Institute For Applied Ecology

CONSERVES NATIVE SPECIES AND HABITATS THROUGH RESTORATIONS, RESEARCH, AND EDUCATION

CONSERVATION RESEARCH: OUR EFFORTS TO RESEARCH, MONITOR AND REINTRODUCE ENDANGERED SPECIES INTO RESTORED HABITATS IN WESTERN OREGON HAS MANY SUCCESSES. WE HAVE ESTABLISHED NEW POPULATIONS OF GOLDEN PAINTBRUSH, KINCAID'S LUPINE, NELSON'S CHECKERMALLOW, BRADSHAW'S LOMATIUM, AND WILLAMETTE DAISY. ALL OF THESE SPECIES WERE ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION, BUT DUE TO OUR EFFORTS AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, ARE NOW BECOMING MORE COMMON ON THE LANDSCAPE. THEY ALSO NOW GROW IN PLACES WHERE LOCAL PEOPLE IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES CAN SEE AND INTERACT WITH THEM REGULARLY, A SEA CHANGE FOR CONSERVATION! PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENT NUMBERS: FOR THE SIXTH YEAR, COORDINATED RANGE-WIDE MONITORING FOR FENDER'S BLUE BUTTERFLY, WITH SURVEYS AT 99 SITES, (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)TRACKING IMPORTANT TRENDS IN THIS ENDANGERED SPECIES POPULATION. COLLECTED AND ANALYZED DATA FOR A SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO PROJECT INVESTIGATING THE USE OF NATIVE. PLANTS TO REDUCE WIND EROSION AND DANGEROUS DUST STORMS. 450,000 ACRES OF TIDAL WETLAND HABITATS MAPPED IN 9 U.S. ESTUARIES AS PART OF THE HITIDER PROJECT LED BY THE ELKHORN SLOUGH NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE 3400 ACRES SURVEYED FOR THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES IN IDAHO COLLECTED AND ANALYZED DATA FOR A SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO PROJECT INVESTIGATING THE USE OF NATIVEPLANTS TO REDUCE WIND EROSION AND DANGEROUS DUST STORMS.

HABITAT RESTORATION: FOR OVER 20 YEARS, IAE'S MISSION HAS INCLUDED RESTORING RESILIENT ECOSYSTEMS. WE'VE LEARNED THAT TO INCREASE HABITAT RESTORATION IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY AND NEW MEXICO AN INCREASE IN THE AVAILABILITY OF NATIVE SEEDS AND PLANTS IS NEEDED. WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED MUCH BY SUPPORTING THREE REGIONAL SEED PARTNERSHIPS AND DEVELOPING A NATIVE PLANT FARM. THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY NATIVE PLANT PARTNERSHIP (WVNPP), STAFFED BY IAE AND FUNDED IN PART BY THE OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD, HAS OVER 30 PUBLIC, PRIVATE, AND NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AS MEMBERS, INCLUDING WATERSHED COUNCILS, SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATIONS DISTRICTS, LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, PRIVATE LAND TRUSTS, COMMERCIAL GROWERS, AND STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)THIS YEAR WE'VE SUCCESSFULLY PROPAGATED, RAISED AND HARVESTED SEED FROM NINE NATIVE PLANT SPECIES, TWO OF WHICH ARE ENDANGERED, ON OUR NATIVE PLANT FARM AT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENT NUMBERS: 59 SITES IN RESTORATION IN OREGON, 1,226 ACRES IN ACTIVE RESTORATION 2.75 ACRES IN SEED PRODUCTION AT IAE FARM 477 POUNDS OF SEED PRODUCED AT IAE FARM, 667 POUNDS PRODUCED BY GROWERS CONTRACTED BY IAE 10.6 POUNDS WILD SEED COLLECTED FROM 60 SPECIES 6,396 PLUGS GROWN OF THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES 1,471 POUNDS OF SEED DISTRIBUTED TO PARTNERS FOR USE IN RESTORATION PROJECTS. 32.5 POUNDS OF THREATENED AND ENDANGERED PLANT SEEDS PLANTED 10,192 NATIVE PLANT PLUGS AND BULBS OUT-PLANTED 8 TYPES OF OREGON HABITATS RESTORED 429 VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY HOURS LOGGED IMPLEMENTED HABITAT RESTORATION AND COMPLETED A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH PROJECT TO ATTRACTSTREAKED HORNED LARKS, A THREATENED SPECIES, TO NEST AT HERBERT FARM AND NATURAL AREA NEARCORVALLIS, OREGON.

ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION: THE DECLINE IN HUMAN CONNECTION WITH NATURE IS FOUND ESPECIALLY IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES WITHIN OUR REGION, INCLUDING INCARCERATED PEOPLE WHO NUMBER OVER 15,000 IN OREGON AND 2.3 MILLION NATIONWIDE. THIS NATURE DEFICIT LEADS TO LOWER HUMAN HEALTH, HIGHER INCIDENTS OF VIOLENCE, AND REDUCED SENSE OF WELL-BEING. FURTHERMORE, THERE IS OFTEN A DISCONNECT BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONALS AND THE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES THAT LIVE IN THE REGION WHERE RESTORATIONS TAKE PLACE. THIS ISOLATION EXCLUDES VALUABLE INSIGHTS FROM PROJECTS AND REDUCES OWNERSHIP OF HABITAT RESTORATIONS BY DIVERSE COMMUNITIES. INCARCERATED PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES OF DIVERSITY ARE PARTICULARLY DEPRIVED OF OPPORTUNITIES TO INTERACT WITH ECOSYSTEMS AS WELL AS IN ENVIRONMENTAL FIELDS. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)ONE PROJECT OF OUR ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM, SAGEBRUSH IN PRISONS, DEEPLY ENGAGES PRISON INMATES IN HABITAT CONSERVATION BY GIVING THEM VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN NATIVE PLANT NURSERY MANAGEMENT AND A LECTURE SERIES IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE. THESE INCARCERATED ADULTS ARE HEALING THEIR ENVIRONMENT, THEIR COMMUNITIES, AND THEMSELVES.PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENT NUMBERS: 506,300 SAGEBRUSH PLANTS GROWN BY ADULTS IN CUSTODY IN 10 PRISONS IN FIVE STATES TO RESTORE GREATER SAGE-GROUSE HABITAT IMPACTED BY FIRE. SHARED ECOLOGY AND MIGRATORY BIRD LESSONS CONTINUED DURING REMOTE LEARNING IN 5 K-12 SCHOOLS INGUANAJUATO, MEXICO, AND 4 IN OREGON IN THE WILLAMETTE-LAJA AVES COMPARTIDAS PROJECT. PROVIDED PLACE-BASED SUMMER EDUCATION AND FOREST IMMERSION PROGRAMS FOR MIDDLE AND HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS IN NORTH-CENTRAL NEW MEXICO, DESPITE THE PANDEMIC. 130 ADULTS IN CUSTODY ENGAGED IN ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION. 366 HS STUDENTS IN JUVENILE DETENTION PROVIDED LESSONS 2X MONTH. COLLABORATIVELY DEVELOPED FOREST BOUND WITH PUEBLO OF POJOAQUE TO SERVE 34 YOUTH AND ELDERS.

THE INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED ECOLOGY (IAE) IS A NON-PROFIT 501 (C) (3) ORGANIZATION WHOSE VISION IS A WORLD WHERE ALL PEOPLE AND WILDLANDS ARE HEALTHY AND INTERACT POSITIVELY, BIOLOGICALLY DIVERSITY FLOURISHES, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES ARE MET WITH A SOCIAL COMMITMENT TO SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH SCIENCE. OUR MISSION IS CONSERVING NATIVE SPECIES AND HABITATS THROUGH RESTORATION, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION. WE PARTNER WITH AND SERVE A DIVERSITY OF GROUPS ACROSS OREGON AND THE WESTERN US, INCLUDING GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS AND NONPROFITS, PRISONS, JUVENILE DETENTION FACILITIES, K-12 SCHOOLS, ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS, TRIBES AND PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. OUR PROJECTS WORK ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, WITH OUR MAIN OFFICE IN OREGON AND AN OFFICE IN NEW MEXICO. OUR STRATEGIC PLAN LAYS OUT THREE PROGRAMMING GOALS: RESTORING RESILIENT ECOSYSTEMS, CONSERVING SPECIES, AND CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH NATURE. WE PRESENT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT FROM EACH IN THE SECTIONS ABOVE.