify sources of mortality. TheHoopa Tribe is employing information collected on fisherden sites to develop guidelines for the protection,retention, and recruitment of this key habitat element. Weare also working to better understand habitats fishers areusing for foraging, dispersal, and other active behaviors.Information on sources of fisher mortality will indicatewhether or not timber management places fishers atPHOTO CREDIT THIS PAGE: Kerry Rennie, Hoopa Valley Tribe. OPPOSITE PAGE: Rebecca Green, Hoopa Valley Tribe Page 4

BIODBIVIEORSDITIYVAENRDSCIOTNYSEARVNADTIOCNONSERVATIONCaught in the Act: By Eleanor GainesIdentifying Snowy Plover Nest Predators The Institute for Natural Resources’ Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) has been cooperating with state andfederal agencies to monitor Snowy Plover populations along the Oregon Coast since 1990. Thanks to intensive management andinteragency collaboration, this species is a conservation success story in Oregon, although it continues to decline elsewhere in itsrange. The Oregon population has grown from approximately 100 to 400 adults between 2000 and 2015. In 2015 we followed thefates of a record 501 nests and documented at least 313 chicks that survived the 28 day pre-fledging period. However, the SnowyPlover is a conservation-reliant species and its persistence requires ongoing management. One concern for managers has been thelarge number of nests that fail each year for unidentified reasons. Evidence of the cause of nest failure is fleeting on the beach;wind and rain obliterate predator tracks, often within minutes. In 2015, through a generous grant from Oregon Wildlife, ORBIC plover monitors placed remote cameras at 35 nests togather more detailed information on causes of nest failure. The cameras were invaluable in providing accurate information oncauses of nest failure and on plover behavior. Fourteen of the nests with cameras failed, and in all cases the cameras allowed us topositively identify the cause of failure. At eight of the failed nests, the monitors’ assessment of the cause of failure matched whatwas shown on the camera. At five of the failed nests, monitors were unable to determine the cause of failure from evidence left atthe nest, and at one site evidence led them to incorrectly assign the cause of nest failure. Page 5

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION BBIIOODDIIVVEERRSSIITTYY AANNDD CCOONNSSEERRVVAATTIIOONN Although cameras revealed predators when monitors could COOS BAY not, the predators were the usual suspects – Common Ravens, coyotes, red fox, and an occasional Northern Harrier. The left picture on the opposite page shows a raven with a Snowy Plover egg at North Overlook beach. Monitors were unable to identify the cause of failure for this nest, but the camera clearly identified the predator. The right picture on the opposite page shows a coyote at a Snowy Plover nest at South Overlook Beach. Because of rain, no tracks remained when monitors returned to check this nest. Aside from information on predators, the cameras also revealed Snowy Plover nesting behavior. Not all nesting attempts resulted in predation! The middle picture on this page shows Snowy Plover adults brood newly hatched young at Coos Bay North Spit. We will use nest cameras again during the 2016 nesting season; larger sample sizes will allow us to further pinpoint causes of nest failure. CONGRATULATIONS! NORTH SPIT Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society Awards INR’s Dave Lauten and Kathy Castelein (at our Coos Bay outpost) received the Outstanding Service Award for their 19 years of dedicated work with Oregon plovers. The Oregon Snowy Plover Working Team was given theConservation Award. Dave, Kathy, and Eleanor Gaines have been very active on this working team with colleagues from state and federal agencies.Photo credit : Photos are contributed by INR staff with credit for the top and bottom photos to Daniel Farrar. Page 6

BBIIOODDBIIVVIEEORRSSDIITTIYYVAAENNRDDSCCIOOTNNYSSEEARRVNVAADTTIIOOCNNONSERVATIONSage-Grouse Conservationin Oregon By Theresa Burcsu and Jamie Damon Governor Brown has developedthe comprehensive “all lands, allthreats” Oregon Sage-Grouse ActionPlan (Action Plan) to document a setof effective state and local policiesand programs that, when combinedwith the Bureau of LandManagement’s (BLM) ResourceManagement Plan/FinalEnvironmental Impact State onfederal land and ComprehensiveConservation Agreements withAssurances (CCAAs) on private land,are designed to maintain andimprove sage-grouse populations andhabitat in Oregon. Page 7

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Governor Brown has also signed an Executive Order the information available online.directing state agencies to implement the Action Plan. The Through the Institute for Natural Resources Jamieshort-term objective of the Action Plan was to inform U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service’s September 2015 sage-grouse Damon, at Oregon State University, has been serving as theEndangered Species Act listing decision. The submittal of the SageCon Project Manager together with Theresa Burcsu, atfinal Action Plan in September 2015, together with the signed Portland State University, who has been serving as theExecutive Order, also in September 2015, was extremely Technical Project Manager. INR will continue to serve in thisinfluential in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determination project management and coordinating role, supported bythat sage-grouse should not be listed as an endangered Willamette Partnership, and in partnership with the ODFW,species. DLCD, and the Governor’s Office to begin implementation of the Action Plan. The work will be carried out with input from a WATCH A VIDEO ON THE DECISION NOT diverse coalition of state and federal agencies, local TO LIST THE GREATER SAGE GROUSE governments, industry, private landowners, and other FEATURING DOI SECRETARY, stakeholders through the 2015—2017 biennium. SALLY JEWELL: The Governor’s long-term goal is to protect and restoresage-grouse populations and the ecological health of landsacross southeast Oregon through responsible stewardship thatgenerates and allows for economic use and development oflands vital to healthy rural communities. The Institute ofNatural Resources (INR) has been working with the Governor’sOffice, Department of Land Conservation and Development(DLCD), Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW),Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), easternOregon counties, The Nature Conservancy and numerousprivate and public entities to develop this plan, and to makeImage Credit: Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), photographed by Rick McEwan; used with permission from the Sage Grouse Initiative. Map by USFWS. Page 8

LANDBSCIOAPDE IAVSESERSSSMITENYTSAND CONSERVATIONThe Oregon Natural Areas PlanBy Jimmy Kagan The Institute for Natural Resources’ Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) ORBIC Data Requestsworks cooperatively with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) to managethe Oregon Natural Areas Program. This program was created by the legislature in 1979, and Total Requests:resulted in the establishment of the first iteration of ORBIC, then called the Oregon NaturalHeritage Program. Since that time, ORBIC has worked with the state to develop natural area 156plans, and has been responsible for developing updates. The 2015 update for the OregonNatural Areas Plan was completed in November and adopted by the Oregon Parks and Total Requestors:Recreation Department in December. 77 This is the first version of the Natural Areas Plan since the program was transferred toOPRD from the Department of State Lands in 2011, and includes the first ecoregional analyses Annual Subscriptions:of how well Oregon’s forests ecosystem types are represented in the network of naturalareas. It represents extensive work by many people in the Institute for Natural Resources’ 8 state andPortland Office, and had extensive review by ecologists, botanists, and wildlife biologistsacross the state. federal agencies Page 9

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENTSUpdating Strategy Habitatsfor Oregon By Jimmy Kagan The Institute for Natural Resources (INR) at Portland StateUniversity updated the data and maps for the Oregon Departmentof Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) 11 Oregon Conservation StrategyHabitats, as a component of the 2015 Oregon Conservation Strategyrevision, as required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the update atits September 4th meeting for submission to the USFWS by October1st, and will publish the update when it is approved by the USFWS. The result of this update is a composite, raster, geographicinformation system (GIS) dataset portraying the extent and The final composited overlay of the 11 Strategy Habitats in Oregon.distribution of the 11 Strategy Habitats which include: 1. Estuaries, 2.Wetlands, 3. Riparian and Flowing Water, 4. Lakes, 5. Ponderosa Pine, 6. Old Growth forests, 7. Aspens, 8. Oaks, 9. Coastal Dunes, 10.Grasslands, and 11. Sagebrush. INR developed the initial conservation strategy maps as part of a effort in 2004 and 2005 to develop astatewide vegetation map. For this update, only the strategy habitats were mapped, using local, regional and statewide informationsources developed in Oregon since the initial Strategy Habitat maps were created in 2004. The objective was for each of the strategyhabitats to use the most up-to-date and highest resolution maps available in Oregon using existing data sources available. Work was completed by INR’s science staff: Jimmy Kagan [Vegetation], Sue Vrilakas [Botany], Eleanor Gaines [Zoology], JohnBauer (from the Wetlands Conservancy) and John Christy [Wetlands], Eric Nielson and Bo Zhou [Remote Sensing/Vegetation Modeling]and GIS staff (primarily Joe Bernert, with assistance from Jane Rombouts of the Wetlands Conservancy and a PSU student, JesseDowning). The final report describing the details of the methods and showing each individual strategy habitat is online.Page 10

LANDBSCIOAPDE IAVSESERSSSMITENYTSAND CONSERVATION Multivariate Maps in the Rangelands: Random Forest Nearest Neighbor imputation mapping of arid lands supports a range of information needs By Emilie Henderson Detailed data on the condition of our natural resources is a crucial component of management planning in today’s changing world. Recent advances in species distribution modeling and remote sensing have yielded a range of 30m resolution data products that are available across large areas (e.g., LANDFIRE, USGS GAP landcover). Although these maps are an invaluable resource, thematic maps of vegetation classifications, and maps that describe only a single variable at a time (e.g., vegetation height) are limited in the information that they can convey. They often fall short of conveying the information that is needed to ground management plans firmly in the reality of today’s world. The Pacific Northwest has historically been a leader in the development of variable-rich datasets describing forest structure and composition. The Landscape Ecology, Modeling, Mapping & Analysis (LEMMA) team in Corvallis has been, using the Gradient Nearest Neighbor (GNN) technique to great avail, linking the rich information collected on Forest Inventory and Analysis plots to 30m pixels1. Raster data describing forest structure and composition currently span all forests in Oregon, Washington, and California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and many other places in the lower 48 states. We have recently developed similar maps detailing vegetation in the arid portion of the landscape, using a technique called Random Forest Nearest Neighbor (RFNN)2. This technique is closely related to GNN, but differs in that it uses a random forest model to link plots to pixels instead of an ordination model like GNN. RFNN particularly useful for mapping arid landscapes because it is more flexible for accommodating the large number of species present in arid environments. Our imputed vegetation maps of the arid lands were originally developed across Oregon, Washington, Arizona and New Mexico in support of the Integrated Landscape Assessment Project3, and have since been used to support many others. Page 11

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENTSRecently, map updateshave been made for theportion of the Great Basinecoregion that is inSoutheastern Oregon(illustrated in Figure 1).The first of those updateswas conducted to supportthe USGS Climate ScienceCenter-sponsored Climate,Management and HabitatProject, which estimatedfuture trends in sagegrouse habitat underdifferent climate and landmanagement scenariosacross Oregon’s GreatBasin4. A portion of thatwork involved leveragingthe vegetation map tostudy habitat for the Figure 1: A few of the many variables that can be shown by the imputed arid lands vegetation map. This graphic showsGreater Sage grouse5, has only the Great Basin in Southeast Oregon. Similar maps are available across all of the arid lands in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico.led to further work to supportthe SageCon Partnership, inassociation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The Bureau of Land Management is alsousing maps to help them document invasive annual grasses in the rangelands of eastern Oregon and Washington as well. Page 12

LANDBSICOAPDEIAVSESERSSSMITENYTSAND CONSERVATION Imputation maps are particularly adept at providing information to describe a relatively new need: mapping “Ecological Integrity”. Ecological integrity is currently a required consideration in USFS management planning, although it remains to be seen whether the BLM will adopt this metric as well. We have translated our imputed vegetation maps in the arid lands to show an index of ecological integrity across eastern Oregon and Washington. Imputed vegetation maps are particularly well-suited for describing ecological integrity, which demands information from many variables in concert together, and the imputed maps maintain relationships among all of variables that they represent6. There is still room for improvement in the arid lands imputation maps. Fine-scale noise is a common feature (see Figure 2). This fine-scale noise can make analyses that rely on pixel-by-pixel patterns in vegetation challenging. This issue is improving in the current update to the map across Oregon’s Great Basin with the incorporation of fine-scale summaries of air photo image texture developed by Eric Nielsen. Despite the fine-scale noise present in our vegetation map, many variables contain useful information because the imputed predictions are usually unbiased, and the noise rapidly diminishes when the maps are summarized at larger spatial scales (see Figure 2). Despite the uncertainties, this rich multivariate dataset describing vegetation in the arid lands is proving a useful resource to both the science, and management communities, and we anticipate that its utility will expand in the future. Figure 2: Shrub cover map accuracy, summarized at 3 different scales: Top Row illustrates accu- racy at the plot/pixel level, the middle row shows the accuracy of summaries over small hexa- gons, while the bottom row indicates the map’s accuracy over large hexagons. Statics shown in graph windows are: Agreement Coefficient (AC), which indicates overall model fit, Systematic Agreement Coefficient (AC sys), which indicates model bias (value of 1 indicates no bias), and the Unsystematic Agreement Coefficient (AC uns), which indicates random noise in the prediction (values approaching 1 indicate very little noise). Page 13

LANDBSCIOAPDE IAVSESERSSSMITENYTSAND CONSERVATION LANLADNSCDASPCEAAPESSAESSSMESESNMTSENTS Blue Mountains  A broad-scale integrated analysis of where active dry Forest Resiliency forest management (thinning and managed fire) will Project By Miles Hemstrom contribute the most to forest resiliency, while making use of existing roads with minimal temporary road A recent study revealed that more than 2.3 construction million acres in the Blue Mountains are in need of active restoration, with more than 1.6 million of these  Improved wildfire management decision-making, acres occurring on National Forest lands7. The Blue incorporating scientific analyses of areas where fire Mountains Forest Resiliency project will develop a plan will have desirable versus unwanted effects for these areas, using thinning and fire management to actively restore dry forests to more resilient conditions.  Jobs and supplemental economic benefits to local This project will also develop strategic fuel treatments communities to modify fire behavior potential at tactical locations to facilitate safe and effective, large scale wildfire and  Enhanced dry forest amenities, such as natural prescribed fire management. scenery, native plant diversity, and more resilient habitat for high value resources such as elk, Benefits: huckleberries, and fish.  Greater forest and community resiliency to fire  Scientifically consistent data and analyses that can be used in other national forest project plans, or to  Increased amount of open canopied, and large tree/ support multi-partner planning, implementation, and old forests, creating resilient wildlife habitat funding of landscape scale restoration with adjacent landowners.  Increased relative proportion of low severity to high severity fire, reducing incidences of large pulses of The Institute for Natural Resources is contributing smoke from uncharacteristically severe fires landscape data, modeling and ecological expertise through a grant from the USDA Forest Service. The project is in beginning phases and will generate landscape -wide vegetation data, ecological modeling, evaluation of habitat effects for selected species, estimation of timber harvest levels, evaluation of climate change effects, and other social, economic, and ecological effects analysis.PagePa1g4e 2

LANDBSCIOAPDE IAVSESERSSSMITENYTSAND CONSERVATION EcosystemServices INR’s involvement was built on two projects, the first funded by EPA State Wetland Programs Development Grant. The grant included a By Jimmy Kagan project to provide maps identifying the relative amounts of the ecosystem services provided by all of the wetlands in four pilot Understanding how to measure and watersheds in Oregon, the Tualatin, Coquille, Sprague and Upper Grandreport on the important benefits that Ronde. The focus was to identify methods to evaluate how wellcommunities receive from ecosystems has been wetlands helped provide some ecosystem services: late season water foran important part of work at the Institute for irrigation or drinking, flood control, and water quality benefits to streamsNatural Resources (INR) in 2015. Through INR’s such as cooling or nutrient removal.long-term involvement in the National EcosystemServices Partnership, Jimmy Kagan participated inan NSF funded workshop at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center to help providerecommendations to the President’s Council ofEnvironmental Quality (CEQ). The work resultedin the publication of, “Best Practices forIntegrating Ecosystem Services into FederalDecision Making”; which was presented to theCEQ, and supported the development of their10/7/2015 memorandum providing guidance tofederal agencies on incorporating ecosystemservices into their work (see the press releasefrom the White House here). Page 15

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENTSThe work was done by MS student, Debbie Blackmore, and overseen by Heejun Chang, the chair of the GeographyDepartment at Portland State University, Jimmy Kagan, who was the PI, and Tracie Nadeau of the EPA. The final productsincluded the development of protocols to allow INR staff to develop these for all of the watersheds in Oregon. Thisinformation can assist state and federal wetland regulators and conservation organizations in their efforts to focuswetland restoration and mitigation funding in Oregon. It also is to be the basis for the Wetland Ecosystem Servicesattributions in the Oregon Explorer “Oregon WetlandRestoration Planning Tool”. The second project stemmed from a recentlycompleted grant from the Federal HighwayAdministration of U.S. Department of Transportation(FHWA), to provide a framework for incorporatingEcosystem Services analyses and crediting, intotransportation planning across the U.S. This work wasdone in partnership with Willamette Partnership,NatureServe, and Fraser Shilling of the Road EcologyCenter at U.C. Davis. This work, along with previouspublications, presentations and webinars which werepart of the FHWA’s “Implementing the Eco-LogicalApproach” put together by INR with funding from theTransportation Research Board, has become part ofFHWA’s national “Environmental Review Toolkit”. Inaddition, the transportation guidance was linked withthe new federal best practices guidance, and presentedby Jimmy Kagan and Lydia Olander at the 2015International Conference on Ecology andTransportation.Page 16

INFORBMIOATDIOINVEACRCSESISTY AND CONSERVATION Oregon iMapInvasives Data Leads to Treatment of Two New Noxious Weed Sites By Lindsey Wise The Oregon iMapInvasives program managed by the Institute for Natural Resources and the Western Invasives Network has been collecting information on invasive species locations throughout the state since 2010. Data comes from a variety of partners including federal agencies and local managers, and other database programs such as USGS Non-indigenous Aquatic Species and the Oregon Flora Project. This comprehensive statewide dataset has been used by managers for prioritizing surveys and treatment areas and by researchers studying the potential impacts and spread of invasive species. Having statewide invasive species data from a multitude of sources in one location has also had important impacts to on the ground management for the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA). As Oregon’s weed regulatory agency, ODA manages Oregon’s noxious weed list, assists other agencies with weed management, and researches control methods and implementation. Through the data sharing partnership between ODA’s WeedMapper and iMapInvasives, ODA learned of two new populations of the List A noxious weed mat-grass (Nardus stricta). Previously ODA had known of only one population in Klamath County in southern-central Oregon; the new sites were in very different parts of the state: in Curry County on the south coast and Clatsop County on the north coast. Thanks to reporting of mat-grass sites through iMapInvasives, these two populations are now being actively managed by ODA and local partners. Mat-grass (Nardus stricta), a noxious weed in the US and Canada, is being managed by the Oregon Department of Agriculture at two new sites in Oregon thanks to reports from iMapInvasives. Image credit: By Kenraiz (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Page 17

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION INFORMATION ACCESS The Clatsop County location was reported through the iMapInvasives site by the North iMapInvasivesCoast Land Conservancy (NCLC), which is using iMap to manage their weed assessment andtreatment data. The iMap site automatically sends an email alert to the observer and the data Observations added:administrator when a species is reported in an area for the first time (what is called a significantrecord report). Recognizing mat-grass as a List A species, the iMap administrator forwarded the 85,426report to ODA who immediately followed up with NCLC. Species reported: The Curry County location was first reported through a herbarium collection made in1996 and stored at Oregon State University. In a testament to the importance of getting the 194right information into the right hands, it took nearly 10 years for this report to make its wayfrom the herbarium to the Oregon Flora Project database, to iMapInvasives, and finally to ODA Organizationswho recognized the importance of the sighting and took action. Contributing Data: Even in the information age when so much is available digitally, our partnerships, 49 connections, and perceptions are what is Formal requests for Data needed to put this (outside of other data information to good use. sharing partnerships): Without its network of knowledgeable and 6 collaborative resource managers, agencies, and University research citizens, Oregon’s projects requesting economy and its native iMapinvasive data: habitats would be at much greater risk from invasive 2 species. New List A noxious weed sites being treated thanks to iMapInvasives data: 2Page 18

INFOBRMIOATDIOINVEACRCSESISTY AND CONSERVATION Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH)Science Panel By Jeffrey BehanThese days, most of us are aware of global warming and sea level rise as pressing environment issues. A much less well knownbut perhaps equally serious climate-related impact of fossil fuel burning is ocean acidification. Since the pre-industrial era, oceanwater has become about 30% more acidic due to human-generated CO2 released into the atmosphere. Atmospheric CO2 is higher nowand rising faster than at any time in the past million years. About 25% - some 550 billion tons - of this human-generated CO2 hasaccumulated in the world’s oceans. This additional CO2 is reducing both the pH and the dissolved carbonate ion concentration ofocean water – a phenomenon known as ocean acidification.In 2013 Oregon formally aligned with California efforts to implement the West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH)Science Panel. INR worked with the California Ocean Science Trust (CalOST) to convene 20 ocean experts from Oregon, California, andWashington. The panel was charged with synthesizing and interpreting knowledge from the scientifically diverse and rapidly evolvingocean acidification and hypoxia field of research, and identifying research and monitoring priorities critical to the West Coast's future.The Oregon Governor’s Office, Department of Land Conservation and Development, Department of Environmental Quality,Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Agriculture, and the OSU Research Office supported Oregon’s participation.Oregon continues to play a major role in this effort, including cutting edge research on ocean acidification causes and impactsby the 5 Oregon-based OAH Panel ocean scientists, and key science and policy input from Oregon natural resource agencies which wassolicited and packaged by INR for the OAH Panel. Products from the panel’s work, including summaries on OAH state of knowledgeand policy direction, are now being finalized. INR staff worked the 5 Oregon-based panelists on responses to Oregon agency sciencequestions regarding OAH, and with the Oregon Department of Fish and WATCH THE VIDEO OCEAN ACIDIFICATION:Wildlife Marine Resources Division to host panel products and additional CHANGING WATERS ON THE OREGON COASToutreach materials on the Oregon Explorer website. Of particular interestto Oregon marine resource managers are responses from the five Oregon-based panelists to ocean acidification and hypoxia science questionssubmitted by Oregon agencies involved with coastal management issues. Page 19

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION INFORMATION ACCESS Other panel products include 1) a summary of scientific knowledge on ocean acidification and hypoxia and the role of science in decision making; 2) a document laying out scientific approaches to making a 303(d) assessment for near coastal ocean acidification under the Clean Water Act; 3) a peer-reviewed manuscript on ocean acidification sciencePhoto Credit: California Ocean Science Trust needs for natural resource managers ofthe North American west coast; 4) an examination of existing and potential threats posed by ocean acidification and hypoxia tomarine organisms and ecosystems, and tools to mitigate these impacts and manage for marine ecosystem resilience; 5) anexploration of large-scale oceanographic factors that drive ocean acidification and hypoxia, and linkages between these openocean dynamics and near-shore processes along the West Coast; and 6) a summary of existing science on interacting impacts ofhypoxia, ocean acidification, and changes in temperature on the organismic physiology of west coast marine species andprojections of how these physiological effects may translate into biogeographic and ecological changes. Page 20

INFOBRMIOATDIOINVEACRCSESISTY AND CONSERVATION ORBIC Determines Bald Eagle Grade for Willamette River Report Card By Lindsey Wise Photo Credit: VisitCorvallis The Institute for Natural Resources’ Oregon Biodiversity Information Center (ORBIC) provided data and analysis on rare species for the first Willamette River Report Card, which gave the Willamette an overall grade of B-. INR staff queried our Biotics rare species database and the eBird online bird observation database to assess the health of bald eagle populations along the river. We developed a scoring methodology for eagles with input from the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science, and provided comments and review on the habitat and species categories in the report. When developing the scoring methodology, we quickly concluded that relying on our Biotics database alone was insufficient for this report card, which requires repeatability on a 5-year cycle. While Biotics houses thousands of rare species records, the agency partners that provide the majority of our records are primarily focused on public lands. Much of the land along the Willamette River is private, so there was a lack of survey data. Thus we turned to the eBird database, which provided over 350 observations for our analysis. We focused on observations of multiple eagles in non-winter months as an indication of likely breeding activity. Page 21

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION INFORMATION ACCESS All reaches of the Willamette river achieved good and very good grades for the bald eagles indicator, with the upperWillamette scoring 86% (A), the middle Willamette scoring 74% (B), and the lower Willamette scoring 76% (B+). The ReportCard assessment was developed by the Meyer Memorial Trust’s Willamette River Initiative with the help of technical expertsfrom more than 20 agencies and organizations, and graded three sections of the river on five categories of health. TheReport Card is designed to inspire elected officials, advocates and citizens to come together to shape the next generation ofimprovements to the Willamette River as the valley grapples with a warming climate, reduced snowpacks and pressure froma growing population.Page 22

INFOBRMIOATDIOINVEACRCSESISTY AND CONSERVATION BIODIVERSITY ANINDFOCORMNSAETRIOVANTAIOCNCESSOregon Explorer’s Year By Janine Salwasser Number of Users: We have had a big year with the launch of our redesigned Oregon Explorer natural resources 127,000+digital library in June. Evolving from a site with 7 topic portals and 5 basin portals, the OregonExplorer is now a more comprehensive and integrative site that enables users to access information Top Content:and tools for all the basins in Oregon and 10 times the number of topics. A beautiful new mapinterface helps users to explore more geographic places associated with a specific location and Wetlandsoverlay live feeds of weather and hazard situations. Water New Oregon Explorer tools that were launched this year include the Oregon Explorer ATLAS, Communitiesthe Planner’s Map Viewer, and the Oregon Zoning Map Viewer. These tools were specifically Hazardsdeveloped in partnership with the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development(DLCD) to inform land use planning activities. We will be working again with DLCD in 2016 to update New Toolsthe Hazard Reporter and Measure 49 Map Viewer. Developed: Other agencies that we worked with this last year to facilitate statewide data integration and 5access include: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for fish passage data, Oregon WatershedEnhancement Board for watershed restoration data, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Project Partners:for emergency preparedness data, and the Oregon Department of Administrative Services and OSUExtension Service for the Governor’s 10 year plan site. 12 We anticipate another busy year with the redesign of the Oregon Spatial Data Library and the OSU classesCommunities Reporter Tool, and our new 3-year partnership with the Oregon Department of using OregonForestry to develop new mapping and reporting tools to make western wildfire risk data accessiblefor community wildfire protection planning. Our success is due to the strength of our partnerships. Explorer:We are grateful for their continued support. Our goal is for the Oregon Explorer to be a useful andused site that informs decisions and actions throughout Oregon. 15START EXPLORINGPageP2age 23

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION INFORMATION ACCESSAvailable Science Assessment Project (ASAP) By Jeffrey Behan In a partnership with EcoAdapt, the Institute for Natural Resources (INR) is nearing completion of the Available ScienceAssessment Project (ASAP), funded by the Department of Interior NorthWest Climate Science Center. The ASAP tested a process forassessing the scientific evidence supporting climate adaptation actions (CAAs) that natural resource agencies may consider to addressclimate change in the Pacific Northwest. In ASAP Phases I and II, public land managers identified ongoing and projected increases inthe severity and intensity of wildfires as one of their most pressing concerns, and cited the need for up to date knowledge on howbest to use prescribed fire to reduce fuels as climate change progresses. In ASAP Phase III, INR consulted with OSU Libraries staff on a systematic search strategy to identify and map available, peer-reviewed literature linking prescribed fire use with climate change, then screened this literature for relevance and pertinentknowledge. Results of this work suggested that the rationale and conditions for use of prescribed fire are evolving in response toclimate-related shifts in fire regimes. For example, years of climatic moisture stress may increasingly result in higher rates of treemortality than prescribed fire managers are generally accustomed. But there was less evidence that the mechanics of the prescribedfire “tool” itself will shift in response to climate change. Key themes in the relevant literature included: The potential for shifts in forest vegetation, including changes in species composition or even conversion from forest to non-forest ecosystems, and how these events could affect decisions about where to apply fuels treatments. An increasing focus on how to maintain or enhance forest carbon stocks or “carbon carrying capacity” via fuels treatments, including prescribed fire. Socio-political considerations of prescribed fire use in a changing climate, such as how to incorporate climate information into fire planning and management, and public understanding of the ecological role of fire and management options as wildfire regimes changeA key lesson from the ASAP was the benefit of using a hybrid process combining a systematic literature search with expertconsultations to identify and synthesize science knowledge on complex emerging issues and topics that are incompletely linked inpeer-reviewed literature. In early 2016, INR and EcoAdapt will convene a manager-scientist workshop to disseminate these results,expand the discussion and promote social learning on prescribed fire and fuels management in the face of predicted increases in thenumber, intensity and severity of wildfires in the western US.Page 24

WATBERIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATWIOATNEROregon Water Oregon’s connection to water is legendary. With the closure ofInstitute the Blue Heron Papermill near Oregon City, a new opportunity arose to redevelop the area near the Willamette Falls. The Willamette Falls is By Todd Jarvis the first State Heritage Area designated in the State of Oregon . The Institute for Water and Watersheds (IWW) was asked to assist design architects with conceptualizing redevelopment using a water theme for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project. For a ninety second video that introduces the redevelopment concept of the site visit http://www.rediscoverthefalls.com. Oregon City and the new owner of the mills are working with THA architects (recently renamed Hacker Architects) guided by four key values:  Healthy Habitat  Economic Development  Public Access  Cultural and Historic Interpretation The Institute for Water and Watersheds (IWW) proposed The Oregon Water Institute (OWI), a partnership among faculty at Oregon State University, Portland State University, the University of Oregon, the Oregon Institute of Technology, and Oregon Metro that will offer a scientific water resource assessment and management platform that will provide a basis for improved knowledge of water quantity, quality, distribution, and timing as well as the legal, social, and economic framework of Oregon’s water resources.Oregon Water Institute Concept Diagram Page 25

WATBERIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION WATERArsenic AcesBy Todd JarvisMost technical projectsfollow a fairly linear path ofstatement of the problem, samplingand analysis plans, reporting,followed by rationale discourse onthe meaning of the universe.Imagine working on a project whereeveryone you are working with isdesperate for the hydrologic andgeochemical data you are collecting,but you cannot make reference to This figure shows the Harney basin features of complex volcanic geology and a closed hydrologic system.any of the sampling locations, or Figure by Lauren Smithermand and David Reinert.specific geographic reference to thegeochemical data. There is a very high level of fear in the Harney Basin residents because of the arsenic situation – fear for humanand herd lives – fear of plummeting property values if word got out there was a problem at their wells.The Institute for Water and Watersheds (IWW) received a generous gift from the trust of Paul Peyron, a rancher who oncelived near Baker City. Lauren Smitherman, a MS student in Water Resources Science, was selected to complete a study focusingon arsenic in groundwater to honor his wish that the gift be used for the sole purpose of “Water Conservation Projects orStudies”. Likewise, Lauren’s study would enhance the local knowledge of the hydrogeology of the Harney Basin as it is known atonly a reconnaissance level despite large investments by Harney County in hiring consultants to unravel a messy situation as youwill soon learn.Mollie Kyle, OSU’s arsenic “ace”, with the newly formed School of Public Health, served as co-advisor with IWW directorTodd Jarvis. Terra Magazine recently profiled Lauren’s work at http://oregonstate.edu/terra/2015/10/arsenic-in-rural-oregon/ Page 26

WATBERIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION IWW Groundwater FloodingCOLLABORATORY and Guerrilla Trenches Samples Processed Annually: By Todd Jarvis 7,000- Neighbor wars come in many shapes and sizes. “Border disputes” range from barking 22,000 dogs, noisy neighbors, nosy neighbors, fencing or lack thereof, fugitive trees and vegetation, neighborhood blight, “attractive nuisances” such as pools, private lakes, wildlife, as well as USGS using the episodic stormwater runoff, and increasingly groundwater flooding. Groundwater flooding is an collaboratory since: emerging problem globally with changes in land use (deforestation, impervious surfaces) and changes in precipitation patterns (more rain, less snow) and is a common problem in areas where 2009 the depth to groundwater is shallow. It is prevalent in rainy climates and urban areas such as the United Kingdom. Yet, the problem is becoming increasingly common in rural areas that receive USDA began using moderate precipitation such as North Dakota and Colorado, arid regions in the Middle East, and the laboratory deforested areas in Oregon. services in: Stormwater flooding which is typically controlled through “engineered” structures such as 2015 culverts, gabions, and ditches that can direct flow to creeks and rivers without creating much in the way of unneighborly relations until the engineered features direct flow to a neighbor that damages property. Groundwater flooding is a stealth variety of stormwater flooding by creating the perception that it is stormwater that is controllable by collection, diversion, and discharge. Yet the control of groundwater flooding through traditional approaches is a mirage. Page 27

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION WATER The problem is a “supercharging” of shallow aquifers with stormwater, filling shallow aquifers “over the brim” yielding full ditches and small ponds. Digging ditches deeper to increase drainage only permits more groundwater to flow into the excavations. Efforts to drain one property owner’s lands through drainage ditches only exacerbates the collection of “stormwater” on their neighbor’s land. The conflicts resulting from the perceived solutions to fugitive water drainage often leads to long-term conflict over the episodic efforts to drain supersaturated land. Joe Kemper, an Institute for Water and Watersheds graduate student employee, is working towards a joint Masters in Water Resources Engineering and Graduate Certificate in Water Conflict Transformation focusing on groundwater flooding in Falls City, Oregon. Terra Magazine recently profiled Joe’s work at http://oregonstate.edu/terra/2015/10/stormy-waters/.OSU Water Resources graduate The Falls City freshman class creates seismic Residents in South Falls City walkstudents Andrew Wentworth and waves during a refraction survey in Falls City. the ditches in August 2015 toLeah Tai pinpoint geophone The students helped install geophones andlocations during a seismic cables along a stakeholder's drainage ditch. identify potential compromises andrefraction survey in Falls City. technical solutions to their stormwater flooding problems. Page 28

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Name: Gareth Baldrica-Franklin Name: Sarah Brennan Major: Geography Major Degree/Program Management in the W Research projects: My work within IWW and a Certificate in W has centered around the establishment Transformation. of the Oregon Water Newsletter, white papers, and several film projects. I have Thesis Research Proj worked a lot on connections between Banking Institution in film and societal perceptions of water.Outside the IWW, I have done work with the Cartography and Professional Interests: Water law with the ESGeovisualization Lab, assisting in the creation of print maps management , water banking, water credit traand digital atlases. For my undergraduate thesis, I plan tocombine my various interests in the creation of a digital, When I Finish My Degree: With a focus in polinteractive atlas centered around Oregon's water. with a non-profit organization or at the federa implementation and management.When I Finish My Degree: I'd like to pursue a Master's degreein some geography related area, perhaps either in cartography Personal Interests: I truly enjoy hiking and skor hydrogeography. I hope to have the opportunity to travel serious about running. My heart constantly ymore as well. opportunity to travel to a country I have not y the Andes in Argentina.Personal Interests: I really enjoy writing fiction, and thisextends to a love of reading as well. Film is another hobby,both in watching and creating. I try to cook whenever I get theopportunity, and I more generally like to eat and experimentwith various types of food. Page 29

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION n Name: Joe Kemper m: MS in Water Resources Policy andWater Resources Graduate Program Major Degree/Program: MS in WaterWater Conflict Management and Resources Engineering in the Water Resources Graduate Program and the ject: The Potential for a Water Certificate in Water Conflict Management n the Umatilla Basin and Transformation. SA and CWA, watershed program Thesis Research Project: Community ansfers Stormwater Flooding and Conflict licy and management I hope to work Management in Falls City, OR (page 27) al level with water resource project Professional Interests: Groundwater, alluvial aquifers, surface- kiing and have recently become more groundwater interactions, sustainable aquifer through IWRM yearns to travel, so I take every frameworks. yet seen. My next dream trip is to hike When I Finish My Degree: As a PNW native, I hope to go to work as a hydrogeologist in Oregon or Washington, working to help private interests, communities and governments on all scales to efficiently use their groundwater resources. Personal Interests: Anything that gets me outside, but first priority is running rivers, whether its kayaking challenging local runs or rafting on long overnight trips. It’s the perfect combination of pure fun, problem solving, natural processes, physical exertion, problem solving, and spending time with the people closest to me. Page 30

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATIONOur support in 2015 came fromthese and other sponsors andgroups:Bureau of Land Management Oregon State University Libraries and PressFamily Ford Foundation Oregon State University Research OfficeGovernor’s Natural Resources Office Oregon Watershed Enhancement BoardNational Park Service Portland State University Office of ResearchNatureServe and Strategic PartnershipsOregon Community Foundation Sierra Pacific IndustriesOregon Department of Administrative Services The Nature ConservancyOregon Department of Agriculture U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyOregon Department of Environmental Quality U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceOregon Department of Fish and Wildlife U.S. Forest ServiceOregon Department of Forestry U.S. Geological SurveyOregon Department of Land Conservation and Volgenau FoundationDevelopment Weyerhaeuser Giving FundOregon Department of Parks and Recreation Willamette PartnershipOregon Department of State Lands University of IdahoOregon State University Extension and Rural THANK YOU!Studies Program Page 33

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATIONENDNOTES: 1 Ohmann, J. L., M. J. Gregory, E. B. Henderson, and H. M. Roberts. 2011. Mapping gradients of community composition with nearest-neighbour imputation: extending plot data for landscape analysis. Journal of Vegetation Science 22:660- 676. 2 Crookston, N. L. and A. O. Finley. 2008. yaImpute: An R package for kNN imputation. Journal of Statistical Software 23. 3 Halofsky, Jessica E.; Creutzburg, Megan K.; Hemstrom, Miles A., eds. 2014. Integrating social, economic, and ecological values across large landscapes. Gen.Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-896. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 206 p. 4 Creutzburg, M. K., E. B. Henderson, and D. R. Conklin. 2015. Climate change and land management impact rangeland condition and sage-grouse habitat in southeastern Oregon. AIMS Environmental Science 2:203-236. 5 Henderson, E.B., Morzillo, A., and Csuti, B., In Prep. Climatic constraints interact with local features to structure habitat for the Greater sage-grouse in Southeast Oregon. Target Journal: Biological Conservation 6 Henderson, E. B., J. L. Ohmann, M. J. Gregory, H. M. Roberts, and H. Zald. 2014. Species distribution modelling for plant communities: stacked single species or multivariate modelling approaches? Applied Vegetation Science: 17:516-527. 7 Haugo, R., C. Zanger, T. DeMeo, C. Ringo, A. Shlisky, K. Blankenship, M. Simpson, K. Mellen-McLean, J. Kertis, and M. Stern. 2015. A new approach to evaluate forest structure restoration needs across Oregon and Washington, USA, For- est Ecology and Management, Volume 335, 1 January 2015, Pages 37-50. 8 Hemstrom, M. A., J. Merzenich, A. Reger, and B. Wales. 2007. Integrated analysis of landscape management scenarios using state and transition models in the upper Grande Ronde River Subbasin, Oregon, USA. Landscape and Urban Planning 80:198-211.PHOTOS and FIGURES: Unless otherwise noted, all photos and figures were provided by INR staff or are used with permission from morgueFile, available online at https://www.morguefile.com/. Page 34