Conservation Corner

Foundation Presents Check to WaterWatch

Thanks to your generous donations at our annual auction’s Keith Hansen Memorial Paddle Raise, The Flyfisher Foundation presented a check to WaterWatch for $31,050 – A paddle raise record!

Foundation President John Pyrch presents check to WaterWatch Executive Director, John DeVoe

Nehalem River Earns State Scenic Designation

Governor Kate Brown signed the order on June 30th to designate 17.5 miles of the Nehalem from Henry Rierson Spruce Run Campground to the river’s confluence with Cook Creek as a State Scenic Waterway. State scenic designation requires that any plans for logging, mining, and construction activities within 1/4 mile of each riverbank in the scenic area be submitted to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for review. This designation does not offer the degree of protection that a Federal Wild and Scenic designation provides. However, it does recognize the Nehalem as a river with outstanding recreational and natural value that should be preserved. The Nehalem joins 22 other Oregon Rivers that have been honored as State Scenic Waterways. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Report shows how our tax dollars funded the detailed work that allowed the Nehelem to become the 23rd State Scenic Waterway.

Hope for Threatened Coastal Coho

Oregon Board of Forestry accepted a petition submitted by 22 conservation and fish groups that will lead to a careful review to identify “resource sites” and develop rules to protect threatened species that are at risk due to state and private logging practices. This is a significant step forward in helping to address the relentless decline in Coastal Coho. Native Fish Society and Cascadia Wildlands have posted more information on the petition and what they hope to achieve.

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