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THE OREGON ECOSYSTEMS PROGRAM <br /> A Partnership Approach to Maintaining Biodiversity <br /> EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> The Fish and Wildlife Service's Portland Field Office, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of <br /> Fish and Wildlife and other resource partners, proposes to establish the Oregon Ecosystems <br /> Program, an integrated approach to the protection, restoration, and enhancement of native plant <br /> and animal species, and the ecosystems on which they depend. This non - regulatory program will <br /> rely on coordinating existing programs and expertise (private, State, and Federal), at appropriate <br /> landscape levels, to proactively seek resolution of fish and wildlife resource issues. <br /> Basic Concepts and Issues <br /> Just as we assemble a variety of individual components, each with a specific function, into more <br /> complex structures (houses and neighborhoods), ecosystems are complex assemblages of <br /> individual components, each with a specific function. While no reasonable person expects, even <br /> with normal - use, houses or neighborhoods to endure structurally and function properly without <br /> maintenance and repair, this is exactly what we have expected by failing to maintain and repair <br /> our ecosystems. Without positive intervention and care they can eventually collapse. <br /> Oregon has experienced a rising human population with concurrent increases in development and <br /> demand for natural resources. Unfortunately, our "home maintenance program" has not kept pace <br /> with the rate and extent of resource demand and development. Resulting ecosystem degradation, <br /> and species extinctions and reductions, threaten the structural integrity of Oregon's ecosystems. <br /> While we can manufacture more houses, create more neighborhoods, given a reallocation of <br /> resources and effort, we do not posses the blueprint for a single species. Systems relying on <br /> these component species are in danger of malfunction or breakdown, and if not repaired and <br /> maintained, collapse. Unfortunately, examples of ecosystem collapse exist, in Eastern Europe, <br /> Africa, Soviet Asia, Haiti and others, complete with attendant economic and human hardships. <br /> WHY ARE REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE NEEDED? <br /> Areas where positive intervention is needed to benefit the viability of Oregon's ecosystems and <br /> the quality of life in Oregon communities include: <br /> • Wetlands - Wetland losses continue through development, pollution, and <br /> inconsistent enforcement of land use policy. Wetland loss has contributed to <br /> reduced water quality in lake and stream systems that currently harbor listed <br /> species. Cooperative restoration and protection efforts by private landowners are <br /> not realized due to funding and staff constraints. <br /> • Urban Greenspaces - Many existing areas have been degraded or lost as a result <br /> of increasing development activities. Pollution delivered to existing areas often <br /> exceeds their ability to assimilate it, rendering a valued park or natural area <br /> unsuitable for many uses. Existing greenspaces need to be expanded to provide <br /> "' the full range of potential uses (parks, wildlife habitat, water treatment, etc.) to the <br /> turban public. <br /> HOW CAN WE APPROACH THESE COMPLEX PROBLEMS EFFECTIVELY? <br /> Resource agency management efforts have often focused on the immediate needs of individual <br /> species, or project areas, rather than the ecosystems that support them. Further, over the long <br /> run, single species recovery plans and other Service activities could involve conflicting or repetitive <br /> actions that would not be time or cost effective. A proactive and coordinated systems approach <br /> to resolving problems is a necessity for quality human and natural systems. <br />