Partners
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
- Institute for Applied Ecology
- US Forest Service
Target Species
- Sea fig (Carpobrotus chilensis)
- European beach grass (Ammophila arenaria)
- Jubata grass (Cortaderia jubata)
- Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster franchetii)
- Himalayan blackberry (Rubus bifrons)
- Tansy ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
- Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
- Ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus)
- Yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus)
- Little bur-clover (Medicago minima)
- Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Control Methods
Species-specific approaches include manual (hand pulling), mechanical, chemical (spot spray; stump-treatment)
Project Details
Crook Point is a 134-acre unit of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This area includes 15 acres of coastal prairie, which are home to a diverse native plant community, including eight rare plant species and the host plants for four butterflies of conservation concern (including the coastal greenish blue butterfly and Oregon silverspot). Once widespread, this unique habitat has almost completely vanished from the Oregon coast, and what remains is fragile and vulnerable to a multitude of threats, including human impacts, encroachment of trees and shrubs, coastal erosion, and invasion by aggressive non-native species.
Funded by an Oregon Coastal Program and Invasive Species small grant, the partners listed above have begun a five-year (2020-2025) habitat restoration program at Crook Point that will focus on reducing the spread of invasive and woody species and increasing the diversity and abundance of native plants. Restoration activities during the first year were extensive and varied, such as experimental treatment of woody species and annual grasses, native plant seed collection, and development of a Revegetation Plan.
