WRP Obsidian Preservation Project

Support from:
Mazamas Foundation
Mountaineers Foundation
National Forest Foundation
REI
McKenzie Ranger District, USFS
Phil King, Backcountry Horsemen of Oregon
Network Charter School
McKenzie High School

Walama Restoration Project is continuing Phase II of a community-driven seed collection and re-vegetation project at degraded campgrounds in a highly used Limited Entry Area of the Three Sisters Wilderness. This pioneering recovery project will expand stewardship efforts to sustain ecological diversity in the Obsidian Falls region of the Three Sisters Wilderness Area, and will act as a model program involving communities to reduce the human impacts of recreational uses in Wilderness Areas across the nation.

WRP is implementing the following goals for this project:

• To restore species composition, function and structure of the vegetation and enhance genetic diversity at two human-impacted campgrounds in the Obsidian Falls Region of the Three Sisters Wilderness Area in the Willamette National Forest of Oregon through partnerships with the McKenzie Ranger District, McKenzie School District, and regional volunteer organizations.
• To establish corridors between viable plant communities in Whitebranch Creek and Sunshine Meadows campsites and surrounding intact ecosystems by redirecting visitors to less-impacted areas within the Obsidian Falls region.
• To test and monitor feasibility of project’s success for use at degraded habitats in other Congressionally designated sub-alpine and alpine wilderness areas.

WRP began its partnership with the McKenzie Ranger District in July 2004 to initiate the preliminary steps towards monitoring and restoring both Whitebranch Creek and Sunshine Meadows campsites. WRP staff received private grant funding to work with the district botanist on preparing a seed collection protocol for the Obsidian Falls region. With approval from the McKenzie Ranger District Lead Wilderness Ranger, WRP botanists visited the region on four occasions to document timing and suitable habitats for collection. The baseline data targeted specific forb and graminoid species for collection, propagation, and transplanting in both campsites.

Project Partners

Our approach for 2005-06 was to find and collect suitable native species that will stabilize and restore the native plant communities historically present at both sites. WRP gained additional partners in our project in 2006. Middle and High School students from the Network Charter School (NCS), an alternative school for at risk youth, and Middle school students from McKenzie High School volunteered in cleaning and sowing seeds in plug trays in 2006. In September 2006, students joined WRP in taking cuttings and collecting seeds in the Obsidian Falls region. Participating students have never hiked that far into a wilderness area (or have even been to a wilderness area), and were empowered to take part in a restoration project at such a pristine and remote region. We brought students back to the Obsidian region in fall 2007 to transplant seedlings in the Whitebranch Creek campsite.
(maybe put hs students cleaning seeds here)

WRP has additionally collaborated with the McKenzie Ranger District and the Back Country Horsemen of Oregon. The McKenzie Ranger District has agreed to provide support in material/equipment costs for the project through 2008. The McKenzie Ranger District has also committed to install a sign at the Obsidian Trailhead explaining the campsite restoration project, and bigger temporary signs at the campsites to discourage trail users from using the campsites. The Back Country Horsemen of Oregon graciously horse-packed our seedling trays up to the restoration sites in the fall.

We expect the documented success of this project, along with community support and youth participation, will aid in expanding the recovery of impacted campsites and trail systems within the Three Sisters Wilderness.