Umatilla Native Plant Nursery Operational Support III

The purpose of the project was to provide nursery services and locally adapted native plant products in support of restoration projects within the territory of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Locally derived plant materials produced at the native plant nursery may be applied throughout the Columbia Basin for fish habitat restoration and watershed restoration projects with a focus on the Umatilla, Grande Ronde, Walla Walla, Tucannon and John Day Basins. Projects supported include CTUIR and their conservation partners. Services include site assessment and treatment prescription development, plant collection and propagation and maintenance of specified native plant species. There are currently very few native plant nurseries in the area and none that specialize in the production of locally adapted stock. Funding provided for various staff members participation in the collective Native Plant Nursery efforts to restore and maintain the tribal First Foods through maintenance and restoration of resilient native plant communities.

This project funded nursery activities occurring during 2017 and through the summer of 2018.

Plant materials produced at the Nursery will benefit Threatened summer steelhead, Threatened bull trout, and Threatened and reintroduced Chinook and Coho salmon by assuring the availability of healthy and vigorous locally sourced native plant materials for use in habitat restoration projects by the CTUIR and conservation partners. Locally sourced materials assure higher planting success and prevent unintended introduction of non-adapted genetic materials to the watersheds. Native riparian plants provide shade, structure and a substrate for macroinvertebrates that feed native fish stocks.

Following Euro-American settlement, native riparian vegetation has been dramatically reduced while some introduced riparian species have become established. Native plant products produced from this project will help to address this and will support CTUIR’s “River Vision” which identifies a healthy riparian condition as a key component or touchstone to achieving healthy floodplain conditions necessary to protect, restore and enhance tribal First Foods for the perpetual cultural, economic, and sovereign benefit of CTUIR. Riparian vegetation influences stream conditions by increasing bank stability, shading, inputs of large woody debris, and seasonal inputs of allocthonous material that fuel the rivers food web. Large wood is an important structural component in rivers, increasing habitat complexity including pool formation. Use of locally adapted plant stocks helps to attain these benefits while protecting the ecological integrity of the local plant communities and improving overall floodplain health and fish production potential.