Aequinox has offered conservation planning services in Oregon for over two decades. We have played a key role in the conservation of protected lands and in assisting resource agencies in ensuring that conservation priorities are met where acquisition dollars are spent. Our conservation planning services include working with local conservation organizations such as the Deschutes Land Trust and the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council to support them in protecting and restoring conserved lands. We often assist land managers in identifying and mapping invasive species, and in writing weed management plans to better understand the life histories of species present, the threats they pose to native habitats, and how best to manage them over the long term to ensure that the conservation values of a property are protected.
Aequinox contracts with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) to offer conservation planning services to their land acquisition program. OWEB provides grants to help Oregonians take care of local streams, rivers, wetlands and natural areas. They have offered land acquisition grants since 2000, awarding over $44 million to protect more than 90 properties (approximately 63,000 acres) throughout the state. Since early 2014, Aequinox has supported OWEB on several conservation planning projects including land acquisition monitoring and reviewing technical documents (Baseline Inventory Documentation and Management Plans) for properties OWEB supports such as Preserves protected by Land Trusts or The Nature Conservancy.
We also have a long-standing working relationship with the United States Forest Service (USFS) and have offered conservation planning services to them throughout the western United States. We hold a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Botanical Services with the USFS, assisting them on various botanical contracts as needs arise. We have mapped streams and special habitats, conducted watershed improvement and restoration needs inventories, and surveyed for special status plants for both the USFS and Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
See our Conservation Planning Projects page to learn more.