This study was conducted to support the objectives of the East Cascade Oak Partnership (ECOP) as it develops effective conservation strategies to cooperatively manage Oregon white oak woodland in the study area. The present preliminary report provides a historical overview of the area from initial European contact and exploration through the period of early Euro-American settlement at the end of the nineteenth century. It seeks to provide a better understanding of the diverse cultures and land-use values associated with the study area during this approximately one hundred year period, and to identify the most salient environmental impacts that may have affected oaks and oak habitat within it. Based on this overview, several proposals for more fine-grained studies of historic activities affecting oak habitat are presented. These would constitute the next phase of research if this project continues. At the end of this report, a preliminary survey of primary documents supporting these research proposals is included as appendices. These are useful in their own right, but their inclusion is intended primarily to serve as an example of how subsequent research will proceed.
Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership
Providing coordination for the technical prairie community in the Willamette Valley, Puget Trough, Georgia Basin (WPG) ecoregion and beyond.