The Lewis River Hydroelectric Projects - PacifiCorp

Lewis River Interpretive & Education Plan
PacifiCorp acquired most of the lands around its reservoirs in large parcels. In
general, because the land was going to be part of the hydroelectric project, the
owners of the parcels logged their lands before selling them to the company,
to get as much out of them as possible. Therefore, the forests that PacifiCorp
inherited were very young, dense, dark, and poor habitat. Other purchased lands
included old farms, orchards, and homesites. During relicensing of the Merwin
project in the 1980s, the Merwin Wildlife Habitat Management Plan was created
to help enhance this relatively poor habitat, thereby increasing and sustaining
populations of local wildlife (particularly elk).
Forestry for Habitat
The forest lands around Lake Merwin are currently being managed under the
Merwin Wildlife Habitat Management Plan. Lands around Yale and Swift are
now being managed in similar patterns. A new management plan is being
written for the current settlement agreement that will encompass all three
reservoirs. The general thrust of the management plan is to manage the lands
for the benefit of wildlife; species of particular interest include owls, elk, deer,
bald eagles, osprey, wetland birds, and passerine birds. This goal means that
unlike many private (and some public) lands, these lands include areas where
wildlife really does come first, and certain human uses (such as ORV use in the
backcountry) are precluded.
When the habitat programs were instigated, PacifiCorp lands were in a
patchwork of conditions: older, second-generation forests, recent clearcuts, old
farm fields and pastures, quarries, abandoned construction camps, etc. For the
most part, however, these lands were not particularly good habitat for wildlife:
some were barren, some were choked with invasive plants such as Scotch broom,
and most were overgrown with dense, dark second-generation forests that had
little or no understory vegetation.
In general, wild animals that rely on forests for some or all of their lives need
diversity of forest structure, including multi-layered canopies, a diversity of plant
species, thriving understory vegetation, and wetland/meadow openings.
These conditions are inherent to what we call “old growth” forests. But there are
very few areas of the PacifiCorp lands along the Lewis River that could truly
be called “old growth.” For habitat purposes, old growth does not mean old
trees—it’s the structural and species diversity that’s important. Therefore, the
main thrust of PacifiCorp’s habitat management plan is to impart structural and
species diversity to forested lands.
This doesn’t mean that all the land is managed to achieve an old-growth-like
state. It just means that the lands are managed to provide elements necessary to
support healthy wildlife populations, and that those elements are the products of
diversity.
Sea Reach Ltd • 146 NE yamhill Street • Sheridan, OR draft 3 • November 2008 • page 78