Because of members like you, an Oregon native makes a comeback
It was the early 1990s. Like many of our native fishes, the Oregon chub was in trouble.
Chub lived their lives in the moist backwater channels and sloughs of the Willamette Valley’s lush rivers and streams. But those streams had fewer and fewer rich habitat areas for the chub to thrive. Braided rivers with plentiful meanders, oxbows, and diverse floodplains that had once blanketed the Willamette Valley were now largely developed or cut off from the river.
In 1993, with only 1,000 known Oregon chub remaining, the fish was listed as endangered.
This was the start of a huge group effort to recover Oregon chub, a native species that went from imperiled to healthy in just 22 years.
Member stories
Together with our members, MRT has played an important part in the comeback of Oregon chub. Because of support from people like you, we’ve protected places for chub to grow and thrive, six places on the Lower McKenzie River.
In the coming days and weeks, we’ll share a few stories of MRT members who aided the recovery.
George Grier and Cynthia Pappas
Art and Anita Johnson
Gail and Eric Haws
Places our members have helped protect
