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As the Hood River Soil and Water
Conservation District's mission states, our goal is to help you find the
educational, technical and financial assistance you need to protect and
conserve our natural resources. On this page we have tried to provide
a thorough list of resources, links and tools to help you achieve your land
management and conservation goals.
Click on any of the topics below to go to a list of resources pertaining to that subject.
Agriculture (Crops & Livestock)
Pest Management (Insects, Control Methods, Pesticides)
How can we help you?
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Financial Assistance: Are you struggling to find the funds to achieve your land management goals? The District may be able to help you find financial assistance if your project will achieve natural resource enhancement or conservation.
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OWEB: The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is a state agency that uses Lottery dollars to promote and fund voluntary actions that strive to enhance Oregon's watersheds.
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Small Grant Program: The Hood River SWCD facilitates and manages OWEB Small details.
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Large Grant Program: These funds are available for more expensive projects (>$10K) to do: on-the-ground watershed restoration, assessment and/or monitoring of natural resources, watershed education, watershed council support or technical assistance.
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Other Programs: There are many financial assistance programs (grants, cost share, etc.) available to help landowners implement projects that will result in natural resource enhancements. Check out this list of available programs that may complement your land management objectives.
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Technical Assistance: Maybe you have the funds, but need guidance on the who, what, when , where and how's of your project. The trained District staff can help you find the answers and guidance you need to address your natural resource concerns.
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Conservation Planning: Your NRCS district conservationist and the Hood River SWCD technician are certified conservation planners who can inventory the natural resources on your land and develop a detailed conservation plan to address your objectives and natural resource concerns. This is a free service available to all landowners in Hood River County.
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Education & Outreach: The District works to educate the community on the importance of resource conservation using a variety of techniques.
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Publications: The District produces brochures, publications and reports on land management techniques for natural resource conservation, guidelines for new landowners and assessments of the condition of natural resources in our region. For a list of some of these publications follow this link.
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Workshops: We host workshops on land management topics and techniques ranging from horse-keeping to weed control. Watch our News page for updates on upcoming workshop topics.
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News Articles: District staff write bimonthly columns for the Hood River News. You can also check our News page of this website for conservation news, events and other updates.
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Resource
Directory: This is a handy, one-page, phone directory of federal and
state agencies, Hood River County departments, irrigation districts, fire
districts, water districts and other local contacts.
Local Government:
Hood River County: www.co.hood-river.or.us
City of Hood River: www.ci.hood-river.or.us
City of Cascade Locks: http://cascade-locks.or.us
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation: www.warmsprings.com
Special Districts:
Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation: http://hoodriverparksandrec.org
Port of Hood River: www.portofhoodriver.com
Port of Cascade Locks: www.portofhoodriver.com
Underwood Conservation District: w3.gorge.net/ucd/
Wasco County Soil & Water Conservation District: www.wasco.oacd.org
Local Attractions:
Hood River County Chamber of Commerce: www.hoodriver.org
Mt. Hood National Forest: www.fs.fed.us/r6/mthood/
Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area: www.fs.fed.us/r6/columbia/forest/
Hood River County Fair: www.hoodriverfair.com
Local Organizations:
Columbia Gorge Earth Center: www.cgec.org
Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute: www.gorgeecology.org
Columbia Gorge Fruit Growers: www.hrgsa.org
Columbia Riverkeeper: www.columbiariverkeeper.org
Gorge Grown Food Network: www.gorgegrown.com
Gorge ReBuild It Center: www.rebuildit.org
Gorge Outdoors: www.gorgeoutdoors.org
Hood River Watershed Group: www.hoodriverswcd.org/hrwg.htm
Mid-Columbia Agricultural Resource and Extension Center: http://oregonstate.edu/dept/mcarec
OSU Extension Service: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/hoodriver
OSU Extension Service Master Gardener Program: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/hoodriver/MG/mastergardeners.php
Six Rivers Mediation Services: www.6rivers.org
Agriculture (Crops & Livestock)
AgriMet: The Pacific Northwest Cooperative Agricultural Weather Network. AgriMet, a conjunction of the words "agricultural" and "meteorology", is a satellite-based network of automated agricultural weather stations operated and maintained by the Bureau of Reclamation. The stations are located in irrigated agricultural areas throughout the Pacific Northwest and are dedicated to regional crop water use modeling, agricultural research, frost monitoring, and integrated pest and fertility management.
Biomass Connections: This website is dedicated to the exchange of information on switchgrass and other biomass energy crops.
CSU Beef: This is the Department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University's site on beef outreach site to serve beef producers. Included in this site are resources for all aspects of your operations, a form where you can ask your beef question to their specialists as well as the Western States Beef Cattle Manual which contains hundreds of articles on Beef Cattle production.
Energy Self-Assessment Calculator: By answering a few simple questions about your operation this tool gives you recommendations on how to increase your farm's energy efficiency. It was developed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and continues to be updated.
Food Alliance Certification: Farmers now have a free online tool available that allows them to compare their current management practices with “best practices” for sustainable agriculture. This self-assessment tool allows you to compare your management practices with “best practices” for sustainable agriculture embodied in Food Alliance’s certification standards, and can help determine if you qualify for Food Alliance certification. This tool also includes resources and incentives to help you identify, select and implement strategies to manage production, environmental, human resource and other risks.
IFPnet: Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) is a progressive orchard management system designed to produce quality fruit using environmentally responsible production techniques. The IFP Network, or IFPnet, looks to help implement IFP practices by using the data collected from weather stations placed in area orchards. Currently, 47 weather stations make up the IFP Network. Each station collects environmental data every 15 minutes and transmits these data via radio telemetry or the internet to a central web server. The server posts data on the internet. The data are used by producers, orchard managers, pesticide applicators, and crop consultants to make pest/disease management decisions. With this data, orchardists will be able to use new generation soft pesticides.
Northwest Berry and Grape Information Network: Everything berries and grapes! This site includes information about fruit growing, research, markets and trade, communication, resources and news.
Backyard Composting: This WSU publication is a handy guide for the beginning composter, including information on both fast and slow composting techniques.
Composting Brochure: Have you been to the Master Gardener's Learning Garden at the OSU Extension office in Hood River? This brochure was designed to explain and complement the compost demonstration area in the Learning Garden.
How to Compost: Whether you are a beginning composter or an expert, you'll find something interesting and useful here.
Where to Get Composters Locally: This link takes you to the Tri-County Hazardous Waste and Recycling Program's page on composting resources and tips. They serve Hood River, Wasco and Sherman Counties.
Adult Salmon Counts from the Fish Passage Center: This website gives you the daily totals of adult salmon counted at each of the dams along the Columbia River. These data are updated periodically throughout the day.
Hood River Fish Counts: Want to keep track of when the fish are moving on the Hood River? Check out the fish counts at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website by following this link.
Wildlife Watch: Check out the Wildlife Log to see what wildlife fellow Hood River watershed residents have spotted or post your own sighting! You can even upload a picture.
Forest Seedling Network: FSN is an interactive website that connects forest landowners with growers who have surplus seedlings. FSN currently serves Oregon and SW Washington with plans to service all Pacific Northwest forest landowners.
Forestry Images: The overall objective of Forestry Images is to provide an accessible and easily used archive of high quality images related to forest health and silviculture, with particular emphasis on educational applications.
Oregon Department of Forestry GIS Maps & Layers: This site provides interactive mapping tools, atlases, data and downloadable GIS layers relating to Oregon forests, debris flows and other current projects.
USDA Forest Service GIS Maps and Layers: The tables on this web page display links to the Pacific Northwest Forests and other Regional Programs with an amazingly comprehensive gamut of GIS data layers currently available.
Garden Gate: The official website of Garden Gate Magazine. Includes great information and step by step procedures in just about all gardening aspects using all sustainable methods.
High Country Gardens: This is the official website of the online plant catalog for Santa Fe Greenhouses. Their newsletter and website have a lot of good information on Xeriscaping and choosing the right plants for different situations.
OSU Extension Gardening Encyclopedia: This website is a great resource to get all kinds of gardening questions answered. Information ranges from planting calendars to insect identification.
Veg Spec: VegSpec is a web-based system that can help you plan and design of your garden and landscaping plans based on soil, plant, and climate data. It uses this data to select plant species that are (1) site-specifically adapted, (2) suitable for the selected practice, and (3) appropriate for the purposes and objectives for which the planting is intended.
Wikigardens: This site features a 50,000 plant encyclopedia, a garden showcase, a forum, a members’ journal, seasonal topics of interest, and listings of local garden groups. Members are encouraged to contribute information to the site.
Pest Management (Pests, Control Methods, Pesticides)
2007 Pest Management Guide for Tree Fruits in the Mid-Columbia Area: This OSU publication provides information on all aspects of pest management in tree fruit from the timing of sprays to pesticide safety.
Bat Conservation International: Bats can provide amazing natural pest control. And these folks are the bat experts. If you need plans for bat boxes or guidance on how to keep bats from roosting where you don't want them, this website can help.
Best Management Practices for Pesticide Use: This is a tree fruit grower's handbook for pesticide handling created for the Hood River Valley orchardists by the Hood River Grower-Shipper Association through grants from the American Farmland Trust and the US. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs.
Extonet ~ Extension Toxicology Network: This web page is designed to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about exposure to toxicants in our environment. It covers everything from food safety issues to air, water and soil pollutants.
Hortsense: This site provides home gardener fact sheets for managing plant problems with IPM or Integrated Pest Management. Cultural controls and Washington-registered pesticides are included.
Integrated Pest Management Weather: This site provides a table of integrated pest management weather data for agricultural and pest management decision making in the United States.
Livestock for Landscapes: Check out this site to learn how to put your livestock to work on some of your worst weeds and other pasture problems.
Oregon Pesticide Use Reporting System (PURS): Starting in January of 2007 all pesticide users will be required to report their pesticide use to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. This link takes you to the forms you will need to comply with the PURS requirements.
Pacific Northwest Insect Management Handbook, an important source of insect pest control information throughout Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Pacific Northwest Nursery IPM Insects: This page is devoted to information for identifying and managing insect pests.
Pesticide Handling and Storage Guidelines: This tutorial focuses on the point source contamination of ground water by pesticides used on the farmstead and on the prevention of such contamination. From this main menu, you can choose numerous paths to investigate. These include on pesticide use, an overview of the subject, farmstead risk assessment, risk improvement tips, and a list of references if you may wish to investigate
UC Integrated Pest Management Program: Solve your pest management problems with UC's best information, personalize it with interactive tools, or find out about pest management research and extension projects.
Western Forest Insects and Disease Catalog: This site provides you with links to information about most western forest insects and diseases including identification, biology and management.
Wild Wing Company: These folks can give you the scoop on attracting natural predators for both insects (native cavity-dwelling birds) and rodents (owls). This site provides lots of useful information and products.
Wildlife Damage Management: The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management is a non-profit, grant funded site that provides research-based information on how to responsibly handle wildlife damage problems.
Spill Management and Response:: This is a link to a fact sheet from the Department of Environmental Quality providing links, forms and information about what to do if you have a spill and how to report it.
Plants (Native, Invasive, Identification, Diseases)
Center for Invasive Plant Management: This site provides science, management and policy ideas for land managers trying to control invasives. They often have free web seminars available.
ID It ~ Plant Identification Tool: Have you got a plant that you can't identify? This site walks you through a simple process to figure out what it is!
Invasive Species of Oregon: This webpage links you to excellent coverage of invasive species (both plant and animal) in Oregon provided by the Statesman Journal. The site links your to videos, informational fact sheets, contacts and more.
Native Gardening and Invasive Plant Guide: For each state they have compiled a list of native plants and some of the plants that are best avoided in the garden because they can be weedy or invasive. This is a great tool to use when planning your garden.
Native Garden Brochure: Have you been to the Master Gardener's Learning Garden at the OSU Extension office in Hood River? This brochure was designed to complement the Native Garden feature. Explore the benefits of planting with natives.
OSU Plant Disease Diagnostics Center: This site contains the alphabetical text sections of the 2005 Pacific Northwest Plant Disease Management Handbook and control recommendations based on the unique mix of climate, crops, regulations and growers of the Pacific Northwest.
Oregon Invasives Hotline: If you spot a potential invasive species in Oregon, use this online form to report it. Or you can call their toll-free number 1-866-INVADER.
Oregon Invasive Weed List: This link takes you to the state's listed invasive weeds.
Plants Poisonous to Livestock and Other Animals: Use this online database through Cornell University to determine the toxicity of many plants and other natural flora (fungi, etc.).
PNW Weed Management Handbook: This handbook is designed as a quick and ready reference of weed control practices used in various cropping systems or site/situations in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Selecting Native Plants for Restoration Projects This publication from OSU Extension is designed to help you select the right native plant for your restoration project needs.
Silent Invasion: This website was developed by OPB after airing their popular program highlighting the problem of invasive species in Oregon. This site provides a wealth of resources on invasive species prevention and management.
Western Invasives Network: Designed to promote communication and cooperation in invasive species eradication and removal, this site focuses on providing the tools and information you need to identify and manage invasive plants.
Soils (Testing, Maps, Types)
Lead/Arsenic Soil Contaminants: Online extension bulletin with information for gardeners in areas where soil might be contaminated with lead and/or arsenic.
Microsoft Terra Server: The TerraServer-USA Web site is one of the world's largest online databases, providing free public access to a vast data store of maps and aerial photographs of the United States. TerraServer is designed to work with commonly available computer systems and Web browsers over slow speed communications links.
Soil Test Interpretation Guide: This guide is an excellent complement to your soil test results. Once you receive your soil test results, be sure to grab this guide to help you interpret its meaning!
Soil Test Laboratories Serving Oregon Soil testing and plant analysis aid commercial growers, gardeners, and homeowners in making decisions about fertilizing or applying soil amendments. This fertilizer guide lists a variety of laboratories serving Oregon, and provides specific information about laboratory services.
Web Soil Survey: This link takes you to the NRCS Soil Survey information page which provides soil information as viewable maps and tables for more than 2300 soil surveys along with downloadable soil tabular and spatial data and much more.
Building a Rain Garden or Bioswale: This is a link to University of Wisconsin - Extension in partnership with Wisconsin Dept of Natural Resources and DNR that is a home manual for building bioswales or rain gardens.
Bioswale Brochure: Have you been to the Master Gardener's Learning Garden at the OSU Extension office in Hood River? This brochure explains the benefits of bioswales and rain gardens as well as how to design and build one for yourself.
Rainwater Harvesting: This website has loads of information on water conservation and innovative ways to harvest rainwater.
Stormwater Resource List: This list, developed by WSU Extension, provides links to over 40 web resources on stormwater management.
Mt. Hood National Forest Trails List: This is a comprehensive list of Mt. Hood National Forest Trails which you can sort by trail number or name.
Northwest Hiker: This site includes maps, weather, webcams, hikes, photos and even astronomy information for the hikers of Oregon, Idaho, Washington and Montana.
Calculating Your Water Rights: This article (published in the Hood River News in July 2009) gives some quick and easy tips on how to calculate your water rights and make sure you don't exceed them.
Drought Tolerant Turf Brochure: This publication was produced by the Hood River Watershed Group to provide you with sources and information on drought tolerant turf types.
On Farm Water Use: This link takes you to a helpful publication on smart water use on your farm or ranch.
Water Conservation Brochure: This brochure was produced by the Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District and Hood River Watershed Group to provide you with locally-focused ideas for water conservation techniques around your home.
Water Use It Wisely: This website gives a great overview of simple ways to save water in your household and interesting facts on water use. It also has resources for educators and contact information for local water authorities.
Hood River Discharge at Tucker Bridge: This link takes you to some real-time discharge data for the Hood River at Tucker Bridge.
Riparian Care Brochure: This publication was created by the Hood River Watershed Group and provides some good tips for caring for your stream bank.
Stream Net: StreamNet is a cooperative information management and dissemination project focused on fisheries and aquatic related data in the Columbia River basin and the Pacific Northwest. The project provides a variety of kinds of data related to fish resources and maintains the 1:100,000 scale hydrography layer for the Pacific Northwest.
Publications (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) **Note the file size before you click! Some of these files are quite large.**
Hood River Basin Aquatic Habitat Restoration Strategy (10.1 MB)
Hood River Agricultural Water Quality Management Area Plan (295 KB)
Hood River County Rural Living Handbook (7.8 MB)
Hood River Watershed Assessment (3.55 MB)
Hood River Watershed Action Plan (2008 Update ~ 8.5 MB)
Pacific Coast Salmon Recovery Fund 2008 Report (14.3 MB)
The Navigator: The Rural Oregon Guide to Saving Money by Saving Resources
Western Hood Subbasin Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) (13 MB)
Other Natural Resource Organizations
