Building Our Footprint in Kings Valley

We at Greenbelt Land Trust are delighted to announce the acquisition of a conservation easement at Luckiamute Meadows, a 73 acre property located in Kings Valley along the Luckiamute River. The property has been identified as a priority conservation area for riparian forests, prairies, and wetlands, and serves as habitat for several imperiled species and plant communities. Existing riparian and oak forests are comprised of native species including Oregon white oak, black cottonwood, Oregon ash, Pacific ninebark, and red osier dogwood. The grassland and wetland areas support numerous species including Roosevelt elk, various waterfowl, and bird species such as the western bluebird, acorn woodpecker, yellow-breasted chat, chipping sparrow, slender-billed nuthatch and Oregon vesper sparrow. The creek and river systems protect critical life history functions for listed or species of conservation concern, that may include Chinook salmon, cutthroat trout, steelhead trout, Oregon chub, Pacific lamprey, northwestern pond turtle, and red-legged frog.

This acquisition builds onto an existing conservation footprint of 145 acres held in easement by Greenbelt Land Trust, creating a conservation zone of 218 acres that includes the confluences of both Price and Maxfield Creeks with the Luckiamute River. Funds to purchase these 73 acres were provided through a grant from the Bonneville Power Administration through the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for $207,000, as well as stewardship funds for $36,000.

Luckiamute Meadows landowners, Cliff and Gay Hall, approached Greenbelt Land Trust in 2006 to discuss the potential for protecting the property for the purpose of restoring native habitats and wildlife species. The Halls were particularly interested in having their property serve as a tool for creating working partnerships among agencies and as an educational space for local schools and organizations.

Located adjacent to the Kings Valley Charter School, Luckiamute Meadows has become a daily site for students to recreate at and to utilize as a learning laboratory. Charter School students, as well as OSU undergraduates and research faculty are regular visitors to the property, taking invertebrate samples, conducting water quality monitoring, planting native trees, and utilizing the property’s light-impact trail system for cross country training. “When we first moved here the Charter School had maybe 17 students attending. Now there are close to 200, and all of these kids are growing up with a direct connection to our property. We are delighted to be a part of that relationship, and also to show these students that land can have multiple values,” says Gay.

Since purchasing the property in 1999, the Halls have undertaken extensive restoration efforts to enhance riparian buffers, wetlands, and prairie systems across the property. Additionally, they have installed 28 acres of river frontage into a Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), a USDA program that provides resources for private landowners to restore, enhance, and maintain streamside areas along agricultural lands. Working on the land has always been a calling for the Halls. Cliff clearly remembers his response as a toddler growing up in Massachusetts to the question of what do you want to be when you grow up? … “I want to be a farmer” he always answered. It was when Hall was planning his retirement as a surgeon from Good Samaritan Hospital that he was able to finally fulfill his childhood dream. “We’ve planted probably close to 40,000 trees and shrubs on this property over the last 15 years. And for every single tree that I’ve planted I have received something in return. I would almost say that it is a spiritual experience, being able to play a role in managing this land and water, and leaving it better than we found it,” says Hall.

Greenbelt Land Trust will be hosting a public tour of Luckiamute Meadows on Saturday, July 5th from 9am-12pm. Contact Jessica McDonald (jessica@greenbeltlandtrust.org or 541.752.9609) for details.

Funding from this project was dedicated through:

Bonneville Power Administration funding helps fulfill an agreement that the State of Oregon made in 2010 to protect nearly 20,000 acres of Willamette Basin wildlife habitat. The agreement dedicates stable funding from electric ratepayers for 15 years to safeguard Willamette habitat for native species, supporting state efforts to protect the Willamette Basin and fulfilling BPA’s responsibility under the Northwest Power Act to offset the impacts of federal flood control and hydropower dams.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program, which was created to manage the funds dedicated to the State of Oregon by the Bonneville Power Administration for wildlife habitat mitigation in the Willamette Valley. The agreement requires a substantial investment in wildlife and fish habitat restoration over the next 15 years.