Condition Assessment Tools

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    OAK MANAGEMENT PATHWAY

    This page is a tool that supports Step 1: Learn Your Site within the Oak Management Pathway.

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    ECOP has developed an assessment tool to help you learn more about your site.

    The ECOP Condition Assessment Tool (CAT) walks you through a series of questions that help you discern how your site may have changed over time in response to management choices or natural disturbances. This can help you identify potential restoration opportunities and uncover a pathway toward your desired future condition.

    Learn More

    Learn More

    Background and purpose of the tool

    Management choices – even passive ones – have impacts on what grows where (species composition) and how live and dead plants are organized (stand structure). A decision that supports one species or management outcome may be counterproductive for another. For this reason, and because people have different perspectives and values, this tool avoids prescriptive recommendations. Instead, it helps you make observations and think critically about how the site has responded to past influences. This form does not assign scores for condition, but your responses can be used to understand if management may be needed with a few simple analyses. Guidance for analysis is provided in the CAT tool.

    The assessment tool borrows concepts from Washington Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program’s Ecological Integrity Assessment. The CAT tool also relies on historical conditions described in NRCS’s Ecological Site Descriptions, which provide a classification of oak systems that serve as a basis for assessing a site’s current state.

    Many thanks to our ECOP CAT working group who has been refining and field testing this tool since 2022! To learn more and download the form, check out the ECOP Condition Assessment Tool Instructions.

    A sunlit forest with tall, slender trees and green foliage. Sunlight filters through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the dry, grassy ground below. The scene appears calm and natural.
    Example of an oak stand assessed on the Warm Springs Reservation

    Case Studies

    Case Studies
    A large tree stands in a sunlit, wooded area with dense green foliage. A black dog is partially hidden among the bushes and shadows to the right of the tree.
    Junipers proliferate in the absence of fire on the Warm Springs Reservation where biologists are working to restore habitat for priority wildlife and plant species. In deploying the assessment tool, observers were able to correlate undesirable weedy grass populations with open canopy conditions. This learning will inform management going forward.

    Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation

    The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (CTWS) includes the southern extent of Oregon white oak in ECOP’s priority geography, an area particularly impacted by climate change, drought, and risk of fire. In 2023, we partnered to develop an assessment and monitoring approach that identifies restoration priorities supported by tribal management goals. The assessment results will guide future restoration approaches. Over 90 sites were assessed in 2024 and will inform future restoration projects funded through the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

    A forest scene with tall trees, some alive with green leaves and others dead with bare branches. Fallen trees lie across dry grass on the forest floor under a partly cloudy sky.
    Example of an oak stand assessed on the White River Wildlife Area. Conifer have proliferated in the absence of regular fire. As the climate warms and droughts intensify, competition stress and subsequent beetle infestations result in high levels of conifer mortality, elevating fuel loads. These conditions compromise oak.

    White River Wildlife Area

    White River Wildlife Area, managed by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, has been particularly impacted by climate change, drought stress, and fire. With a widespread need for restoration, we deployed the CAT tool to prioritize restoration opportunities on the Wildlife Area. Over 7,000 acres were assessed in 2024, helping guide future restoration efforts.