Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
targeted investments in restoration could generate new economic opportunities for
the local workforce.
This public consensus in Wallowa County took shape as the local USFS field of-
fice capacity declined with budget and staff reductions. Extended analytical, plan-
ning, and consultative processes consumed scarce resources and demoralized the
agency and community. Management information pertaining to the public lands in
Wallowa County was outdated—with most watershed-specific information based on
aerial photos and stand exams conducted in the 1980s. Building on relationships
developed in small pilot restoration projects,
2
the NRAC outlined a plan for larger
landscape-scale restoration in 2000-2001. The approach targeted the significant de-
lays occurring locally in consultation associated with ESA and the National Environ-
mental Policy Act (NEPA) processes, which hampered the community's ability to re-
spond to critical forest health concerns and to support the transition to a restoration
and stewardship economy. The design sought resource and time efficiencies by scal-
ing up planning and management to a larger landscape scale—fifth-level watershed
over five-year cycles. This larger landscape scale was also deemed more appropriate
for evaluating critical ecological issues such as wildlife habitat (including riparian
areas, old growth, snags, and downed woody debris), corridors and fragmentation, for-
est stand structural diversity, threatened and endangered species, and invasive plants.
3
The NRAC decided that a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to estab-
lishing restoration project priorities and developing initial project proposals would en-
hance the current level of collaboration between citizens, local government, tribes,
and state and federal agencies. They wanted to generate agreement around the most
important places to initiate further restoration and land stewardship in Wallowa
County. In addition, they conscientiously sought to explore efficiencies in the federal
planning process, as well as implementation and monitoring that involved citizens
in the management of their public lands, by using a variety of contracting meth-
ods and agreements. The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners formally ap-
proved this new collaborative watershed planning and management process in Janu-
ary 2001.
Upper Joseph Creek Watershed Assessment
The Upper Joseph Creek watershed was selected as the first area to develop and test
this approach. The program was designed to achieve the following:
• Ensure that planning and collaborative relationship-building is done on a wa-
tershed basis (fifth-level watersheds) to facilitate cumulative effects analysis and
address management actions over multiyear cycles
• Improve the efficiency of consultation processes for NEPA and ESA
• Generate local benefits, including employment opportunities in all facets of
planning, analysis, implementation, and monitoring, as well as a sustainable
flow of forest products and recreational opportunities
• Maintain and enhance watershed conditions to provide a variety of long-term
benefits to the ecosystem
