Habitat Restoration: Watershed Lecture

Courtesy from the Nehalem Watershed Council

The Lower Nehalem Watershed Council (LNWC) Speaker Series is hosting a presentation on "Habitat Restoration: It Takes A Watershed." The speaker will be Gordie Reeves, a research fish biologist for the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station.  The event, which is free and open to all, takes place on Thursday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m. in the Pine Grove Community House (225 Laneda) in Manzanita. Doors open at 6:30. 

Agencies and organizations responsible for populations of Pacific salmon and their freshwater habitat are undertaking major efforts to restore degraded habitats to increase the size of the population of interest. Results of such efforts have been mixed, and increases tend to be short-lived, often declining after a few years. One possible reason for this is that restoration efforts tend to be either concentrated in small parts of a watershed or they are distributed in areas where their ecological impacts are minimal. Dr. Reeves will present an approach that includes a focus on the entire watershed and places where key ecological processes occur in the stream network. This methodology increases the potential for restoration efforts to be successful and also allows for a shift away from a focus solely on population size to include increasing life-history diversity, which is particularly critical to meet the challenges posed by climate change.

Gordie Reeves has been a Research Fish Biologist in the PNW Research Station since 1983. His expertise is in the freshwater ecology of anadromous salmon and trout, conservation biology of those fish, and aquatic aspects of landscape ecology. He has studied the ecology of anadromous salmon and trout in the Pacific Northwest, northern California, Idaho, and Alaska. Dr. Reeves has published papers on the freshwater ecology of Pacific salmon and trout, effects of land management activities on the freshwater habitats of these fish, conservation plans, and dynamics of aquatic ecosystems in the PNW. He was a member of committees that developed and evaluated management options for managing federal lands in the PNW and Alaska and currently leads the aquatic component of the 20-year review of the Northwest Forest Plan. His current research emphasis is on the effects of climate change on anadromous salmonids and their freshwater habitat. 

LNWC invites members, partners and the community to attend on Feb. 8 for this presentation on the future of habitat restoration and exploration of where conservation practitioners need to shift their focus in order to make a larger impact. 

This event is part of LNWC's regular Speaker Series, which takes place at the Pine Grove Community House each second Thursday in January - May, plus October and November, for natural resource focused presentations. A gift certificate or special item from a local business supporter is raffled off during each event--this month it will be a $25 gift certificate from Manzanita News and Espresso. Raffle tickets will be available for a $5 donation at the door and the winner will be drawn at the end of the presentation.

Time & Agenda:
6:30 PM Doors open
7:00 PM Council Updates
7:20 PM Presentation
8:30 PM Adjourn