Willamette Basin Conservation Project
Fact Sheet
February 7, 2003

Project Description

In 2002, the Meyer Memorial Trust awarded a grant to Oregon State University's new Institute for Natural Resources to implement the Willamette Basin Conservation Project. Over a two-year period, the project will deliver information produced by the Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research Consortium to a wide range of Willamette basin residents and community leaders interested in making good conservation decisions.

In short, the project will take science to the people. Findings from ongoing research studies will be organized so information can be used by people making decisions about natural resources in the basin. Information will be easily accessible through a Natural Resources Digital Library-the front door to a vast and growing collection of information about the Willamette Basin. The project will take this collected information to people in the basin through various workshops and town hall meetings to help local groups apply conservation and restoration strategies in their own local areas. The project will also increase access to incentives to encourage conservation on private land.

Project Need

The Willamette Basin is one of the most beautiful and productive regions of the world. Seven in ten Oregonians call the Willamette Basin their home. But that place of beauty and abundance may not endure. The ecosystem is changing-imperceptibly yet profoundly. The river still flows through the heart of the valley, but the water is not clean. Woodlands still dot the hillsides, but native species are dwindling. The number of people in the basin is expected to double in 50 years. This growth, and its accompanying economic and urban development, will put increasing pressure on water resources, sensitive habitats, endangered species, and Oregonians' prized quality of life.

Despite the efforts of many people and many programs, the health of the Willamette Basin environment is threatened by the combined effect of a thousand small wounds. The capacity to heal those wounds exists in scattered places throughout the basin. But scattered efforts will not be enough. Without good information and coordination, the gains made in one place can be cancelled out by losses elsewhere. Unless people see positive results from their efforts, many are reluctant to spend more time and energy on conservation.

Project Goal, Objectives and Results

GOAL: To create the capacity for people in the Willamette Basin to work together toward a more sustainable healthy environment by using new tools of research, communication, and decision-making.

Objective 1. Create a base of technical information to help people in the Willamette Basin make decisions about their environment
Objective 2. Provide people with easy access to that technical information through a Digital Library of natural resource information
Objective 3. Help communities and stakeholders use that information to plan and take action toward conservation in the Willamette Basin
Objective 4. Help people implement conservation activities by increasing access to incentives

Project results will include:

• Providing tools to groups-small and large, private and public-as they pursue environmental management and conservation actions.
• Identifying actions with the greatest possibility of improving the region's environmental health.
• Providing easy electronic access to information that is useful in answering questions about basin resources.
• Connecting basin-wide plans with actions made at local levels.
• Testing the usefulness of data and decision-making tools in focused pilot projects.
• Connecting people with incentives to increase the likelihood of conservation activities on private lands.

Project Sponsors, Roles and Contacts

The project builds on the expertise of the sponsors, all of which have extensive experience working in the Willamette Basin. Project sponsors include the OSU Institute for Natural Resources, the OSU Libraries, Defenders of Wildlife, the University of Oregon, and the Willamette Restoration Initiative. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is providing support with project planning, coordination, and implementation.

The Institute for Natural Resources

Gail Achterman, Director, Institute for Natural Resources
Gail.Achterman@oregonstate.edu
(541) 737-9918
The Institute for Natural Resources serves as the lead organization in administering this grant. Through its two programs (Policy Research and Information) at Oregon State University, the Institute coordinates the project's work plan. In addition to administrative oversight, the Institute provides research-based information and ongoing leadership to continue the work begun by this grant.

Oregon State University Libraries

Karyle Butcher, University Librarian
Karyle.Butcher@oregonstate.edu
(541) 737-7300
Oregon State University Libraries oversees development of a publicly accessible, web-based Natural Resources Digital Library, and assists people in using it to get the answers they need.

University of Oregon, Institute for a Sustainable Environment

David Hulse, Professor of Landscape Architecture
dhulse@darkwing.uoregon.edu
(541) 346-3672
Scientists from the University of Oregon, working with Professor Stan Gregory from Oregon State University, are developing web-based access tools and translating Willamette Basin data and information from the Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research Consortium for access through the Natural Resources Digital Library at OSU.

Willamette Restoration Initiative

Rick Bastasch, Executive Director
Richard_Bastasch@or.blm.gov
(503) 375-5718
The Willamette Restoration Initiative oversees stewardship engagement by meeting with people throughout the basin. In addition, WRI helps refine decision-making tools in one test area of the basin in order to develop a workable process that can be used in other areas to bring scientific information into public and private decisions.

Defenders of Wildlife

Sara Vickerman, Director, West Coast Office
svickerman@defenders.org
Andrew Bowman, Private Lands Conservation Counsel
abowman@defenders.org
(503) 697-3222
Defenders of Wildlife synthesizes and develops policy options and works with stakeholders and landowners to improve delivery of existing incentives and develop new programs to help conservation-minded landowners.