Chapter 1

Management Strategy and Overview of Watersheds

Purpose of the Management and Action Plan

The purpose of this Management and Action Plan is to help guide the Nestucca-Neskowin Watersheds Council (Council) in accomplishing three main goals:
 

• To provide opportunities for watershed-related education to the people who live, work, and recreate in the watershed
   
• To update the Nestucca/Neskowin Watershed Assessment (May 1998).
   
• To protect and enhance the health of the watershed based on updates to the Nestucca-Neskowin Watershed Assessment, monitoring and research.
  
  The Management and Action Plan is divided into four chapters: 1) an overall management plan, watershed-level strategy, and list of criteria for priority projects; 2) long-term and interim action plans for habitat protection and enhancement; 3) water quality monitoring and improvement; 4) partnerships, public education and involvement. The Management and Action Plan will be updated and revised as new information becomes available.
  
   

Nestucca-Neskowin Watersheds Council Overview

The mission of the Nestucca-Neskowin Watersheds Council is to provide a forum for public participation and education regarding decisions that affect those who live, work and recreate in the watersheds, now and in the future.

The Nestucca Watershed Council was formed in 1995. The Council was officially designa ted by the Tillamook County Commissioners in 1996 and became incorporated in 1997. The name was changed to the Nestucca-Neskowin Watersheds Council (NNWC) in June 1997, to reflect the expansion of the Council to include the Neskowin Watershed. The Council is comprised of landowners, industry representatives, special district representatives, government agency representatives, and interested private citizens. A Board of Directors is responsible for conducting business and organizing activities for the Council. Board meetings are open to the public and occur monthly.

NNWC’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) is made up of public land representatives and private citizens who own, manage, or have jurisdiction / regulatory responsibility over land within the Nestucca and Neskowin Watersheds. The Council works with the Technical Advisory Team (TAC) to prioritize actions and set yearly work plans.
 

Geographic Area and Land Ownership

The Nestucca and Neskowin Watersheds are located on the northern coast of Oregon and cover approximately 217,085 acres (340 square miles). All streams and tributaries that flow into the Nestucca Bay define the Nestucca Watershed. The Nestucca is 53 river miles long and the Little Nestucca 18 river miles long. The Neskowin Watershed is defined by all tributaries that flow into Neskowin Creek and Daley Lake. Neskowin Creek is 10 river miles long and empties directly into the Pacific Ocean.


Map of the Nestucca and Neskowin Watersheds.

Much of the land in the Nestucca and Neskowin Watersheds is managed by federal agencies. Both watersheds have a fairly even split between private timber and other private lands (agricultural and residential).
 

Management Strategy

The Management Plan provides the overall strategy that NNWC will follow to protect and enhance the health an d ecological functions of the watersheds. In order to analyze and prioritize the landscape by ecological functions, the watersheds are divided into landscape classes based on stream gradients. The landscape classes described below are based on definitions found in the Oregon Watershed Assessment of Aquatic Resources Manual (OWEB 1999, draft).

 

Landscape Classes

Steep headwater areas where streams originate have gradients of 8% or greater narrowly confined channels. These areas are important sources of nutrients, water, sediments, and large woody debris that can be moved downstream by natural stream transport.

Mid-slope areas have stream gradients between 2% and 8% (average 4%) with narrowly to moderately confined channels. These areas provide short-term storage and transport of nutrient, water, sediment, and woody debris and contain moderate gradient variably confined streams.

Lowland areas have stream gradients of 2% or less with moderately confined or unconfined channels. Lowlands store sediments and contain pools, floodplains and high quality, diverse habitat for fish.

Upland areas are outside of the riparian and wetland vegetation, which usually coincides with topographic changes along streams and bodies of water. Changes in upland land use and vegetation directly affect water quality and aquatic habitat.

 

Watershed Level Strategy

NNWC has developed an overall strategy for protecting and enhancing each of the landscape classes discussed above. These strategies are based on the watershed issues and land ownership found in each landscape class.

Headwater Areas Strategy
Headwater area issues include:

• Sedimentation
   
• High water temperatures
   
• Inadequate riparian vegetation for shading streams
   
• Lack of conifer trees to provide large woody debris
   
• Lack of mature and old-growth forest habitat for fish and wildlife species
   
• Lack of large contiguous forest habitat for fish and wildlife species
   
• Spread of noxious and invasive weeds that reduce habitat quality
  
   

The majority of headwater areas in the Nestucca-Neskowin Watersheds is forested land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS). Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and private industrial forest companies own smaller percentages. Other private ownership in this area, including residential or agriculture, is minimal. Recreation occurs in this portion of the watershed in the form of hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, and off-highway vehicle use.

The management objectives and trends in resource conditions for federal and state agencies in the headwater areas indicate that the issues listed above are being addressed. In compliance with the Northwest Forest Plan, the USFS and BLM are managing federal lands to restore and maintain late-successional forest and conserve biological diversity. Timber industry and state forest lands in the area are managed under the Oregon Forest Practices Act and the goals of the Northwest Region Long Range Plan, promoting timber growth and harvest while maintaining the integrity of the forest ecosystem.

NNWC’s strategy for the headwater areas is to engage in partnership building with federal, state, and private land managers and to educate the public about activities and conditions in the headwater areas.

Mid-slope Areas Strategy
Mid-slope area issues include:

• Sedimentation
   
• High water temperatur es
   
• Fish passage barriers
   
• Lack of continuous riparian vegetation for shading streams
   
• Inadequate conifer trees in riparian zones for large woody debris recruitment
  
   

The mid-slope areas are transitional between the forested headwater areas and the lowland areas. The mid-slope area landowners include industrial timber, small woodlot owners, residential areas, and federal and state land management agencies.

The resource programs and management objectives of federal and state agencies in the mid-slope areas indicate that the issues listed above are being addressed. The USFS and BLM are managing federal lands to restore and maintain late-successional forest, and conserve fisheries habitat and maintain biological diversity. Industrial timber, small woodlot, and state forest lands in the area are managed under the Oregon Forest Practices Act and the goals of the Northwest Region Long Range Plan, promoting timber growth and harvest while maintaining the integrity of the forest ecosystem.

NNWC’s strategy for the mid-slope areas is to conduct education and outreach activities with small woodlot owners, focusing on restoring fish and wildlife habitat, promoting reforestation projects, and providing technical assistance and information on funding resources for private landowners. NNWC will also engage in partnership building with federal, state, and private entities.

Lowland Areas Strategy
Lowland area issues include:
 

• Sedimentation
   
• High water temperatures
   
• Inadequate riparian vegetation for shading streams
   
• Fecal coliform contamination of some stream segments
   
• Fish passage barriers
   
• Lack of rearing habitat for fish
   
• Lack of in-stream complexity for fish 
• Decreased amounts of estuary and wetland habitats
   
• Spread of noxious and invasive weeds that reduce native habitat quality
   
• Lack of coniferous trees in riparian areas to provide long-term large woody debris
   
• Flooding
   
• Streambank erosion from livestock and human activities
   

The majority of lowland areas are privately owned and managed for agricultural, small woodlot, and industrial timber activities. Continued residential development is occurring along streams, near the estuary, and along oceanfront areas. Recreation also occurs in the form of hiking, biking, fishing, and camping.

The NNWC’s strategy for the lowland areas, most of which is privately owned, is to engage in public education and outreach about protection, enhancement, and monitoring projects on private lands, and to develop and implement these projects on private lands with willing landowners.

Upland Areas Strategy
Upland area issues include:

• Lack of coniferous trees to provide large woody debris and snags
   
• Lack of mature and old-growth forest habitat for wildlife species
• Lack of large contiguous forest habitat for wildlife species
   
• Spread of noxious and invasive weeds that reduce habitat quality
  
   

The USFS and BLM are managing federal lands to restore and maintain late-successional forest and maintain biological diversity. NNWC’s strategy for the upland areas is to conduct education and outreach activities with small woodlot owners, focusing on restoring wildlife habitat, promoting reforestation projects, and providing technical assistance and information on funding resources for private landowners. NNWC will also engage in partnership building with federal, state, and private partners.
 

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