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Large Natural Areas Within Farmlands
Threemile Canyon Farms, Columbia Basin, Oregon
For years a battle was brewing in a remote corner of northeastern Oregon
between conservationists and agricultural and development interests. At stake
were water rights to the Columbia River and a large area of undisturbed
shrub-steppe habitat critical to a number of imperiled species, including
ferruginous hawks, loggerhead shrikes, sage sparrow, Washington ground squirrel,
and several threatened species of salmon.
Decades earlier, the Boeing Corporation had leased the land from the state in hopes of establishing a high-tech aerospace industrial park. Instead, they ended up subleasing the land to farmers, who converted much of the shrub-steppe into circle-pivot irrigated farmlands. In the mid-1990s, expansion plans proposed what conservationists considered excessive water withdrawals from the Columbia River. After years of legal wrangling, a large North Dakota-based agribusiness arrived that was interested in purchasing the 93,000-acre property for an intricate mix of complimentary uses-but was also open to protecting its extremely important native habitat values.
The R.D. Offutt Company, a large potato producer based in Fargo, North Dakota, saw the opportunity to expand its operations. As a complement to the vagaries of food commodity markets, however, they planned to diversify potato production by teaming up with a large Bakersfield, California-based dairy operation, Bos Family Oregon Farms. Under their plan, the operation would milk up to 15,000 dairy cows, grow enough potatoes to feed seven million people, and raise the necessary alfalfa and corn for the dairy animals.
In order to do its part to protect one of the most threatened areas in
Oregon, the newly named Threemile Canyon Farm also agreed to two critical
conservation efforts. First, under a negotiated settlement with
conservationists, they set aside 23,000 acres of undisturbed of juniper and sage
habitat-one-fourth of the property's 145 square miles-in permanent protection
under the The Nature Conservancy's management. That land was contiguous with
already protected habitat on a property managed by the U.S. Navy as a bombing
range. Second, they consented to using only half of the Columbia River water
originally requested. This would keep 120,000 acre-feet of water annually in the
river, the rough equivalent of enough water to serve 120,000 households in a
year.
The farming and business plan rolled out by Threemile Canyon Farm also seemed far-sighted in its attempt to recycle and optimize on-farm resources. At the center of the plan was a strategy to mitigate the hazards of compounding so much manure from such a large number of confined animals. With a $15 million bond initiative, the farm created a plant to convert solid and liquid waste into methane gas which in turn generates electricity to supply the operation and sell excess power to the consumers in the surrounding region. The remaining manure is applied to the potato and forage operations as fertilizer. In addition, any skins or crop residues from the potato operation become feed for the dairy cows.
As luck would have it, just as Threemile Canyon Farm was devising a marketing strategy for its dairy operation, the western Oregon-based cheese maker Tillamook was facing a milk shortage. While demand for its cheese was expanding among supermarket consumers, its cooperative of producers in Tillamook County on the Oregon coast were nearing capacity. From the milk produced on Threemile Canyon farm, Tillamook expects to produce an additional 58 million pounds of cheese each year, almost as much as it now makes in Tillamook County.
To their credit, the farm's managers have not overlooked the vulnerability
and value of the essential habitat they have set aside. According to Defenders
of Wildlife Oregon Biodiversity Program Director Bruce Taylor, the shrub-steppe
is extremely susceptible to fire. "Once the natural habitat is burned in this
very arid ecosystem, invasive species now almost immediately take over," says
Taylor. As a result, Threemile Canyon managers have been diligent about
reseeding the borders of crop circles with native plant species and implementing
aggressive fire protection measures. The farm also provides funding and in-kind
assistance for The Nature Conservancy's management of the 23,000-acre
conservation area.
In 2003, the farm entered into a multi-species candidate conservation agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior that formalizes many of its conservation commitments.
In this section. . .
Inspiring stories and replicable models of conservation-based agriculture.
The Malpai Borderlands Group consists of approximately two dozen landowners whose ranches span nearly a million acres in New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico.
Threemile Canyon Farms in Oregon's Columbia Basin features undisturbed shrub-steppe habitat critical to a number of imperiled species, including ferruginous hawks, loggerhead shrikes, sage sparrow and Washington ground squirrel.
Partnering with land owners, local agencies, and other groups, Yolo County, California has an ambitious plan to create habitat linkages on public and private lands throughout this largely rural area on the boundaries of urban expansion.
Enchanted Acres, in southeastern Minnesota rotates pastures in order to maintain critical breeding habitat for many at-risk songbird species, such as meadowlarks, bobolinks, dickcissels, and savanna and vesper sparrows.
The Methow Valley Conservancy of northeastern Washington has negotiated more than 30 easements protecting over 3,000 acres of land.
Lava Lake Land and Livestock ranch in south-central Idaho has also adopted a non-lethal approach to controlling predators, which occasionally cause problems with the flocks.
