Pine Creek Conservation Area
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Bitteroot
Bitteroot
Bitteroot blooms on north-facing cliffs in western North America.
The Paiute name for bitteroot is kangedya. Traditional Native American uses of the plant included eating the roots, mixed with berries and meat, and using the roots to treat sore throats.
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Western Rattlesnake
Western Rattlesnake
Also known as the Great Basin Rattlesnake, these pit vipers have buff-tan coloring and small, oval blotches to blend into their arid surroundings. Small heat-sensing indentations on each side of the snake’s snout detects warm-blooded prey for better striking accuracy in the dark. Source: The Oregon Encyclopedia
Latin name: Crotalus oreganus lutosus
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Tibetan Monks Visit Sutton Mountain
Tibetan Monks Visit Sutton Mountain
About the Place
Located in the Lower John Day River Basin, the 34,331-acre Pine Creek Conservation Area is owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and managed for the benefit of fish and wildlife. Pine Creek is designated as critical habitat for steelhead, and the surrounding uplands are home to a diversity of birds, animals and native plants, including plant foods and medicines that hold cultural significance to Indigenous communities.
Pine Creek Conservation Area also provides an important testing ground for ONDA and the Tribes to innovate new techniques to restore cool, clear and abundant waters that supports a diverse array of fish and wildlife. These actions enhance climate resiliency throughout the Pine Creek watershed by supporting the recovery of thriving populations of beaver, whose dams create deep pools and store water, keeping streams cool into the dry summer months.
ONDA has partnered with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to remove nearly 100 miles of derelict barbed wire fence, plant tens of thousands of trees, and promote the recovery of steelhead habitat.
The success of these restoration efforts is readily apparent as one drives along Pine Creek on Highway 218, where beaver ponds teeming with life glimmer in the desert sun and willow thickets and towering cottonwoods obscure the creek in many places that just decades ago lacked any vegetation.