Columbia Basin Projects
Boardman Grasslands
Wanaket Wildlife
Area
Boardman Grasslands
 Location:
20 miles southeast of Boardman (Morrow and Gilliam counties).
Project: Protect and restore almost 23,000 acres of grassland
and sagebrush steppe, part of last large block of native habitat
on the Umatilla Plateau.
Partners: The Nature Conservancy,
Threemile Canyon Farms, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
WaterWatch, Defenders of Wildlife, others.
Comments: The Nature Conservancy
took over management of 22,642 acres of the former Boeing
lease lands in 2001 and has begun developing long-term management
and restoration plans for the property. Part of a 93,000-acre
block the state of Oregon leased to the Boeing Co. in 1963,
the new conservation area is the result of an agreement that
settled more than five years of controversy and litigation
over plans for some of the last undeveloped native grasslands
on the arid plateau south of the Columbia River. The protected
area provides critical habitat for the Washington ground squirrel,
listed as endangered under the state Endangered Species Act,
and a number of at-risk grassland birds, including ferruginous
hawk, loggerhead shrike, and sage sparrow. Together with the
U.S. Navy’s adjacent Boardman Bombing Range, the area
supports some of the highest densities of breeding long-billed
curlews in the world. The site also includes at least seven
globally rare plant communities, some of the last remnants
of the grasslands and shrub steppe that are now reduced to
a few islands among the wheatfields and irrigated croplands
of the Umatilla Plateau. Under the settlement negotiated by
WaterWatch, Defenders of Wildlife and other environmental
interests, Threemile Canyon Farms agreed to transfer management
of the conservation area to The Nature Conservancy under a
40-year lease and provide $130,000 per year for management.
The conservancy hopes to acquire full fee title to the conservation
area after Threemile Canyon Farms completes its purchase of
the entire block of leased lands from the state. The Nature
Conservancy also manages an additional 4,750 acres on the
Boardman Bombing Range, bringing the total area under protection
to almost 43 square miles.
Contact: Steve Buttrick, The Nature
Conservancy, 821 SE 14th Street, Portland OR 97214; 503-230-1221;sbuttrick@tnc.org
 Location:
Off Highway 730, east of Umatilla between the Port of Umatilla
and Hat Rock State Park.
Size: 2817 acres
Manager: Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation
Project: Established just seven years
ago, the Wanaket Wildlife Area is an oasis of valuable open
water and marsh habitat for migratory birds crossing the dryland
farms of the Columbia Basin. Known as the McNary Potholes,
the area includes numerous small ponds and seasonal marshes
that provide habitat for a diversity of wildlife. The former
Conforth Ranch had been overgrazed for years, and noxious
weeds had replaced native bunchgrasses. Bonneville Power Administration
acquired the property in 1993 as part of its wildlife habitat
mitigation program.
Restoration work has included installation of
fish screens, water control structures, and an upgrade of
the irrigation system, allowing managers to manipulate water
levels for wildlife. With the assistance of the Oregon Duck
Hunters Association, future plans include removing more than
20 acres of Russian olive trees that have invaded areas along
irrigation canals, and reestablishing native cottonwoods and
willows. Managers also plan to add to the system of canals
to link the potholes and create additional wetlands habitat.
Benefits: Breeding habitat for numerous
species of waterfowl, shorebirds, songbirds, and amphibians.
A crucial early spring staging area for migratory waterfowl
and shorebirds. Western painted turtles are common. Bald eagles
are frequently observed hunting on the wetlands complex in
winter. Burrowing owls nest and rear young on the property
annually.
Partners: Umatilla Tribes, Bonneville
Power Administration, Oregon Duck Hunters Association, Ducks
Unlimited, Pheasants Forever.
Contact: Eric Quaempts, Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Box 638, Pendleton,
OR 97801; 541-278-7621; ericquaempts@ctuir.com.
Back to Top
Updated
November 14, 2002
|
