Finn Rock Reach

Why It’s Important

The headwaters of the McKenzie River are renowned for their clarity and consistent flow. Emerging ice cold and blue from the volcanic filter of Cascades basalt, the river drops through thick forests, nurturing bull trout and Chinook salmon along the way. At its first major confluences with the South Fork McKenzie River and Blue River, the McKenzie takes on a new feel as it meanders across a broadened floodplain. Here, side channels offer new habitats and more approachable waters. This unique place, Finn Rock Reach, is now protected forever.

Finn Rock Reach includes 7 miles of riverfront with acreage on both sides of the mainstem McKenzie River. A complex of more than 900 acres, the area contributes missing “pieces” of land between US Forest Service ownership in the middle McKenzie River. At the heart of the conservation area is the Finn Rock Landing, a launch point for thousands of raft and drift boat trips down the McKenzie River annually. The property, which was once home to the former Finn Rock Logging Camp where Rosboro company employees lived from the 1940s through the 1980s, has played a central role in McKenzie River Trust’s work to build relationships with local timber companies and find ways to advance conservation opportunities through cooperative partnerships. 

How It Was Protected

In 2015-16, McKenzie River Trust utilized a low-interest Conservation Bridge Loan from Craft3 to purchase the initial 278-acre footprint of the property from Rosboro following a closed-bid auction. In 2024, McKenzie River Trust completed a second transaction, adding nearly 650 acres of additional conservation land both upstream and downstream of the original protection area. 

The protection of Finn Rock Reach was supported by a mix of private donations and grants. The majority of funding was provided by the Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program (WWMP), a joint partnership between the Bonneville Power Administration and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The WWMP provided more than $3,000,000 in funding to support multiple transactions that occurred to protect this area. Additionally, the Eugene Water and Electric Board contributed more than $1,000,000 in funding to the project through its source water protection program. In 2017-18, hundreds of community members contributed to the original protection project through the $4.6 Million McKenzie Homewaters Campaign. This campaign laid the foundation for expanded property protection, habitat restoration, and infrastructure improvements at Finn Rock Reach. 

A Haven for Native Fish

When McKenzie River Trust staff first visited the property in 2015, spawning Spring Chinook salmon were a sight to be celebrated. A threatened species native to the McKenzie River, Chinook salmon face the pressures of a changing climate in their fresh and saltwater environments. After the initial protection project in 2015-16, the Trust worked with partners at the US Forest Service, McKenzie Watershed Council, and Eugene Water and Electric Board to advance a major floodplain restoration project on Elk Creek. This project created 150 acres of new aquatic habitat for native fish to spawn and grow. Alongside salmon, bull trout, lamprey, and redside trout all benefit from the increased off-channel habitat. Today, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife continues to monitor salmon in this area with annual fish counts. To date, we have observed an increase in the use of the area by salmon, including a hopeful number of juvenile fish congregating in the project area regularly.