The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) has been working collaboratively with the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service (USFS) to inventory and map current and potential distributions of plant communities which support species of cultural concern on federal lands. This project will continue this collaborative effort to develop plant community information and GIS datasets about three culturally important plant species located throughout the Columbia basin which are impacted by climate change, land use, invasive species, and increased incidence and severity of fire. We will help initiate determination of historical, current and likely future distribution and productivity in the face of climate change and to evaluate the ability of management practices, including accelerated restoration activities being proposed in the Eastside Restoration effort of the USFS Pacific Northwest Region in eastern Oregon and Washington, to ensure the continued persistence of these resources for tribal use.
FY2014Objectives:
Create products which inform the science and management of First Foods and provide an evaluation of the ability of climate-informed vegetation models, both existing and those under development, to predict the future range of huckleberry and sagebrush-scabland areas, and to assess impacts of planned land management actions on these habitats.