The Nature Conservatory (TNC) Willamette Wildlife AcquisitionsCX(s) Applied: B1.25Date: 08/17/2010Location(s): Lane County, OregonOffice(s): Bonneville Power Administration
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
August 17, 2010
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CX(s) Applied: B1.25
Date: 08/17/2010
Location(s): Lane County, Oregon
Office(s): Bonneville Power Administration
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) proposes to fund the acquisition of the 1270-acreWildish property by the Conservancy. BPA will be granted a perpetual conservation easement over the entire property as a condition of funding the acquisition. The Wildish tract includes the confluence and lower reaches of the Coast and Middle Fork Willamette rivers and the surrounding floodplain habitat and upland oak woodlands, prairie and conifer forest habitats. By securing control to restore lowland riparian and upland habitats on the property the acquisition will benefit fish as well as valley and foothills wildlife. The property is located in an area identified as a priority area for fish and wildlife and, in combination with over 3000 acres of adjacent public land, acquisition of the Wildish tract will increase options for restoration of streamside gravels, alcoves and islands, and for changing flow regimes on the lower 6 miles of the Middle Fork of the Willamette. The property proposed for acquisition contains habitat that will provide BPA with credits for partial mitigation of wildlife habitat losses due to the construction and operation of the federal hydroelectric facilities on the Willamette River. The acquisition will provide long-lasting benefits as part of a growing network of conservation lands in the Willamette Valley by allowing wildlife access to native upland prairie, oak woodland and Douglas fir habitats.