USFWS Baskett Butte Refuge
Baskett Slough NWR is located approximately 2 miles northwest of Rickreall, Oregon along Highway 22 and encompasses 2,492 acres of wetlands, agricultural fields, native prairie grasslands, oak woodlands, and mixed forest. Native prairies and oak habitats occur on approximately 500 acres of Baskett Slough NWR, primarily on Baskett Butte.
Willamette Valley upland prairie and oak savannah habitats are among the most threatened habitat types in North America. Once estimated to have covered over 500,000 acres in the Willamette Valley alone, they have since been reduced to less than 1% of their historic range. The remaining patches of upland prairie and oak savannah are geographically isolated from one another and subject to continued degradation through plant community succession (due in part to fire suppression), invasion of noxious weeds, and conversion to agricultural and residential uses. Baskett Butte includes some of the largest, high quality upland prairies remaining in the Willamette Valley.
Public access is permitted year round on the southern portion of Baskett Butte (trailhead is located on Coville Road). Representative examples of focal habitat types and management techniques may be observed along the Baskett Butte trail (approximately 1 mile long). Visitors are reminded to please stay on established trails and follow all refuge regulations (posted at trailhead).
Management Goals and Objectives:
- Maintain and enhance existing upland prairie and oak savannah habitats for the benefit of threatened and endangered species, rare plant communities, and declining grassland birds. Special management emphasis is placed upon the endangered Fender's blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi), threatened Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus sulphureus spp. Kincaidii), and endangered Willamette Valley daisy (Erigeron decumbens var. decumbens).
- Where appropriate, restore upland prairie and oak savannah habitats to meet recovery objectives for threatened and endangered species and improve connectivity between existing habitat remnants.
- Through active fuels management, permit the safe re-introduction of fire as the primary ecological process on the landscape.
- Control invasive plants (both non-native and native) and noxious weeds.
- Monitor and assess management/treatment efficacy and adapt as needed to improve habitat conditions for target species.
Methods:
Beginning in 2001, the Refuge began active management on Baskett Butte. Special emphasis has been placed upon restoring and enhancing upland prairie and oak savannah habitat remnants for the benefit of native wildlife and plant species. To date approximately 200 acres have been treated on Baskett Butte through various management actions including thinning encroaching woody vegetation (85 acres), mowing native prairies (80 acres), and prescribed burning (35 acres). Many of these prairie remnants have been mowed in successive years to maintain habitat quality. Additional areas have been experimentally treated with selective herbicide application utilizing mechanical and hand held weed 'wipers' to control tall oatgrass (Arrhenatherum elatius).
Treatments have been implemented by both Refuge staff and qualified contractors. All management actions are implemented during late summer and early fall after plant communities have set seed and senesced for the year and after ground nesting birds have fledged young to minimize impacts to native flora and fauna. Thinning operations are conducted by hand crews on the most sensitive prairie sites. Mowing and other mechanical treatments are implemented utilizing low impact, rubber-tracked skid steer loaders during the dry season to minimize soil compaction and disturbance. All equipment is cleaned prior to accessing native prairie remnants to prevent the importation of non-native plant materials. Project work implemented under contract is closely administered by Refuge staff.
Lessons Learned:
- No action is an action. Forest succession and non-native plants/noxious weeds will degrade and take over isolated prairie remnants in a relatively short period of time (can be as little as 10 years). Something as simple as late season mowing can help rejuvenate and enhance native grasslands for the benefit of many species.
- If present, focus resources on existing prairie remnants. Enhancing existing degraded remnants tends to be easier and yields more immediate returns than implementing 'from scratch' restoration (e.g. restoring former agricultural fields to prairie).
- Habitat enhancement and restoration requires patience. For instance, it may take several years of active management to successfully begin controlling tall oatgrass and other encroaching plants from a prairie remnant. Perpetual monitoring and management are required to maintain a healthy prairie habitat that supports native species.
- It is much more efficient and cost effective to deal with small patches of noxious weeds before they become widely distributed (e.g. Brachypodium sylvaticum, slender false brome).
- Mowing large stands of poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) may pose health problems for equipment operators. Options to prevent exposure include operating closed cab mowers and wearing appropriate personal protective equipment (i.e. rubber boots, coveralls, gloves, respirators, etc.).
- Significant site preparation may be required to permit the safe use of prescribed fire and meet resource management objectives. Special consideration should be given when burning occupied threatened and endangered species sites.
- Treat stumps with herbicide when thinning hardwood vegetation to prevent re-sprout.
- Preliminary monitoring of management practices on Baskett Butte (2001-2004) indicates a positive response from the prairie plant community (more vigorous, robust growth of native species) and Fender's blue butterflies. Fender's blue butterfly populations have increased from 223 (2001) to 1,368 (2004) (data courtesy of Paul Hammond, Oregon State University). These results may be attributed in part to favorable weather but seems to indicate that active management of Fender's blue butterfly habitat is playing a positive role as well.
Contact Information: More information about the Spencer Creek Biodiversity Reserve can be obtained in the Oak Restoration Database maintained by the Oregon Oak Communities Working Group (www.oregonoaks.org).
Acknowledgements: Project information and photos were contributed by Chris Seal, USFWS.
For additional information please contact the following:
Refuge Manager
Baskett Slough NWR
10995 Highway 22
Dallas, OR 97338
(503) 623-2749
Supervisory Wildlife Biologist
Willamette Valley NWR Complex
26208 Finley Refuge Road
Corvallis, OR 97333
(541) 757-7236
Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (Private Lands) Biologist
Willamette Valley NWR Complex
26208 Finley Refuge Road
Corvallis, OR 97333
(541) 757-7236