Land Stewardship and Restoration in the Willamette Valley, Oregon

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (Corps) intends to award a cooperative agreement for land stewardship and restoration services on Corps lands in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. This agreement will assist the Corps in fulfilling environmental stewardship responsibilities that include restoration and management of native prairie landscapes and wildlife habitat at Corps Projects while providing guidance and training to at –risk youth in the community. The recipient of the cooperative agreement will gain experience with project planning, development, and implementation. Work will mainly focus on land stewardship, prairie and habitat restoration, and nursery and greenhouse maintenance at Fern Ridge, though it may include additional activities at other projects. The Corps will provide a work site for the recipient to practice stewardship and restoration as well as ecological education and study; daily interactions with leaders and crew regarding work purposes and methods; guidance in the form of educational presentations; and advice and final approval for restoration activities. The cooperative agreement will be awarded pursuant to 33 USC 2339(a) – Assistance Programs. A Cooperative Agreement may be implemented under this provision for stewardship activities at Willamette Valley Projects such as removal of invasive species, habitat restoration, and work in the plant nursery and greenhouse facilities. The activities will combine environmental education and job skills training for the recipient at water resources development projects. The preferred partner for this cooperative agreement is an organization that serves at-risk youth in the community and has experience in land stewardship and restoration, with small crews supervised by experienced crew leaders so that ecological concepts can be accurately conveyed to crew and leaders. Work sites are often within endangered species habitat, and restoration of these sites requires precision and to eliminate negative impacts to endangered species. Many of these restoration projects involve skilled and careful precision when outplanting, sowing or propagating native plants and are not characterized by the intense manual labor clearing invasive species that is accomplished using other crews.