|
The Upper Marys River Regional Conservation Planning Strategy (the Project) is a cooperative, voluntary approach to landscape-scale restoration and management that works across the ownership boundaries of many participating landowners. It takes place in the upper Marys River hills region, which is composed of a network of public and privately-owned parcels in an area of high biodiversity value. The Project is an effort spurred by a set of common goals generated by landowners and the watershed council, in the interests of protecting and restoring habitat and water resources in the region.
Developed by the Marys River Watershed Council, the Project will bring the Council and Benton County together with private and public landowners on a coordinated, landscape-scale conservation plan. This will be achieved by using state-of-the-art landscape analysis and community planning techniques that balance conservation of habitat with preservation of landowner lifestyles and values. It will further develop the concept of a “Livable County” by providing environmental protection, economic development, and community services for its citizens. The Project will serve as a replicable model for identifying areas of high biodiversity value throughout the county where private landowners can work voluntarily to preserve and enhance these features, without prescriptive measures by regulatory authorities. The lasting benefits of education and outreach about voluntary conservation management plans will provide momentum for future community efforts.
The Marys River Watershed Council has funding support from OWEB to develop the first phase of restoration projects in the upper Marys with eight participating landowners, collectively owning up to one square mile of landbase to the Project. The Governor’s designation of the Project as an Oregon Solutions project attracts additional resources as well as broader community outreach and support. The Project includes outreach to the Wren Community to ensure that the Wren Community Plan and its members adequately inform and participate in this effort. As a growing strategic partnership, Phase One of the Project will become the nucleus for future phases of the Project in adjacent properties, and sets up a voluntary trajectory for additional stewardship of important habitats and neighborhoods in Benton County, and beyond.
- Cardwell Hill Declaration of Cooperation May 19, 2006
 [pdf]
- "Scales of Opportunity: Bridging the Gap between Landscape-Scale Restoration Priorities and Site-Scale Projects," an excerpt of a PowerPoint presentation from the 2004 OWEB Annual Conference, 18 November 2004 [pdf, 3.5mb]
- "Cardwell Hill Regional Conservation Planning Strategy," Josh Cerra presentation September 23, 2005 [pdf, 3.5mb]
- "A Habitat Conservation Strategy for Benton County," by Tom Kaye, Institute for Applied Ecology, April 13, 2006 [pdf, 3.5mb]
- "A Collaborative Landscape Partnership," by Josh Cerra, David Evans and Associates, April 13, 2006 [pdf, 3.5mb]
- "Restoring Wren," by
Kyle Odegard, 2005 May 15, Corvallis Gazette-Times article [link]
|
;){kind=small}