McKenzie River Trust
$49,995  West Cascades 

This project will design and construct a trail using Universal Design principles at the Finn Rock Landing recreation site on the McKenzie River near Blue River, OR. The project is located in the West Cascades on the east margin of the McKenzie River Area COA 114. The trail will provide a safe, accessible path with interpretive signage and scenic seating options for all members of the public to enjoy, including those with mobility limitations. The project will increase access and inclusion, enhance recreational opportunities, and promote community engagement. Users will experience the serene beauty of the McKenzie River while learning about riparian ecosystems, fluvial processes, protection of threatened species, and restoration efforts to provide native forest regeneration after wildfires. This project will also re-establish native vegetation and will improve site safety by removing approximately 100 mature trees killed in the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire and replacing invasive vegetation with native trees and shrubs. The project addresses important OCS issues including invasive species, water quality, and disruption of disturbance regimes. It will benefit Pileated woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches, OCS species that thrive in habitats with healthy native trees and safe snags that can provide nesting cavities. Native vegetation populations provide food to those birds directly and provide adequate habitat for native insects. These provide a valuable food source for bird species and are necessary resources for them to thrive through winter. Removing dead, standing trees will allow us to construct a trail through the understory, creating a wider spacing between the dead, standing trees. This will provide more safe opportunities for clear fledgling flight paths from adjacent standing trees. The vegetation we plant along the trail will create a habitat for shrub nesting birds and diversify the availability of both nesting habitats and food sources for OCS species.