[Comm-Council] FW: NEWS RELEASE: Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment Awards More Than $290, 000 in Grants

Thu Apr 23 13:09:02 PDT 2009

________________________________

From: GOVERNORS Press [mailto:governors.press at state.or.us] 
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 11:12 AM
Subject: NEWS RELEASE: Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment Awards
More Than $290,000 in Grants 

                    Department of Justice
State of Oregon                             U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service                 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 23, 2009

Contacts:          Krystyna Wolniakowski, National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation, 503-702-0245

                        Joan Jewett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
503-231-6120

                        Dwight Holton, U.S. Attorney's Office,
503-727-1128

Anna Richter Taylor, Governor's Office, 503-378-6169

Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment Awards More Than $290,000 in
Grants 

(Salem) - Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski today awarded seven grants that
will aid farmers, vintners, students, local governments, and landowners
in being stewards of our natural resources. The grants are funded by the
Governor's Fund for the Environment. Since its inception in 2005,
polluters have been ordered to pay more than $4.2 million to the fund.

"These funds continue to provide important resources for projects that
restore habitats, improve water quality, and enhance wildlife and
watershed functions," said Governor Kulongoski. "With continued
investment in the Willamette Basin, we can build on past restoration
work towards our goal of a clean and healthy basin that will benefit all
Oregonians."

Governor Kulongoski and U.S. Attorney Karin Immergut created the fund
with the goal of establishing a sustainable revenue source that is
dedicated to local environmental clean up and restoration efforts
focused on preserving and protecting Oregon's rivers, watersheds and
fish and wildlife.  The grant amounts vary each year based on the
interest earned on the principal and new funds deposited through
criminal fines and additional private and public donations.

"We continue to be committed to making polluters pay for the harm that
they cause," stated U.S. Attorney Immergut.  "Through our partnership
with the Governor's Fund, polluters who are convicted of criminal
activity will pay to protect Oregon's rivers, streams and habitat."

This year's seven successful grant recipients, chosen from among 19
applicants, proposed projects that will identify and reduce pollution as
well as restore and conserve fish, wildlife and plant resources and help
enhance the quality of Oregon streams and habitats in the Willamette
Basin. The grants range from $15,000 to $50,000, and total $292,207,
with an additional $826,636 from matching funds and in-kind
contributions.

"These grants will restore streambeds throughout the Willamette Basin,
improve water quality for people and wildlife, and provide a better home
for several threatened and endangered species of fish, plants and
wildlife," said Foundation Executive Director Jeff Trandahl.  "By
gaining landowner cooperation in improving fish and wildlife habitat,
we're creating win-win solutions that will have lasting benefits for
people and the natural resources we cherish." 

The Governor's Fund for the Environment is administered by the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

"Both natural resources and citizens in the Willamette Valley will
benefit from this leadership shared by Governor Kulongoski and U.S.
Attorney Karin Immergut," said Robyn Thorson, Regional Director of the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pacific Region. "This year's grants
truly reflect the partnership aspect of the Fund. Only through working
together will we improve the health of aquatic and wildlife habitats and
the species that live in them."

The 2009 recipients of the Oregon Governor's Fund for the Environment
grants are:

Scappoose Bay Watershed Council:  Grant $48,000; Match $200,000

Project:  Scappoose Bottomlands Channel Reconnection Assessment

The Scappoose Bay Watershed Council will conduct an assessment of the
historic tidal channel network connecting Scappoose Bay with Multnomah
Channel and develop a design concept to reconnect and enhance these
waterways.  The Scappoose Bottomlands are a rare, fresh water tidal
system near the confluence of the Columbia River and Multnomah Channel
with intrinsic habitat value for its resident species of fish, wildlife,
and plants (including threatened & endangered species) and broader
habitat value for the salmon and bird species that migrate through the
Columbia and Willamette River Basins and the Pacific flyway. The
Scappoose Bay Watershed Council is currently working with the Natural
Resource Conservation Service, the property owner, and other partners
including the Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership and the Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board on restoration of a large property in the
Scappoose Bottomlands (Hogan Ranch), where wetland habitat is being
negatively impacted by hydrologic alteration and cattle grazing. The
Council is interested in determining if similar project work could be
conducted on the adjacent property (Scappoose Landing) owned by Oregon
Parks and Recreation Department and if reconnecting historic side
channels would improve the exchange of water flow between Multnomah
Channel and Scappoose Bay, creating much needed off-channel habitat for
migrating salmon. 

Salem Keizer Watershed Councils Association:  Grant $15,000; Match
$121,866

Project:  Luckiamute Watershed Fish Passage Restoration

The Salem Keizer Watershed Councils Association will restore native fish
passage at four sites in the Luckiamute River watershed by replacing
existing culverts that act as barriers to fish passage. The culverts,
which are found on Waymire Creek and Grant Creek, tributaries to the
Little Luckiamute River, and the Middle Fork and North Forks of Berry
Creek, tributaries to the Luckiamute River, were professionally
surveyed, prioritized by an expert panel, and described in the
Luckiamute Watershed Fish Passage Action Plan.  Existing culverts will
be replaced with steel pipe arch culverts sized to match stream widths
and meeting both Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and
Oregon Department of Forestry criteria.  Addressing these barriers will
reduce erosion and open approximately 1.1 mile of spawning and rearing
habitat for steelhead, coho salmon, and cutthroat trout. Partners
include the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon State University
Research Forests, Weyerhaeuser, and ODFW.

Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District:  Grant $50,000; Match
$416,020

Project:  Yamhill-Polk Riparian Restoration Partnership

The Yamhill and Polk Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) will
develop 30 plans to USDA Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)
standards and assist in maintaining 54 CREP projects that are in active
restoration on private lands.  Yamhill and Polk SWCDs will use funds to
employee a riparian specialist in each of the two counties to complete
riparian buffer plans, develop outreach materials, actively recruit new
landowners, and follow-up on referrals from partnering agencies,
including Farm Service Agency, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon
Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife and local watershed councils. The
planners will develop restoration plans according to Natural Resources
Conservation Services standards as well as implement and follow-up on
project maintenance. The resulting 30 new riparian restoration plans
will result in 12+ miles and approximately 100 acres of new forested
buffers, and technical assistance will continue on 54 buffer projects
which are in active restoration. The 84 restored buffers will provide a
variety of ecological functions including filtration of nutrients and
sediment, recruitment of large woody debris and modification of solar
heating. The improved water quality and reduced solar heating will
greatly benefit a number of threatened and endangered species within the
counties including Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead and cutthroat
trout. The forests will also provide for additional upland wildlife
habitat which is severely lacking in this fragmented agricultural
landscape.

Salmon-Safe, Inc.:  Grant $45,500; Match $47,500

Project:  Salmon-Safe Willamette 2009

Salmon-Safe will expand a pioneering partnership that has helped 144
Willamette Valley vineyards to adopt water quality and biodiversity
protection practices to other key sectors, including hops, hazelnut &
nursery industries.  Since 1996, Salmon-Safe has focused on inspiring
landowners to protect water quality and habitat while building
marketplace presence for ecologically sustainable Oregon farm products,
most notably wine from the Willamette Valley. Salmon-Safe's flagship
project has been an innovative partnership with the Oregon wine industry
to transition the majority of the Willamette Valley's wine growers to
ecological sustainability. Efforts have focused on outreach, technical
assistance and site assessment with a particular emphasis on reducing
runoff from the watershed's 400 vineyards, mostly located on steep
hillside vineyards above the Yamhill River and other tributaries. With
support from the Oregon Governor's Environmental Fund since 2006,
Salmon-Safe has helped transition 144 Willamette Valley vineyards,
representing half of the valley's wine grape acreage, to farming
practices that protect water quality and native biodiversity. This
project builds on this track record of market-based conservation success
by applying this collaborative model in several of the Willamette
Valley's other most vital agricultural sectors including hops, Christmas
trees, hazelnuts, and the nursery industry.

Scappoose Bay Watershed Council:  Grant $38,000; Match $10,000

Project:  North & South Scappoose Creek Confluence Restoration

The Scappoose Bay Watershed Council will develop a restoration project
design to address degrading creek conditions and disconnection from the
floodplain at the confluence of North and South Scappoose Creeks.  A
5-mile stretch of South Scappoose Creek, which flows through the City of
Scappoose past the confluence of North and South Scappoose Creeks, was
determined to be high priority for further assessment and development of
a restoration plan to guide future enhancement work. This proposed
project was identified during development of the South Scappoose
Restoration Plan (Restoration Plan). The results of the Restoration Plan
indicate that past land use impacts, including filling of historic
floodplains and secondary channels, straightening and realignment of the
channel, loss of riparian corridors, and floodplain constriction at road
crossings have profoundly altered the functions and values of South
Scappoose Creek. One of the primary recommendations to improve channel
and floodplain function on South Scappoose Creek is to increase the
frequency with which high flow accesses overbank areas by creating
and/or expanding floodplain area and complexity. The proposed technical
assistance project on the Conard Property seeks to address both the
issue of a functional alluvial fan at the site as well as the influx of
fine sediment inputs at the confluence of North and South Scappoose
Creeks. The project design will focus on reconnecting an existing side
channel; placing large wood to encourage pool formation and development
of complex aquatic habitat; and reducing sediment inputs from eroding
banks using bioengineering techniques and revegetation.

Willamette Riverkeeper:  Grant $50,000; Match $10,000

Project:  Bowers Rock Reconnection Project

Willamette Riverkeeper will meet with stakeholders, engineer a
reconnection plan to restore side channel, floodplains and wetlands, and
reach out to landowners interested in restoration on land adjacent to
Bowers Rock State Park.  Bowers Rock State Park lies along the
Willamette River near its confluence with the Calapooia River. An
abandoned gravel pit is located in the southwest corner of the park, and
man-made and natural embankments along the Willamette have disconnected
side channels, sloughs and alcoves, cutting-off year-round flow to the
park's floodplains. Willamette Riverkeeper is developing a hydraulic
model of the system using recent LiDAR and hydroacoustic data. The
completed model will show reconnection potentials within the park.
Outreach to stakeholders will determine the best balance between
reconnection/restoration, recreation and other activities at the site,
as well as connections between reconnection activities at the park and
on nearby public and private lands. With agreements from stakeholders in
place, Willamette Riverkeeper will proceed to engineer and permit the
project, which will increase the complexity of the Willamette by
returning side channels, alcoves, floodplains and wetlands to the river
system, restore natural hydraulic and riverine functions, provide
refugia and habitat to native salmonids, and increase habitat for native
terrestrial species and neo-tropical migratory birds. Integrated pest
management will remove invasive species and replace them with natives.
The project will also provide graduate students with educational
opportunities and provide long-term, scientifically-valid monitoring
data to help in engineering future reconnection projects.

Calapooia Watershed Council:  Grant $45,707; Match $21,250

Project:  Calapooia-Santiam Outreach for Restoration Implementation

Calapooia Watershed Council will work one-on-one with 15 landowners to
assist them in enrolling in and implementing a U.S. Farm Bill Program to
improve watershed health. The Calapooia Watershed Council will work with
10 landowners to begin design for in-stream projects and add capacity
and value to the current 3-watershed council regional recruitment
program to capture full restoration potential on high priority streams
beyond riparian buffers. The councils will recruit and assist landowners
in enrollment and implementation of landowner incentive programs
designed to conserve and improve natural resources. These programs have
great potential, but are currently under-utilized due to a lack of
landowner awareness and frustration when navigating the process. The
project will increase the awareness of farm bill program opportunities,
recruit landowners to participate in landowner incentive programs and
instream restoration projects, and assist them with implementation,
thereby resulting in 15 successful projects and 10 successful
preliminary designs for in-stream projects. By completing landowner
incentive programs, watershed health will be improved through removing
invasive weeds, establishing native vegetation, providing fish and
wildlife habitat, and improving water quality. By recruiting landowners
to do prioritized in-stream projects, the councils will be able to
create preliminary designs that address restoration needs and can be
used to secure permits and funding for project implementation. In-stream
projects will enhance and improve habitat and stream conditions for fish
and wildlife. 

For more information about the fund and how it started, click here
<http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/p2005/press_040405.shtml> .

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