Pursuant to section II.B.1. of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Corps and BPA for Improving Fish and Wildlife Resources of the Columbia River Estuary at Columbia Stock Ranch in the State of Oregon, dated November 26, 2012 (“CSR MOA”), BPA is required to (a) fund and secure the conservation easement over the CSR project area, and (b) provide all necessary lands, easements, rights of way, relocations, and borrow and disposal areas required for the CSR project.  Due to resource constraints, BPA is requesting that the Portland District perform certain aspects of these real estate actions, on its behalf.

Congress authorized the Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Ecosystem Restoration program in Section 536 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-541, as amended by Section 4005 of the Water Resources Reform Development Act (WRRDA) of 2014, Pub. L. No. 113-121.  Section 536 authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) to conduct studies and implement ecosystem restoration projects on the lower Columbia River and Estuary necessary to protect, monitor, and restore fish and wildlife habitat.  CSR is one of the sites in the Lower Columbia River Estuary that the Portland District and BPA have identified as a candidate site for ecosystem restoration actions.   The Portland District is currently working on plans and specifications for a proposed ecosystem restoration project at Columbia Stock Ranch and BPA is responsible for providing the real estate under the CSR MOA.  BPA needs to complete several real estate actions before habitat restoration may begin, and has requested that the Portland District complete certain real estate services, on its behalf.

The Portland District will complete the following real estate actions on behalf of BPA.  This budget includes the labor estimates, application fees, and survey work (*see attached Release document).