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Forest Resistance and Resilience

Counties: Benton, Linn, Lane, Lincoln

Primary Resource Concern Addressed: Degraded plant condition - Plant structure and composition

Project Description
The forestland in the foothills of the Cascade Range and the Coast Range that ring the Willamette Valley has a limited capability for forest resistance and resilience to disturbance measures due to recent management that has reduced structure and complexity. These monoculture forests are particularly susceptible to risks for fire, insect pest and disease outbreak, and drought events that have severe effects that compromise the capability of the system to maintain or return to a functioning ecological state.  These risks are expected to be further elevated with projected climate variability over the next century.  This strategy will improve forest diversity that gains resistance and resilience to disturbance events, thus reducing the susceptibility to effects that impair the long-term function and lessen the ecosystem services provided by forests in priority areas of the Central Coast/Upper Willamette basins.

Conservation Practices Offered

  • Forest Stand Improvement (666)
  • Woody Residue Treatment (384)
  • Brush Management (314)
  • Herbaceous Weed Control (315)
  • Tree/Shrub Site Preparation (490)
  • Tree/Shrub Establishment (612)
  • Tree/Shrub Pruning (660)
  • Conservation Cover (327)
  • Forest Management Plan (106)
  • Forest Management Design and Implementation Activity (165)
  • Structures for Wildlife (649)
  • Wildlife Habitat Planting (420)

Project Partners

  • Oregon Department of Forestry
  • Oregon State University Extension
  • Watershed Councils
  • Oregon Small Woodlands Association

Application Questions
NRCS uses prioritization questions to evaluate applications for this initiative. See the list of workload prioritization questions on the Oregon EQIP page. Ranking questions below will also apply.

Ranking Questions

  1. Will habitats other than Douglas Fir production forests be improved by planting, creating gaps or creating snags?
  2. Will invasive species be removed and replaced with native species?
  3. Is the proposed project adjacent to other forest treatments that reduce stress, mortality or improves wildlife habitat?
  4. Will the proposed action reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire?
  5. Will flowering plants including forbs and shrubs be installed to improve pollinator habitat?