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Mt. McLoughlin |
Jackson County is located in the south western part of the state. It includes
2,801 square miles (1,792,640 acres) extending south to California, west to
Josephine County, North to Douglas County, and east to Klamath County. Jackson
County is at the confluence of the Cascade and Siskiyou Mountains providing a
tremendous diversity of landscapes and wildlife habitat. The counties principle
industries are lumber, agriculture, manufacturing, recreation, and tourism.
Jackson County has approximately 5,500 acres of pears helping to rank it 3rd in
the state for fruit, tree nut, and berry production. The NRCS office, located in
Medford, provides voluntary conservation technical and financial assistance to
private land owners/operators interested in natural resource conservation
improvements.
NRCS Local Conservation Activities and Strategies
The NRCS local work group in Jackson County has identified forest
health/wildfire hazard and water quality as the top natural resource areas of
concern. Practices typically used to address water quality have included
irrigation and grazing improvements. Forest health concerns include wildfire
hazard, disease and pest infestations. Practices typically used to address these
concerns have included thinning, pruning, and slash treatments. Strategies to
address forest health and wildfire concerns are currently focused in portions of
the Seven Basins and Applegate watershed areas. Additional priority areas in the
Little Butte Creek watershed have been identified to address water quality
concerns through flood to sprinkler irrigation conversion and water management.
NRCS Programs Available
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP):
- Regular EQIP - Funding for Fuels reduction & overall forest health
available in the 7 Basins (Pleasant Creek, Sardine Creek, and Foots
Creek) as well as in the Applegate Watershed (Thompson Creek and Humbug
Creek).
- EQIP Cooperative Conservation
Partnership Initiative (CCPI):
- Funding for oak woodland restoration and wildlife habitat improvements
in the Colestin Valley (in coordination with USF&W).
- Seasonal High Tunnel
Initiative:
- A Program available to agricultural producers, designed to strengthen
local and regional food markets and increase the use of sustainable
conservation practices that will improve plant and soil quality, reduce
nutrient and pesticide transport and reduce energy inputs.
- EQIP Organic Initiative
- Special EQIP funding is available to organic growers that are certified
organic, transitioning organic or those who make under $5,000 of gross
organic product farm sales.
- EQIP Energy Initiative:
- Assist producers to conserve energy on their farms through an
Agriculture Energy Management Plan (AgEMP), also known as an on-farm energy
audit and provide assistance to implement various recommended measures
identified in an energy audit.
- Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP):
- Encourages land stewards to improve their conservation performance
by installing and adopting additional activities, and improving,
maintaining, and managing existing activities on agricultural land and
nonindustrial private forest land. The entire operation must be enrolled
and must include all eligible land operated.
- Soils Information and the Soil
Survey Program:
- Soils related information including soil survey maps and reports.
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Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP):
- Administered by the Farms Service Agency (FSA), it is a program that
helps agricultural producers protect environmentally sensitive land,
decrease erosion, restore wildlife habitat, and safeguard ground and
surface water.
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:
Local Work Group Updates
The Local working group is a collaborative group of agencies and
organizations working on conservation in the region. They assemble annually to
share information and provide input and suggestions to the development of
strategies and programs in the county. Please contact the district
conservationist if you would like to participate or be included in information
sharing.
For meeting information, please
click here.
Success Story
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The richest and most diverse terrestrial eco-systems in Oregon are
disappearing – oak woodlands and savannahs. Since the arrival of
settlers in the early 1800s, more than 90 percent of Oregon’s
pre-settlement oak habitats have been cleared to make way for farms,
urban areas, and other development. The USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) and partner organizations are working with
private landowners to help protect and restore precious remaining oak
habitats. More (HTML)...
Download a printable copy (PDF
1.07MB)
Follow the
link to view more images for this story on Flickr. For
related stories, visit the
US Fish
and Wildlife Service Journal.
Key Words:
CCPI, oak restoration, Southwest
Oregon Basin |
Clickable Map of SNOTEL Sites
For Additional Assistance Contact
Medford Service Center
573 Parsons Drive, Suite 102
Medford Oregon 97501
NRCS District Conservationist: Erin Kurtz, (541) 776-4267
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