SALEM, Ore.— The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon Board of Forestry will recognize several forest landowners with the Fish and Wildlife Stewardship Award for Forest Lands award during an online ceremony Friday, April 22. The ceremony will include awards from 2019 which were never formally awarded due to the pandemic; note 2020 awards were cancelled due to the pandemic. The award winners are: Northwest Oregon Region – 2019 Non-Industrial Forest Landowner: David Bugni, Estacada; 2021 Non-Industrial Forest Landowner: Reid and Regina Ligon, Eugene; 2019 Industrial Forest Landowner: Lewis and Clark Timberlands, managed by Nuveen Natural Capital, Seaside; 2021 Industrial Forest Landowner: Port Blakely, Molalla. Southwest Oregon Region – 2019 Industrial Forest Landowner: Manulife Investment Management, Medford. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife did not receive nominations for other categories, including one for Eastern Oregon region landowners. The Fish and Wildlife Steward Award program acknowledges the outstanding stewardship work that landowners are doing for forests, fish and wildlife on their property. Manulife Investment Management (formerly Hancock Timber Resource Group, Medford. In southern Oregon, Manulife Investment Management last year installed bridges in two locations to replace culverts that hindered or blocked fish passage on their property in Josephine County. The first bridge was installed over Holton Creek, a stream that provides habitat for winter steelhead and coastal cutthroat trout. “The bridge replaced an old, rotted undersized culvert which blocked fish at different times of the year depending on stream flow. By replacing the culvert with a bridge, almost a mile of habitat was opened up for fish use,” said ODFW Biologist Peter Samarin. The second bridge was built over Trapper Gulch, a stream that provides habitat for Endangered Species Act-listed Coho salmon and winter steelhead, as well as resident coastal cutthroat trout. The bridge replaced three parallel culverts that were undersized and prone to overflowing. The culverts blocked upstream juvenile fish passage for the majority of the year, and adult passage at high flow. “Trapper Gulch is an important fish-bearing tributary to Elk Creek and the bridge will allow fish to access an additional 2.5 miles of habitat,” said Samarin. A significant amount of gravel and cobble that had accumulated behind the existing crossing will now also be free to migrate further down Trapper Gulch and into Elk Creek, enhancing spawning grounds for fish, Samarin added.
