Oak and Prairie

Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network Ecological Monitoring Plan, the overarching goals of this monitoring plan are to work in partnership to acquire, curate, analyze, and distribute data needed to transparently evaluate performance toward achieving the outputs and outcomes identified in the KSON Strategic Action Plan (SAP).

The KSON Oak Restoration Planning Web Map is designed to be a tool that can be used to explore oak distribution across the KSON geography in Southern Oregon and Northern California, as well as other information relevant to oak restoration planning.

The Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON) is a regional collaboration between local agencies, tribes, and non-profit organizations that works to conserve oak ecosystems on private and public lands in southern Oregon and northern California. Since 2011, KSON partners have accomplished thousands of acres of strategic ecological restoration to enhance oak habitat, build climate resilience, bolster cultural resources, and reduce wildfire risk to the ecosystem and communities. This handout highlights the power of collaboration and a decade-plus of successful oak habitat restoration.

KSON’s Strategic Action Plan (SAP), completed in 2020, serves as a road map for achieving continued and accelerated oak woodland conservation across the Bioregion for the benefit of all native species associated with deciduous oak (e.g., Oregon White Oak and California Black Oak) ecosystems within the KSON Geography.

The Klamath Siskiyou Oak Network (KSON) applies an adaptive management approach to oak restoration implementation. The restoration discussed in this case study was in an oak woodland mosaic, unique to Southern Oregon, and includes patches of chaparral. Chaparral is a natural part of oak habitats, but it also poses a risk of spreading severe fire which can put large, old oak trees at risk. Because oak woodlands are threatened by loss and degradation, management initiatives sometimes reduce chaparral to reduce the risk of high-severity fires and promote a mix of low to moderate-severity fires. Restoring and managing oak woodland ecosystems in the Klamath-Siskiyou bioregion requires learning how best to achieve a balanced vegetation composition that includes chaparral habitat components.

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.

This document has been prepared to stimulate and support an active approach to conservation of landbirds in prairie, oak, and riparian habitats of Western Oregon and Washington.

OakBirdPop is an interactive tool to inform land managers and others in the Pacific Northwest in the planning and implementation of oak habitat management and restoration actions.

Prairie, Oaks, and People—A Conservation Business Plan to Revitalize the Prairie-Oak Habitats of the Pacific Northwest outlines the case for long-term investments that will restore a signature feature of the region’s historic landscape. A broad coalition of partners created the new conservation strategy to help conserve oak woodlands and native prairies from northern California to British Columbia.

Land Manager’s Guide to Bird Habitat and Populations in Oak Ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest provides an overview of oak ecosystems and discusses threats to these environments with focus on the habitat relationships between birds and oak habitats.