A well protected and managed North Umpqua watershed that sustains robust populations of wild steelhead, salmon, lamprey and other native fish and wildlife, and serves as a model for the protection, restoration and management of other great rivers of the Northwest.
By any definition, Oregon’s North Umpqua is one of the Northwest’s “best” rivers. It is beloved by local residents and visitors from around the world for its natural beauty, biodiversity, wild fish, and recreational opportunities that include angling, boating, hiking, camping, and birdwatching.
Pacific Rivers has a long and proud history of conservation science, advocacy, action, and results in the North Umpqua River Watershed. It includes designation of the North Umpqua as a National Wild and Scenic River in 1988; major contributions to the development of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan to increase protection of the rivers and tributary streams of the North Umpqua (as well as many other rivers on federal forest lands in the region); a decade of consistent monitoring of salmonid populations in two key tributaries, Steamboat and Canton Creeks; and establishment of the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary in the Steamboat Creek Watershed.
But conservation is a commitment, not an endpoint. It requires eternal vigilance. Today, we work in partnership with allied organizations in the North Umpqua Coalition, and with federal, state and local agencies to protect and build on the results of our past work, and to identify present and emerging problems and threats.
Today, the North Umpqua Watershed is recovering from massive wildfires in recent years. A poorly planned effort in 2023 to repair a small dam that should not even exist led to disastrous consequences for water quality and fish. Plantings of hatchery steelhead, silt-laden runoff from disturbed forest areas, and fish migration barriers in spawning tributaries are impairing the recovery of the wild steelhead runs for which the river is renowned. There are proposals for recreational facilities that would diminish or destroy the very attributes that attract people to the North Umpqua. Perhaps most of all, despite the river’s designation as a National Wild and Scenic River, there remains today no comprehensive plan for protecting and restoring its unique values over the long term.
By any definition, Oregon’s North Umpqua is one of the Northwest’s “best” rivers. It is beloved by local residents and visitors from around the world for its natural beauty, biodiversity, wild fish, and recreational opportunities that include angling, boating, hiking, camping, and birdwatching.
Pacific Rivers has a long and proud history of conservation science, advocacy, action, and results in the North Umpqua River Watershed. It includes designation of the North Umpqua as a National Wild and Scenic River in 1988; major contributions to the development of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan to increase protection of the rivers and tributary streams of the North Umpqua (as well as many other rivers on federal forest lands in the region); a decade of consistent monitoring of salmonid populations in two key tributaries, Steamboat and Canton Creeks; and establishment of the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary in the Steamboat Creek Watershed.
But conservation is a commitment, not an endpoint. It requires eternal vigilance. Today, we work in partnership with allied organizations in the North Umpqua Coalition, and with federal, state and local agencies to protect and build on the results of our past work, and to identify present and emerging problems and threats.
Today, the North Umpqua Watershed is recovering from massive wildfires in recent years. A poorly planned effort in 2023 to repair a small dam that should not even exist led to disastrous consequences for water quality and fish. Plantings of hatchery steelhead, silt-laden runoff from disturbed forest areas, and fish migration barriers in spawning tributaries are impairing the recovery of the wild steelhead runs for which the river is renowned. There are proposals for recreational facilities that would diminish or destroy the very attributes that attract people to the North Umpqua. Perhaps most of all, despite the river’s designation as a National Wild and Scenic River, there remains today no comprehensive plan for protecting and restoring its unique values over the long term.
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In 2019 – in response to years of research and advocacy by Pacific Rivers and our allies – Congress designated the Frank and Jeanne Moore Wild Steelhead Sanctuary in the watershed of Steamboat Creek, the North Umpqua’s single most important tributary for spawning and rearing steelhead. The legislation recognized the Sanctuary’s values and stated broad goals for their protection. But five years later, there is still no clear federal agency plan to ensure that those goals are met.
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In 2023, we conducted our annual snorkel survey of juvenile salmonids (with participation once again of students from the local Phoenix High School) in Steamboat and Canton Creeks; summarized a decade’s worth of data and findings from those surveys; initiated a project to secure a protective watershed management plan for Steamboat Creek; investigated the possibility of securing water quality protection of Steamboat Creek through Outstanding Waters classification by ODEQ; continued our effort to end the summer steelhead hatchery program that imperils the North Umpqua’s wild steelhead; and supported allied organizations to hold the owners of Winchester Dam accountable for disastrous consequences of their “repairs” of the dam in the summer.
Those actions have led to additional progress, including formal petition with our coalition partners for classification of Steamboat Creek as an Oregon Outstanding Resource Water; a lawsuit brought by ODFW suing the Winchester Dam owners for damages of more than $27 million; and initiation of discussions with USFS and BLM officials regarding goals and comprehensive management strategies for the entire Steamboat Creek watershed, including its main tributary, Canton Creek.
Those actions have led to additional progress, including formal petition with our coalition partners for classification of Steamboat Creek as an Oregon Outstanding Resource Water; a lawsuit brought by ODFW suing the Winchester Dam owners for damages of more than $27 million; and initiation of discussions with USFS and BLM officials regarding goals and comprehensive management strategies for the entire Steamboat Creek watershed, including its main tributary, Canton Creek.
