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Direct seeding wheat, cherries and Mt. Hood in the
background. Photo courtesy of Dusty Eddy, Wasco County SWCD. |
Wasco County has an area of 2,392 square miles, or 1.5 million acres of which
902,669 acres or 59% of the county is privately owned and 387,113 acres are
Tribal lands or 25% of the county. Public land makes up 13% with the USDA Forest
Service managing 177,888 acres of land or 12% of the county. The rest of the
public land is managed by USDI Bureau of Land Management, United States Corps of
Engineers, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Bonneville Power
Administration. There are about 236,435 ac of crop land with about 24,311 acres
irrigated. The dryland cropland is mostly devoted to small grains. Much of the
irrigated land is used to produce high value crops including cherries, apples,
peaches, blueberries and grapes. Private forestland makes up about 20,000 acres
and the remainder of the private acres are dryland cropland and rangeland. Wasco
County ranks 13th for gross farm and ranch sales in Oregon at 89.7 million
dollars. Wasco county ranks 5th for wheat production in Oregon.
NRCS Local Conservation Activities and Strategies
The priority major resource concerns identified by the local conservation
partnership include:
- Soil Erosion
- Water Quantity and Water Quality
- Rangeland Health
- Forestland Health
Existing Conservation Implementation Strategies (CIS) geared towards
improving irrigated cropland are being utilized. Crop producers and citizens of
the county are willing to participate in water quantity and quality effort as
water conservation and adequate water quality and quantity is essential to
everyone. Success will be measured by feedback from the local irrigation
districts, water quality assessments, watershed councils and the number of
irrigation systems updated for efficiency.
Landowners countywide are willing to participate in this rangeland health
effort as invasive species diminish the grazing capability, decrease stream
quality, and destroy wildlife habitat. Success will be measured by anecdotal
evidence from the landowner and the number of applied acres of practices
expected to improve rangeland health. An existing CIS is in place for treatment
of Juniper in the Antelope Creek Watershed
Work is underway to develop a CIS for forestland Health. Forestland owners
countywide are willing to participate in an effort to improve forestland health
as the decreased forest health conditions create a high risk of catastrophic
wildfires. Success will be measured by the number of applied acres of practices
expected to improve forest health and feedback from landowners, Oregon
Department of Forestry, and NRCS foresters.
NRCS Programs Available
Additional Conservation Resources Available
Conservation agencies in the region are very cooperative and routinely work
together with private landowners to accomplish resource enhancement projects.
The following agencies provide assistance in planning, funding or implementing
conservation and restoration projects:
- Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District
- Oregon State University-County Extension Service
- Oregon Department of Agriculture
- Oregon Department of Forestry
- Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
- Bureau of Land Management
- WyEast RC&D
- Northern Wasco County PUD
- Wasco Electric Coop
- Bonneville Power Association
Local Work Group Updates
Seven
Neighborhood meetings were held during in February 2012 throughout the county.
At these meetings, the producers were given an opportunity to comment on
existing and future treatment of resource concerns. The result of this input
supports the SWCD prioritization of resource concerns. Please refer to
http://www.wascoswcd.org/ for the most
up to date list of priority resource concerns.
The Wasco County Local Work Group meets to discuss natural resource priorities
and provide input to NRCS on conservation programs. If you are interested in
participating, please contact the NRCS District Conservationist listed below.
For meeting information, please
click here.
Success Stories
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Mike Omeg climbs up the tall ladder and quietly peers in the top of
an owl box. The fifth generation farmer is trying to encourage barn owls
to take up residence in the 50 nesting boxes Mike has built and
installed around his cherry orchards. The owls are a low impact method
to manage rodent damage: one family of barn owls is likely to consume
3,000 gophers each year.
More (HTML)...
Download a
printable copy (PDF 1.09MB)
Key Words:
AWEP, irrigation management, wildlife
management, Deschutes
Basin |
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A new technique in irrigation management is bringing impressive
results to this fruit-growing region along the Columbia River in Central
Oregon thanks to a program of USDA-Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) known as the Cooperative Conservation Partnership
Initiative (CCPI). The program is helping farmers help the land through
the formation of partnerships, including one with Bonneville Power
Administration (BPA). Matching funds from BPA and other natural-resource
partners have leveraged the impact of the USDA-NRCS program, and
resulted in the installation of Scientific Irrigation Scheduling (SIS)
on 3,100 acres in The Dalles area, which has saved precious water and
energy. More (HTML)...
Download a
printable copy (PDF 1.38MB)
Key Words:
CCPI, irrigation management, Deschutes
Basin |
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The Dalles, Oregon is the Sweet Cherry Capital of the World, and that
crown for nectarous fruit is the result of not just suitable soils and a
hot, dry climate, but an efficient irrigation system. Thanks to a
partnership of local landowners, eight organizations and USDA-Natrual
Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Agricultural Water Enhancement
Program (AWEP), intensive irrigation water management will meet water
quality and supply challenges of the future and growers will produce
even plumper fruit. More
(HTML)...
Download a printable copy (PDF
1.12MB)
Key Words:
AWEP, irrigation management, Deschutes
Basin |
Clickable Map of SNOTEL Sites
For Additional Assistance Contact
The Dalles Service Center
2325 River Road, #3
The Dalles, Oregon 97058
NRCS District Conservationist: Beau Sorensen,
(541) 298-8559 ext 111
Wasco County SWCD, (541) 296-6178 ext 3
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