Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board

06/05/2026

Attention Central and Eastern Oregon! Want to get out and get your hands wet this summer? Think Wild Central Oregon is looking for volunteers to help restore and protect beaver habitat across central and eastern Oregon.

June 23-26
Plant community monitoring and restoration planning in Malheur National Forest
➡️ https://www.thinkwildco.org/education/volunteer-calendar/

July 9-12
Beaver Dam Analog Building in Ochoco National Forest
➡️ https://www.thinkwildco.org/education/volunteer-calendar/

Think Wild Central Oregon

06/04/2026

The Plants for People Project is an absolutely beautiful new video series created by the Confederated Tribes as part of a Telling the Restoration Story grant project with OWEB. 🌱💚🌱

🎥 This new series highlights three of the seven restoration sites being revitalized through strong partnerships, underscoring the deep connection between our people, the land, and our ancestral foods.

“And what the non-tribal community can do is work in good partnership with the tribes… being mindful that tribes want to have access and stay connected to these landscapes.”-Greg Archuleta, Cultural Policy Analyst.

This episode shares how Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge guides the way we care for the land, from responsible gathering practices to restoring balance across the landscape.

➡️ Watch Episode 1 here: https://youtu.be/vn4sYGdF5TI?si=-Ba_jLOvlrdY6Stf

This project is a collaboration between Institute for Applied Ecology , Oweb Oregongov , and the The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, with support from Corvallis Parks & Recreation at this site. OWEB grant funding is supported by revenue from the Oregon Lottery.

What does it mean to truly care for the land?At Herbert Farm, res...

06/03/2026

Sharing this article on lessons learned in Intensively Monitored Watersheds:

"Lessons learned from 30 years of implementing Intensively Monitored Watershed studies: aligning the science with partners, policy, and funding"

This paper highlights 4 lessons learned and key insights that we learned in this long term habitat restoration and monitoring project:
💧 1) restoration success requires understanding and targeting the most critical limiting factor;
💧 2) adaptive management and structured evaluation are essential for refining restoration and monitoring strategies;
💧 3) durable partnerships and transparent communication support restoration implementation and foster scientific research and
💧 4) early and intentional public communication is critical to avoid opposition and build long-term support.

➡️Read article here: https://tinyurl.com/m38697bh

The article was written by Greer Maier (Washington Governor's Salmon Recovery Office), Timothy Copeland (Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game), and Ken Fetcho (OWEB), and published in Frontiers.

Photos of restoration projects in Camp Creek. The top image (A) shows a section of Camp Creek with log weirs, a form of early, low-intensity restoration that was later removed to improve fish passage and habitat. The bottom image (B) depicts a recent high-intensity, large-scale project aimed at reconnecting the creek’s mouth with its floodplain during high flows. The contrast between these two images illustrates the shift in restoration approaches over time—and helps explain why modern floodplain-scale projects can face public resistance: they look dramatically different from past efforts. Photo Credit: North Fork John Day Watershed Council.

Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG)

06/02/2026

A monumental day on the Siuslaw River!

06/02/2026

Sharing this from our friends over in Harney Basin!
Harney County Watershed Council Harney Soil and Water Conservation District

06/01/2026

06/01/2026

🔥🔥 Sharing this great article on the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project and their efforts to make southern Oregon more fire resilient! 🔥🔥

(excerpt) As wildfires in the West grow more frequent and destructive, some cities increasingly regard the forests on their outskirts as a potential threat. More are taking proactive steps to support healthy ecosystems that can resist catastrophic wildfires.

It’s complex, costly work, and since 2010, Ashland has shared the responsibility for protecting its city with the U.S. Forest Service and two nonprofits The Nature Conservancy and Lomakatsi Restoration Project, which advocate for fire management practices similar to those Indigenous people used over thousands of years to maintain open forests.

"A Powerful partnership aims to save an Oregon city from wildfire. Decision makers are taking notes" was written by Janet Eastman for The Oregonian.

➡️ Read the article here: https://tinyurl.com/pjvnfnyn

Funds from OWEB grants that are supported by revenue from the Oregon Lottery, and many other partners support this work to keep our communities safe and build resilience to catastrophic wildfire!

Lomakatsi Restoration Project The Nature Conservancy in Oregon U.S. Forest Service The Oregonian

Tribal fire crews use controlled burns and forest thinning techniques passed down for centuries, proving that "good fire" can help stop devastating wildfires before they start.

05/29/2026

🎉 Great news from the Soda Springs fish passage facility on the North Umpqua River: the first young Pacific lamprey has been spotted passing downstream through the fish screen!

Installed by PacifiCorp in 2012, the Soda Springs fish passage facility was designed specifically with continuously smooth slopes for the suction-disk mouths of lamprey.

This lamprey is most likely an offspring of two adult lamprey that were spotted heading upstream in the fish ladder in 2022, and is estimated to be about 4 years old.

Fun fact: Pacific lamprey hatch into ammocoetes (larvae) that may live in the silt of riverbeds for 3-7 years before they grow eyes and become macropthalmia (juveniles)!

Funds from OWEB grants helped to enhance habitat that was made accessible with the Soda Springs fish passage facility.

Photos of the lamprey ammocoete by Rich Grost (PacifiCorp): in Rich's wetted hand; on wet measuring board, showing its length as about 53 mm (after adjusting for the '0' mark); and being ceremoniously released into the North Umpqua River downstream of Soda Springs Dam by Chris Sheely (ODFW).

Pacific Power Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Partnership for the Umpqua Rivers

05/28/2026

🎉 Sharing this from our friends over at Coos Basin Coho Partnership! OWEB is proud to support this project through grants!

(repost)
Thank you to everyone who came out to the Oregon Coast Film Festival recently! We were quite honored to have our Millicoma Confluence Wetland Restoration video showcased alongside so many other phenomenal Oregon Coast films, including those from Coquille Watershed Association, Curry Watersheds Partnership, and Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

➡️In case you missed it, you can check our film here: https://youtu.be/8ECjXpqDwsE?si=Ki6gUge-L04xWxHh

Huge thanks to Pac Creative Group for making this film, and to the many partners who made the project possible: Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, Coos Watershed Association, Weyerhaeuser, Wild Rivers Land Trust, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Wild Salmon Center, NOAA Fisheries Service, Timber Roads, Waterways Consulting, Pali Consulting, Logan Simpson, PaleoWest Archaeology, Archaeological Services LLC.

Coos Watershed Association Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians

(photos from film)