After 15 years of planning and development, a major conservation project near the town of Florence has achieved its goal: connecting a large swath of restored farmland to the Oregon Coast. The Siuslaw Estuary is a 217-acre expanse that’s expected to accommodate the return of salmon, lamprey, shorebirds, and native plants as it transforms with the tides.
Our new StoryMap, A Place of Constant Change, invites you to immerse yourself in this incredible landscape. Through stories, research, videos, and on-the-ground examples, this interactive experience traces the Siuslaw’s geologic history, the many people who have cared for this place across time, the changes that have shaped it, and the collaborative restoration efforts now underway.
The completion of restoration at Quartz Creek bolsters a growing network of efforts to protect water and wildlife across the McKenzie River watershed.
In late June, Pacific Lamprey were released into the upper Long Tom River, marking the first time these ancient fish have swum in this part of the watershed in nearly 100 years. Part of a decades-long restoration initiative, the release was carried out by fisheries staff from the Nez Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), who harvested the adult spawning fish at Willamette Falls, collected DNA samples, and then released them into the Long Tom River.
McKenzie River Trust and partners broke ground on a major floodplain restoration project on Quartz Creek this May. The project aims to reconnect the creek with its historic floodplain, benefiting the ecosystem and the plants, animals, and people who rely on it.
Partners from the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, the Siuslaw Watershed Council, and McKenzie River Trust are preparing for a second season of restoration on the Siuslaw River at Waite Ranch. Beginning in summer 2023, the tidal restoration project is working to return around 200 acres of estuarine wetlands to the Siuslaw River system.
In 2023, McKenzie River Trust celebrated the 20th anniversary of the purchase of Green Island. This celebration gave us time to pause and reflect on the many hands who have helped us to put love into the land and the incredible story of how people came together to restore nearly a thousand acres of land where the McKenzie and Willamette rivers meet.
Chinook salmon making their way back up the McKenzie River have found more places to lay their eggs thanks to years of work restoring floodplains throughout the watershed.
Three years after the Holiday Farm fire burned more than 173,000 acres in the McKenzie River valley, partners are celebrating the completion of floodplain restoration work at Finn Rock Reach. Beginning in the summer of 2021, restoration activities have included reshaping nearly 90 acres of floodplain forest and returning the area back to aquatic habitat along the Middle McKenzie River.
A decade after McKenzie River Trust, purchased 217-acre Waite Ranch in the Siuslaw Estuary, partners are breaking ground on a large-scale restoration project. Led by the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI), the project will improve salmon and shorebird habitat, contribute to regional climate resilience, and provide a place for local Tribal citizens and families to celebrate and promote Indigenous culture on their ancestral lands.
Sign up for our monthly newsletter and get the latest conservation news and events.