Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area: Draft Climate Change Action Plan
The Columbia River Gorge Commission is preparing to release its first Draft Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), a guide to climate change adaptation and mitigation action in the National Scenic Area. Developed with input from a variety of agencies, organizations, tribes, and the public, the Draft CCAP lays out actions and outcomes for building resilience and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the Commission’s land use role. Actions center around eight priorities: cold water refuge streams, wetlands, Tribal Treaty rights, Oregon white oak woodlands and winter range, regional transportation, electric-vehicle infrastructure, carbon storage in habitats and working lands, and fire risk.

Watch this presentation by Lisa Naas Cook and Jessica Olson, planners with the Columbia River Gorge Commission, to learn about the Draft CCAP and discuss shared priorities for climate action in the Hood River Watershed.

Watch a recording of the “Fish Habitat Restoration on the West Fork Hood River” here.

This past summer’s fish habitat project on the West Fork Hood River near Red Hill Creek improved a quarter-mile of the river and reconnected roughly one thousand feet of historic side channels to improve spawning and rearing habitat for threatened spring Chinook salmon and summer steelhead. Brian Bair, with the USFS Enterprise Program, and Cindy Thieman, HRWG Coordinator, give a virtual tour of the project. Brian also shares lessons learned from large wood placement projects over the past thirty years, which influenced the design and construction of this project. Funding for this project was provided by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Watch a recording of the Neal Creek Phase 1 Habitat Restoration Project presentation.

Neal Creek is an important clearwater (non-glacial) tributary to the lower Hood River, which provides habitat for threatened winter steelhead, threatened coho salmon, cutthroat trout, and resident rainbow trout. Over the past 100 years, numerous human activities have altered the Neal Creek Watershed through logging practices, relocating stream channels, and placing roads and buildings in its floodplain. This has resulted in stream channels with fewer pools, less spawning gravel and instream wood, and reduced side channel habitat. Fortunately, there are opportunities to restore sections of Neal Creek to provide better fish habitat and aid in the recovery of steelhead and coho.

The Hood River Watershed Group, in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and private landowners, has been developing a series of restoration projects along Neal Creek that aim to restore the ecological processes of the Neal Creek Watershed and ensure the health and viability of ESA-listed salmonid populations with the improvement of spawning, rearing, and overwintering habitat. The first phase of this work was completed in August of 2021 and restored approximately 1/2 mile and two acres of habitat by constructing six log jams, creating 14 pools, and adding over 100 logs back into Neal Creek.

The project was funded by the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and Pacific Power Blue Sky Habitat Funds/The Freshwater Trust, and was designed by Parr Excellence. Alix Danielsen, the Hood River Watershed Group Restoration Project Manager, and Bill Norris, the project engineer with Parr Excellence, will provide an overview of the project and discuss future work planned along Neal Creek.

View a recording of Lindsay Cornelius’ “The Oregon White Oak: A Survivor and a Savior” presentation from June 22nd.

Oregon white oak are abundant in our region, perceived by many to be prolific, unattractive, weedy, and indestructible. In fact, Oregon white oak habitat across its entire extent has diminished by nearly 97% since European settlement – and we are the stewards of what remains. Oak systems are one of the most biodiverse, climate resilient habitats in our region. They are fire resistant and provide important benefits to the people who live here.

More than 200 individuals from agencies, nations, businesses, organizations, and the general public volunteered thousands of hours over the last three years interviewing stakeholders, learning from presenters, mapping and modeling oak systems, and testing logic models to create a strategic action plan for oak conservation that the East Cascades Oak Partnership (ECOP) will work to implement over the next decade. Lindsay Cornelius, Columbia Land Trust Natural Area Manager and the Manager of the East Cascades Oak Partnership, shares the story of Oregon white oak in the East Cascades, including important insights on the value of oak systems and how the East Cascades Oak Partnership can help each of us advance oak conservation in a meaningful way.