Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

The US Geological Survey is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research on quantifying relationships between remotely sensed riparian and upland wetland areas and stream temperature and flow in the upper Donner und Blitzen River basin, Oregon. The Donner und Blitzen River is in the Harney Basin and drains Steens Mountain, a fault block that extends up to 2968 m elevation.  This system (hereafter referred to as the Blitzen River) supports one of the strongest populations of Great Basin redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberri) and represents the first and only designated redband trout reserve. It is also a BLM wilderness and wilderness study, a designated Wild and Scenic River, and supplies water to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and Malheur Lake, which is one of the largest stopovers and breeding destinations for migratory shorebirds and waterfowl in western North America. Although the present status of the redband trout population is strong, recent work across the region has indicated that even currently strong populations may be highly vulnerable to the effects of drought.