Restoring Oak Habitats in Southern Oregon and North California: A Guide for Private Landowners
For time immemorial, the oak ecosystems of southwestern Oregon and northern California have been stewarded by Indigenous peoples. Over the past century, oak-prairie ecosystems have experienced dramatic loss and degradation. An exciting opportunity exists for landowners and conservation partners to work together to restore native oak systems and their diverse wildlife communities. Private landowners own and manage roughly 60% of the land area of the United States.
These private lands sustain native wildlife populations while also benefiting landowners and society. In the western United States, private lands are especially important for the conservation of oak habitats.
This landowner guide describes how to apply conservation practices for Oregon white oak and California black oak habitats on private lands in southwestern Oregon and northern California. The document discusses the importance and history of oak habitats across three ecoregions and then provides detailed conservation guidelines for oak habitat restoration. Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge is woven throughout the document.
Also, the guide includes supplemental resources for the restoration-minded private landowner, including a list of organizations that will assist with private lands restoration as well as step-by-step instructions for monitoring birds on your land to track the return of wildlife following oak restoration activities.
What’s New
- Indigenous stewardship of oak ecocultural systems.
- The expansion of the geographic scope into the Umpqua Basin with the addition of the Umpqua Oak Partnership.
