Oak Observations December 2025
Thank you for being part of the ECOP Team!
From seed collection, to post-wildfire learning tours, or monitoring support, collaboration remains key to our continued success. 2025 was a big year for our partnership! Our membership grew as we dug into our shovel ready work and engagement strategies. We launched a website, obligated over $3 million dollars toward conservation of oak woodlands, surveyed 99 monitoring plots, assessed over 1500 acres for restoration potential, and worked with partners across the oak landscape to improve outcomes for oak habitats, and the people and wildlife who call them home.
With the closing of the season, it is time to reflect on all we’ve achieved and learned together. Check out ECOP’s annual impact report for highlights from 2025.
Thanks to partners, 8 more projects were obligated through our FIP. These include boots on the ground restoration work alongside technical assistance and engagement funding which will connect our communities with oak habitat restoration. Restoration work includes oak release, fuels reduction, and treatment of weedy annual grasses on thousands of acres of keystone oak habitats.
Of course, our partnership is more than just dollars and acres. We collaborated with a local artist Molly Holmlund to engage with oaks in a new (but actually really really old) way. Art inspires us to think about conservation and the natural world around us in new ways. Together, we continue to learn more about the incredible and unique oaks of our region. By investing in cross boundary monitoring efforts, we uncover new ways to care for the habitats that in turn, care for us. Partners with WA DNR are pictured above at a conifer removal project site where we’ve installed monitoring plots and hosted assessment tool learning opportunities.
In 2026, we’ll obligate our remaining $1 million of Focused Investment Partnership funds toward 4 restoration projects. These projects and others will continue for years, but this moment represents a major milestone in our collective achievements.
This doesn’t mean the partnership is winding down, of course. Year 3 data collected from Oaks on the Trailing Edge will begin to reveal potential trends in droughty thinned oak woodlands. We will officially update our 10 year strategic action plan, informing the next 5 years of oak conservation for our region. And, we plan to apply for a second Focused Investment Partnership award that could fuel millions more dollars into restoring and protecting oaks in the East Cascades!
Thank you for joining us on this journey and being part of the ECOP team. We look forward to growing together in the year ahead. Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!