The loss of annual natural mechanisms to maintain ruderal grassland habitat in the Willamette Valley has been a primary factor in the decline and listing of the Streaked Horned Lark as a Threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Extensive efforts to integrate lark conservation and recovery with other land uses have been unsuccessful (e.g., farming) or with limited success (e.g., vernal pools in prairie restoration) due to limited overlap of desired habitat conditions and land management that threatens lark productivity during the breeding season. The alternative to ensure annual representation of the ruderal grassland ecosystem and to meet objectives in the Draft Recovery Plan is the establishment of permanent Lark Reserves where ruderal grassland conditions can be maintained mechanically or manually through control of ground cover and vegetation growth. Just as restoration and establishment of wet prairie and upland prairie ecosystems has been a conservation priority, there is both an ecological and a listed species recovery priority to establish and maintain ruderal grasslands and Lark Reserves across the landscape of the Willamette Valley.
Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership
Providing coordination for the technical prairie community in the Willamette Valley, Puget Trough, Georgia Basin (WPG) ecoregion and beyond.