Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons^™

Project To Establish Growth & Mortality Rates Of Three Carex Species In Two Planting Types At Thomas Dairy Site, Tigard, Oregon, Ben Huffine

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Clean Water Services (CWS) currently increases the diversity of their wetland restoration projects using a plug planting method utilizing juvenile herbaceous plants. They have planted most of their projects using this method and plan to continue until a better one is discovered. According to the literature reviewed in this paper, juvenile plants are smaller and weaker than more mature plants and therefore have higher mortality rates. This paper is the culmination of work completed of phase 1 of this two-phase project. The objective of this project (both phases) was to design and establish a study that would test, in the …

An Examination Of Limiting Factors Of Chrysemys Picta Bellii (Western Painted Turtles) In The Lower Willamette River Basin, Oregon, James P. Holley

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Oregon’s two native freshwater turtle species, Chrysemys picta bellii (Western painted turtle) and Actinemys marmorata (Northwestern pond turtle), have seen significantly reduced population sizes since the founding of Portland in 1845, with estimates of up to 90% for A. marmorata. This project examined turtle nesting activity at 25 sites across a range of turtle populations and habitats around the Lower Willamette River Basin. All discovered turtle nesting activity was found in areas of high solar exposure. We found 93% of over 400 nest attempts to have been depredated across the 25 sites, well above most other reported rates. At …

Mangrove Enhancement As A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy In The Republic Of The Marshall Islands (Rmi): Potential Ecosystem Service Shifts Following Colonization, Andrew S. Harwood

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The ability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Pacific Island communities to adapt to the increasing sea-levels, storm surge, saltwater intrusion, and other threats posed by global climate change is critical to the survival of many of these local communities as well as their cultures (LivingIslands.org). One of the world’s most striking examples of a nation at great risk is the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) in the central Pacific Ocean. Due to a combination of factors, including the country’s extremely low elevation above sea-level (an average of 2 meters) and lack of adequate structures to provide safety …

Rock Creek Restoration Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Report, Daniel Bedell

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Stream restoration is widely used to rebuild habitat for native fisheries, but it is not well understood how current habitat reconstruction practices affect biological diversity. Citizen Science programs have potential to provide supplemental macroinvertebrate data for effectiveness monitoring of reach-scale restoration projects but variability in training, experience and collection methods can make interpretation difficult. The Clackamas Water Environment Services Watershed Health Education Program (WHEP) is an example of a Citizen Science-based program actively collecting biological data from restored streams. The purpose of this project was to use WHEP student-collected data to detect benthic macroinvertebrate community responses to stream restoration practices. …

The Blue Heron Wetland Restoration Project: Eradication Of Ludwigia Peploides Ssp. Montevidensis From The Blue Heron Wetlands Of Portland, Or, Alexander Staunch

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The Blue Heron Wetland Restoration Project (BHWRP) is an ongoing community driven effort to eradicate Ludwigia peploides ssp. montevidensis from a 3.5 acre ephemeral wetland in Portland, OR. Established in summer 2011 by the East Columbia Neighborhood Association (ECNA), the BHWRP consisted of an herbicide efficacy pilot study, widespread eradication effort, and establishment of a stewardship program. Ludwigia peploides ssp. montevidensis is an emerging threat to northwestern Oregon and the infestation within the Blue Heron Wetlands (BHW) represented one of the first known infestations of L. peploides ssp. montevidensis within the State of Oregon.

First observed within the BHW in …

Evidence-Based Decision Making In Coastal Oregon: Increasing The Effectiveness Of Policy And Management Decisions, Kaitlin Goldsmith

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Changing climatic conditions, demographics, and land uses are projected to alter the provisioning of ecosystem services in estuarine, coastal and nearshore marine ecosystems, necessitating mitigation and adaptation policies and management. The current paradigm of siloed research efforts occurring in parallel to, rather than in collaboration with, decision-makers will be insufficient for the rapid responses required to adapt to and mitigate for projected changing conditions in coastal areas. Here, I suggest a different paradigm: one where research begins by engaging decision-makers in the identification of priority research needs (biophysical, economic, and social), and in which researchers analyze and present data in …

Macroinvertebrate Community Analysis On Lower Hood River Before And During The Removal Of Powerdale Dam: A Baseline Study, Howard Jay Patterson

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Powerdale Dam was an 87-year-old hydroelectric complex on lower Hood River in northern Oregon which was decommissioned in 2010. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected in 2009, before the removal process began, and in 2010, near the end of the demolition project, at one site upstream and three sites downstream of the dam. Macroinvertebrate communities were analyzed using both multi-metric (Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity [B-IBI]) and multivariate (Predictive Assessment Tool for Oregon [PREDATOR]) approaches, as well as EPT and Functional Feeding Group (FFG) analysis. All analytical approaches indicated declines in habitat quality in 2010 relative to 2009, and showed increasing impairment …

Effects Of Tide Gate Replacement On Water Temperature In A Freshwater Slough In The Columbia River Estuary, Sara Ennis

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Dramatic declines in salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest have brought new attention to the importance of estuarine rearing habitats. Levees and tide gates used to convert estuarine wetlands into farmland have reduced available habitat by more than half of historical levels. Recent efforts to restore estuarine habitats include tide gate replacement, though this method has been poorly studied. As a key indicator of salmon habitat suitability, temperature was used to evaluate the effects of tide gate replacement in a tidally influenced freshwater slough in the Lower Columbia River estuary. Three tide gates in the largest slough on Tenasillahe Island …

The Mckee Preserve Management Options At Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Ashley Marie Edwards

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The McKee Preserve is a new conservation area at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, located on the southern Oregon coast. The Preserve is 250 acres in size and is made up of 13 different natural resource communities. One important resource is silvery phacelia (Phacelia argentea), which is a state threatened plant species and is a species of concern federally. The goal of this project was to perform plant inventories for silvery phacelia and kinnikinnick that will be used to establish a functional management plan for the Preserve. Other resources of interest to the Preserve have been included in the …

Urbanization And Its Relationship To Water Quality Within The Bronson Creek Watershed, Jason Cristopher Creech

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

A watershed analysis project was undertaken to investigate the impact of urbanization on the water quality with Bronson Creek; a small urban stream in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) have been established for several water quality parameters within the watershed.

Water quality data were collected at nine sampling along Bronson Creek by Clean Water Services, a local public utility charged with storm water management and water quality protection duties. Only seven water quality parameters were included in the analysis; they were 1) temperature, 2) total phosphorous, 3) ortho-phosphate, 4) ammonia, 5) total nitrogen, 6) …

Watershed Data Organization And Project Prioritization, Joshua Darling

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The Oregon Coastal Salmon Restoration Initiative (OCSRI) (1197) is the first of several documents that have come to be known as the Oregon Plan for Salmon and watersheds (OPSW). The OCSRI indicates that protection and restoration of salmonid stocks and improvement in water quality are the main roles for state agencies within the Oregon Plan (EO09-01: 1(b)). The Oregon Plan specifies particular actions that state agencies must take to aid in salmon recovery and also directs the Governors Watershed Enhancement Board (GWEB) to help create and organize watershed councils responsible for assessing conditions and determining priorities for watershed health. A …