12 NOVEMBER 1, 2023 SMOKE SIGNALS Grand Ronde efforts cited in proposed delisting of Nelson9s checker-mallow By Dean Rhodes Publications coordinator A perennial herb that the Grand Ronde Tribe has been trying to save from extinction for almost 30 years will be taken off a list of threatened species in the near future. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice announced on Monday, Oct. 16, that the Nelson9s checker-mallow will be coming off the Endangered Species Act list 30 days after an upcoming notice appears in the Federal Register. In April 1995, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde signed an agreement with the Fish and Wild- life Service to continue upkeep of the plant that was found growing in the path of the planned Spirit Mountain Casino site. Although the Tribe was under no legal obligation to transplant the plants, 299 of them were moved to a different location on Tribal prop- erty and most of them survived the ensuing winter. At the time, a Fish and Wildlife representative said the Grand Ronde Tribe was setting a positive example for other Tribes and devel- opers to follow. Since then, the Tribe has estab- lished reserves for the plant and performed prescribed burns related to it, said Natural Resources De- partment Manager Colby Drake. Nelson9s checker-mallow grows from south of Corvallis, Ore., to north of Vancouver, Wash. It was classioed 30 years ago as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It grows 15- to 40-inch-tall spikes of deep pink nowers that dot prai- ries, wetlands, edges of woodlands and riparian areas in the Willa- mette Valley and Coast Range. It was placed on the threatened list because of habitat loss caused by agricultural development, stream alterations that limited water to meadows, recreational activities and roadside spraying. However, 33 independent popu- lations are now thriving in more than 50 locations in the Willamette Valley and Coast Range, the Fish and Wildlife Service said. Some sites are publicly owned, have been purchased by conservation groups or are enrolled in conservation programs. The Fish and Wildlife Service said it expects the number of loca- tions where Nelson9s checker-mal- low plants currently grow to remain constant for the foreseeable future. The wildlife service cited land- owners and more than a dozen federal, state and Tribal entities, including the Grand Ronde Tribe, as contributing to the recovery of Nelson9s checker-mallow. Prairies require continued distur- Tribal nonemergency text line The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has a nonemergency text line at 541-921-2927.