Restoration: Priorities and Projects

Restoring and Protecting Deschutes River Basin Habitat

The Upper Deschutes Home Rivers Initiative is focused on restoring and sustaining ecosystem connectivity in the Deschutes River Basin. TU engages in important river stewardship projects by organizing projects, providing volunteers, expanding project goals and deliverables, and building partnerships that will care for the basin far into the future. This may mean advocating for increased stream flows to bring more water through the basin; supporting riparian planting which provides strong habitat for our native fish species; or generally improving the conditions of watersheds in our area in order to provide quality spawning habitat for fish. We hope to reconnect and protect mainstem river systems with key tributaries which provide critical spawning grounds for the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead to the upper Deschutes River Basin. Both the larger river systems as well as these key tributaries also provide habitat for a diversity of life stages for redband trout and other native fish species.

In pursuit of these restoration processes, we are working with numerous agencies and organizations throughout the Deschutes River Basin. We are focused on five restoration priorities:

1. Protect water quality and fish habitat and pursue restoration opportunities through advocacy, policy, and conservation work with agencies and other organizations.
2. Reconnect and restore redband, bull trout, steelhead, and salmon habitat in the Upper Deschutes Basin and key spawning grounds downstream.
3. Sustain our Deschutes watershed by providing educational opportunities and materials concerning Upper Deschutes River conservation efforts to help foster a local voice for watershed stewardship.
4. Increase volunteer recruitment and opportunities for our local Deschutes Chapter members, regional fish advocates, and community members, and all ages of students to meet stewardship goals in the basin.
5. Build environmental capacity in Central Oregon by building partnerships, promoting planning and strategies, and tackling projects to work towards meeting priorities.

A classic bend in the Upper Deschutes River