Conservation Planning

Client: Wallowa Land Trust

Location: Wallowa County, OR

The Wallowa Land Trust (WLT) works with private landowners, tribes, local communities, and government entities to preserve and protect the rural nature of the lands they serve. In order to take their conservation efforts to the next level, WLT identified the need for a comprehensive conservation plan that would map out clear priorities and a well-defined mission offering a wider vision. Having a plan in place will allow WLT to focus their capacity on areas of highest importance and value.

Our team began by gathering input for WLT’s partners, constituents, and stakeholders. The goal of the outreach was to gather information for the board’s decision on a set of conservation goals and objectives. We heard strong support for maintaining working lands, riparian, wetland, and wildlife habitats, and scenic, recreational, and cultural values. People are also particularly keen to see WLT continue its work on the Wallowa Lake moraines – a unique and special feature within their service area.

We then performed a GIS analysis to map and overlay critical conservation values to locate high-priority properties meeting their overarching goals of: conserving working lands, conserving ecological/geological integrity, preserving community values and to promote spatial integrity across all goals.

Having a robust decision support framework in place will allow WLT to focus their capacity on the areas of highest importance and conservation value. They will utilize the conservation plan to develop and implement landowner outreach, leverage increased conservation funding, and continue outreach about conservation priorities.

View a digital version of the conservation plan here.

“Working with FLO has been very rewarding. The staff are excellent problem solvers and helped us develop a Conservation Plan to guide our work for years to come. FLO delivered a complete, professional, and user-friendly package of GIS data that will enable our staff to create maps and analyze potential projects.”

–Wallowa Land Trust