Oak Prairie Working Group | The Intertwine

OAK PRAIRIE STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN

The Intertwine Oak Prairie Working Group has a new, updated strategic action plan! Read the new 2022 Intertwine Oak and Prairie Working Group strategic action plan, and supporting appendices. The new action plan will guide our work over the next five to 10 years.

Background
Oregon’s imperiled Oregon white oak ecosystems harbor high biodiversity and represent a top conservation priority in Oregon. The 2012 Regional Conservation Strategy highlights the need for more focused oak conservation and stewardship efforts. In 2011, the Intertwine Oak Prairie Work Group (OPWG) formed to improve conservation outcomes, support enhanced stewardship and public education, and coordinate a regional partnership of over 30 public agencies, park districts, non-profits and community-based organizations.

Related Intertwine Focus Areas

Conservation Conservation education Equity & inclusion Urban forestry

Oak Mapping

Recognizing the lack of a basic regional inventory of Oregon white oak, initial OPWG efforts focused on development of an oak distribution map. Current efforts are centered on implementation of a 2022 strategic action plan, enhanced public education and stewardship for oak habitats on private lands, as well as learning and rediscovery of traditional stewardship practices at select public and private sites. An Intertwine oak distribution map was completed over the period 2014-19 and is now being used to guide conservation work across the region.

A new updated regional Oregon white oak distribution map is now available via Data Basin or via an ESRI Story Map application created by Tommy Albo of Metro. The oak map is now reasonably complete for the whole of the Oregon portion of the Regional Conservation Strategy planning area.

The development of the regional oak map was a multi-year project engaging diverse partners and community volunteers. Funding was provided by Metro's Nature in Neighborhoods grant program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Surrogate Species program, Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation, the Oregon Department of Forestry/U.S. Forest Service, Clackamas and Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Clark County, Clark Public Utilities and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

During the summers of 2014-15, "OakQuest," a community science project, engaged more than 200 volunteers who mapped Oregon white oak tree locations across the Portland metropolitan area, contributing more than 1,500 hours and gathering nearly 15,000 observations.

During the OakQuest community science effort, participants learned about Northwest oak-prairie conservation and Native American oak cultural legacy and stewardship practices. Three college-age Native Americans worked under the auspices of the Native American Youth and Family Center and PSU Indigenous Nations Studies Program to help coordinate OakQuest volunteers while exploring natural resources career and training opportunities. In 2014-15, OakQuest helped ignite a cadre of volunteers and community members across the region invested in native oak conservation, and it inspired the development of the oak naturescaping guide and KelipiCamas efforts (see below).

To complement the community science project, Metro and the Urban Greenspaces Institute (UGI) mapped more than 275,000 additional Oregon white oak tree locations from high-resolution aerial photos. We also compiled Oregon white oak occurrences from regional street and heritage tree inventories. The resulting oak map and data sets are now available to all interested parties, via either Data Basin or a streamlined ESRI Story Map at the links above.

In 2019, Metro and UGI worked with Clark Conservation District, Clark County, Clark Public Utilities, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and two interns to expand the oak distribution map into southwest Washington, adding an additional 83,000 oak points to the regional data set. At present, a small group of OPWG partners is working on how to prioritize different oak areas to make the most of limited restoration funds.

PARTNERS

Audubon Society of Portland

City of Gresham

City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services

City of Portland Parks and Recreation Department

Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District

Clark Conservation District

Clark County

Clark Public Utilities

Clean Water Services

Columbia Land Trust

Columbia Soil and Water Conservation District

Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde

Conservation Biology Institute

East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District

Ed Alverson, private consultant/oak expert

Forest Park Neighborhood Association

Helvetia Community Association

Judy Bluehorse Skelton, cultural expert

Mark Wilson, private consultant/oak expert

Metro

Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA)

North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Oregon Department of Forestry

Oregon Wildlife Foundation

Portland State University Indigenous Nations Studies

Portland State University Institute for Natural Resources

Samara Group LLC

Scappoose Bay Watershed Council

Society for Conservation Biology

Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District

Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Urban Greenspaces Institute

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Washington Department of Natural Resources

West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District

Oak Naturescaping Guide & Workshops

To support enhanced oak stewardship on private residential lands, the OPWG has developed a native Northwest oak prairie naturescaping guide, available now for download.

oak naturescaping guide

oak naturescaping guide (PDF) 5.11 MB

In 2016 the OPWG helped organize and host free workshops on how to "naturescape" residential yards in support of native oak ecosystems. Key funding partners for this work are Clackamas, Tualatin and West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), and the Metro Nature in Neighborhoods grant program. No upcoming workshops are planned, but you are encouraged to register your interest in future workshops here.

In spring-fall 2016, 45 homeowners – most from oak-rich neighborhoods in north Clackamas County – participated in hands-on workshops to learn about and implement native oak naturescaping in their yards. Initially, residential homeowners in the communities of Oregon City, West Linn, Gladstone, Jennings Lodge, Oak Grove, Milwaukie and Lake Oswego were eligible to participate in these workshops, but we subsequently opened the opportunity to others from across the region.

Even if you don't have time to complete an oak naturescaping project, you can do your part to help us conserve the rich legacy of Oregon white oak habitats and become an active steward:

Avoid or minimize oak tree removal and pruning.
Leave the oak leaves beneath trees to support soil health.
Plant and nurture Oregon white oak and associated native plant species.
Avoid lawns, irrigation and fertilizers under oaks.
Be an "oak ambassador" and talk to your neighbors.

KelipiCamas: Return of/to the Camas

KelipiCamas is Chinook wawa (trade language) for “return of camas” or “return to camas.” Camas, quamash, or Camassia is a native bulb important as a food staple and source of starch for Northwest native peoples. Camas has strong association with Northwest native oak-prairie habitats, and the digging of camas was an important seasonal practice for Northwest tribes. The double meaning of KelipiCamas captures the spirit and intent of the KelipiCamas project: to promote the stewardship and restoration of Northwest native first-foods, while inspiring the culture of stewardship among all modern-day residents of the Northwest.

KelipiCamas is a project being led by Portland State University Indigenous Nations Studies Program, focused on learning and rediscovery of traditional stewardship practices at select public and private sites. KelipiCamas nurtures development of emerging Native American leaders, and explores convergences of ecological restoration and traditional native plant stewardship. KelipiCamas is the application of place-based Traditional Ecological Knowledge to build community and sustain Oregon’s native oak-prairie legacy. For more information on KelipiCamas, click here and here.

Questions? Contact Ted Labbe at ted.labbe@gmail.com about volunteer efforts and workshops, and Lori Hennings at Lori.Hennings@oregonmetro.gov about mapping.