| Livestock Exclusion Effectiveness Monitoring |
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The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and the Washington Salmon Recovery Funding Board are currently working cooperatively to monitor livestock exclusion projects in both states as part of a project-scale effectiveness monitoring program for watershed and salmon habitat restoration projects. Data and results will be shared between the two states in order to begin to build a robust network of effectiveness monitoring activities within the Northwest. This coordinated approach represents a successful effort to collect comparable and compatible data across jurisdictional boundaries that supports regional evaluation of restoration project effectiveness. This program has reduced costs and increased the power of statistical analysis for both states.
OWEB contracted with Tetra Tech EC, Inc. to monitor the effectiveness of seven livestock exclusion projects throughout the state. The Final Report for Year 0 (pre-implementation) monitoring was submitted to OWEB staff in October 2006 and is posted below. Post-implementation monitoring occurred in 2007 and the joint OWEB and SRFB report is posted below. For more information contact Courtney Shaff, OWEB Effectiveness Monitoring Specialist at 503-986-0911.
Project Summary
The sample design for each monitoring site consists of a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design. The reach where the project action takes place is called the impact reach and the control reach is established nearby in an area where conditions are not expected to change over the monitoring time frame of 10 years. Monitoring the control reach allows changes in environmental variation to be subtracted from changes due to both environmental variation and restoration action, isolating the changes to the restoration action. The monitoring addresses livestock presence, bank erosion, and vegetation measurements at each project site. Data are analyzed using a paired t-test to compare changes in the impact vs. the control over time.
When data from eleven completed projects are combined, initial results indicate that a significant reduction in bank erosion was detected in the first year after implementation.
Variables measuring changes in vegetation structure and canopy cover did not change significantly during the same time frame. Additional monitoring events are needed to detect trends for these variables. More detailed information summarizing data collected during the baseline year and after project implementation is contained in the Annual Progress Report.
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