Indian Ford Meadow Aspen Restoration

Indian Ford Meadow aspens. Photo: Byron Dudley.

In early spring of 2008 the Land Trust began working with Integrate Resource Management to restore aspen stands at Indian Ford Meadow Preserve.  Aspen groves provide unique wildlife habitat and are limited in their range, so the Preserve’s management plan calls for protection of these trees.

Aspen does best with a lot of light and limited competition for resources. Because our grove had a lot of encroaching juniper and numerous large, shading ponderosa pines, we cut 100% of the juniper and several large pine. Two of the pine were topped so they could become snags and provide much-needed homes for birds and other wildlife.  All of the work was done in the winter on frozen ground to reduce soil compaction

Students from Cascades Academy help fence in young aspen at Indian Ford Meadow Preserve. Photo: Land Trust.

Aspen also benefits from fencing that protects young shoots from deer and elk browse.  We tried using electric fencing, but it wasn’t well suited to the site (too many branches fell on and severed the lines and too much vegetation grew up from below and shorted it out). 

So in 2010, we removed the electric fence and students from the U of O and Cascades Academy replaced it with small cages (see photo). These caged areas will become long term study plots that students will return to each year to measure and compare the growth rates of caged vs uncaged saplings.

Read the Bend Bulletin article about the restoration project.