Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696591241525.pdf (United States)
The Table Rocks Oak limate !daptation Project RESTORING LO!L O!K WOODL!NDS IN !
H!NGING LIM!TE The Table Rocks Oak limate !daptation Project is part of a landscape scale collaborative effort to restore declining oak ecosystems and increase their resiliency to climate change in the Rogue asin; Oak ecosystems exist in only a small percentage of their historic distribution and oak associ- ated plant and animal species are at risk; This project will implement restoration activities to protect existing oak woodlands and reverse the de- cline of species that depend on oak habitat; !
DIS!PPE!RING H!IT!T More than 90% of pre‐settlement oak habitats have already been cleared to make way for farms, urban areas, and other human developments; In remaining oak habitats, ac- tive fire suppression has resulted in stands that are greatly overstocked, reducing habitat quality, building fuel loads, and increasing the risk of high-intensity wildfire; Major threats to oak habitat quantity and quality include:  onifer encroachment  Land use conversion  Loss of habitat structure  limate change  Exotic invasive species Predicted effects of climate change, including warmer temperatures, drier summers, and in - creased likelihood of drought and summer wild - fire, threaten oak habitats.
RESTOR!TION OJETIVES y incorporating climate adaptation strategies into restoration planning, this project is designed to:  Reduce existing threats, including wildfire, to oaks and associated plant communities;  Protect and promote oak habitat and its con- nectivity for oak associated wildlife;  Increase the potential for oak ecosystems to withstand the likely effects of climate change; WH!T TO EXPET On-the-ground operations began in February, 2015 and will conclude in early !pril, 2015; Work will commence again in the fall of 2015 and operate seasonally until 2019; During operations, visitors may hear chainsaw noise and encounter smoke; *No trails will be closed at this time; Restoration activities will take place on either Upper or Lower Table Rock at any given time; When work is in proximity to the trail, signs will be posted to ad- vise visitors to use the other Table Rocks trail if they prefer to avoid operations; TRE!TMENT !TIVITIES Mitigation and restoration practices will be imple- mented on 1,200 acres of public and private land at the Table Rocks; These include:  Ecological thinning of encroaching trees and shrubs, mainly around large white and black oak trees  Invasive species removal  Prescribed fire/ontrolled burning  Native grass seeding  Vegetation and wildlife monitoring limate models suggest that oak habitat will persist on the Table Rocks- with the removal of other threats we are restoring habitat in an area where it will be favored in the future.
MONITORING Working together, Lomakatsi, The Nature onservancy and Klamath ird Observatory are using science-based monitoring methods to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments to achieve oak habitat conservation goals; This includes:  Vegetation Monitoring – measuring tree density, shrub cover, level of encroachment  Wildlife Monitoring - measuring change in bird populations P!RTNERING TO PROTET O!K H!IT!T Support for this project was secured by Lomakatsi through a grant from the Wildlife onservation Society’s limate !daptation Fund (established by support from the Doris Duke Foundation); Funding is also being provided by Lomakatsi Restoration Project, ureau of Land Management, The Nature onservancy , US Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resource onservation Service and Klamath ird Observatory; !dditionally, supporting partners include the Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; Project partners are also working with Native !merican Tribes that have ancestral ties to the Table Rocks, including the ow reek and of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, onfederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde ommunity of Oregon, and onfederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon, to inform project design and treatment implementation; FOR MORE INFORM!TION Visit www;blm;gov/or/resources/recreation/tablerock/index;php www;lomakatsi;org/oak-habitat-restoration/ http://programs;wcs;org/northamerica/limate!daptationFund;aspx all LM: 541-618-2422 Lomakatsi: 541-488-0208 Photo Credits: Lomakatsi