Willamette River Restoration

MMT identified the Willamette River as a key focus area for many reasons. The Willamette Basin, the large watershed drained by the river, is home to over two-thirds of Oregon's population and the source of 75% of its economic output. The river itself, by volume the 13th largest in the nation, is one of the defining features of the state's geography and, in western Oregon, an important contributor to our sense of place. The Willamette and its tributaries are located entirely within Oregon's boundaries, so its destiny is largely in the hands of Oregonians.

In the face of continued population and development pressures, the future of the river is uncertain. Already too warm for salmon, and – at least in places – too polluted for swimming, the Willamette was identified in 2006 as one of the country's most endangered rivers. Important floodplain and riparian habitats have declined significantly. The population of the Willamette Valley is expected to nearly double by 2050, placing additional pressure on the river and surrounding lands. Current restoration efforts are largely uncoordinated across many types of organizations, from grassroots groups to government agencies.

In light of these issues, MMT believes that it is critical to take action now to protect and restore the health of the Willamette. Only a few private funders in the region currently contribute substantially to river restoration. We view restoration of the Willamette as timely and ripe for intervention and an opportunity to make a significant difference in improving the lives of Oregonians.

MMT is lucky to be working with many partners in the Willamette. Our grantees to date include:

• Long Tom Watershed Council
• Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council
• Calapooia Watershed Council
• North Santiam Watershed Council
• South Santiam Watershed Council
• Luckiamute River Watershed Council
• Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah
• Freshwater Trust
• Network of Oregon Watershed Councils
• Bonneville Environmental Foundation
• Lane Council of Governments
• Oregon State University
• Institute for Natural Resources
• Willamette Riverkeeper
• The Nature Conservancy
• McKenzie River Trust

Video: Freeing the Calapooia

Willamette River Initiative Status Update November 2011

Overview

The Meyer Memorial Trust’s Willamette River Initiative (WRI) was established in July 2008. Since then, MMT has made 52 grant awards, totaling just over $3.9 million, to 23 non-profit organizations and watershed councils working to help protect and restore the river and its tributaries. As the initiative progresses, we are often reminded of the scale and complexity of the Willamette system, and the necessity of working collaboratively if we our investments are to yield “meaningful, measurable improvements” in the river’s health. At this particular juncture, we are heartened by the number of non-profits, municipalities, agencies and landowners working towards this goal – and by the indications that WRI is playing a significant role in both attracting and supporting their engagement.

Highlights

• Mainstem Willamette Landowner Participation – From the earliest days of the Initiative, it has been clear that no effort to restore the Willamette can be successful without the involvement of the farmers, sand and gravel companies, and public agencies whose lands lie along the river. MMT funds have provided local land trusts, watershed councils and other groups with the capacity to conduct outreach to these key stakeholders. As a result of these efforts, there are currently 15-20 private and public landowners engaged in discussions or activities related to improved stewardship, conservation and habitat restoration on their lands.
•  Reach Level Planning and Restoration – The 15-mile stretch of the river between Albany and Corvallis includes six on-going or planned restoration projects, presenting an opportunity to “tip” conditions toward improved river health at a meaningful ecological scale – and requiring project sponsors and other stakeholders to think about their work in a larger context. MMT has played a role in supporting four of the six projects through grants, and by convening the various interests working in this reach to share information and coordinate their efforts. A similar “landscape level” project area is developing in the upper Willamette, including Green Island and TNC’s Willamette Confluence site.
• Funder Alignment – There are now four major sources of Willamette River funding in WRI’s target geography above Willamette Falls – MMT (the only private funder), the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). These funders have the combined capacity to invest a minimum of $4-5 million annually in river conservation and restoration. We have recently begun to discuss how improved funder coordination might maximize desired conservation impacts while respecting individual funders’ authorities and accountability needs.

Mainstem Project Updates

• Willamette River Confluence – The Nature Conservancy is moving ahead with plans to restore a variety of native floodplain, riparian and upland habitats at this large property at the confluence of the Coast and Middle forks of the Willamette, including a number of legacy gravel pits. TNC has submitted a proposal to the OWEB Willamette Special Investment Partnership (SIP) for funding to support initial restoration planning at the site.
• Harkens Lake and Horseshoe Lake Properties – Greenbelt Land Trust (GLT) continues to make progress on these mid-Willamette conservation easement/acquisition projects. Grants for both projects have been approved through the Willamette SIP process ($1.8 million). The landowners have agreed to appraised values and easement terms are being negotiated, with the goal of closing on all properties during late fall and winter of 2011-12.
• Half-Moon Bend State Park – At this project site, local landowners and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department are collaborating to reduce invasive weeds and plan future restoration activities, including enhanced floodplain forest and, potentially, improved side channel habitat. Two rounds of site preparation work occurred in 2011. To date, no MMT funds have been requested for this work, though we have facilitated key discussions between local landowners and the agency. Plant materials will be provided through the consolidated nursery stock contract being developed and managed by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
• Albany Reach Assessment – This effort, completed in March, identified a number of potential restoration sites in the Albany area, and a local stakeholder group identified Albany Oxbow Lakes/Cox Creek as the highest priority for implementation. The Calapooia Watershed Council, in partnership with the City of Albany, has submitted a grant request focused on restoration planning and design work to improve aquatic habitat function, restore connectivity between the lakes, remove fish passage barriers, and expand riparian forests at this large site.

Willamette Model Watershed Program Update

In 2011, MMT awarded $826,900 in grants to its five model watershed partners and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The model watersheds are beginning to implement their 10-year restoration plans, including preparing sites for native riparian plantings. Planting this winter (plans are for planting more than 40,000 trees and shrubs) will occur primarily in the Calapooia and Santiam watersheds. BEF has ordered over 800,000 plants for restoration projects scheduled in 2012 and 2013 (including several planting projects on the mainstem). OWEB awarded $1.6 million for model watershed projects in 2010, has committed an additional $1.0 million to the program in its 2011-13 SIP budget.

Basin-Wide Impact Updates

The Basin-Wide Impact Fund (BWIF) supports the development of tools that could inform and improve restoration work throughout the basin, including scientific and policy research, market or sector-based approaches to restoration, and demonstration projects. Since January, BWIF grants have been awarded to:

• Stan Gregory (OSU) and David Hulse (UO) for continued research on cold water refugia and fish populations and to add related data to the SLICES monitoring framework
• Oregon Environmental Council for policy research on ways to fund non-point source pollution monitoring and abatement efforts
• Long Tom Watershed Council to develop cooperative approaches to reducing pesticide run-off from farmland and businesses in the Amazon Creek watershed
• Willamette Partnership to strengthen mitigation requirements for development activities impacting streams
• Cascade Pacific RC & D for efforts by the Processed Vegetable Growers Commission and the OSU Horticulture Department to develop cooperative biodiversity conservation plan with farmers in the Willamette River floodplain
• Freshwaters Illustrated to support production of a Willamette Futures film depicting the natural history of the river and profiling the people working to protect it. Grants awarded to BWIF projects during the current fiscal year (FY 2012) total $219,530.

Other Highlights

• WRI Website – WRI is working with Portland-based web developers ThinkShout to design and launch a Willamette River Initiative website. In July, as part of the design process, we convened a group of our grantees and other partners to solicit thoughts on what kinds of functionality and content would be beneficial to their work. We’ve selected a logo, approved the overall organization of the site, and are beginning to develop content. We are designing the site primarily as a resource for our grantees and other Willamette partners, but also as a place for other funders, non-profits and the interested general public to learn about the river and our collective efforts to improve its health. We expect the site to launch in early 2012.
• Grantee Meeting – On November 2nd and 3rd, we hosted the first gathering of all MMT’s WRI grantees. The meeting focused largely on information sharing about funded projects, but also included several hours of discussion regarding ways to improve the collective impact of our work. We will use major themes from the meeting to develop WRI’s 2012 budget and work plan, and to help us plan for the next Within Our Reach conference, which is scheduled to take place in early December of next year.
• Fall Meetings and Presentations – We had a busy fall with a number of meetings and field visits, including attending the September OWEB board meeting in Roseburg, speaking at the annual meeting of the Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation and Development District in October, participating in a strategic planning focus group discussion for the Mary’s River Watershed Council, serving as a guest speaker during a “floating classroom” day with OSU and UO students, and presenting to the Northwest Environmental Grantmakers in Seattle.

WRI Project Grants Summary

2011 to date: Total = $1,409,796
Main Stem = $126,527; Model Watershed = $826,900; BW Impact = $456,369
Since 2008: Total = $3,968,707
Main Stem = $1,177,468; Model Watershed = $2,206,570; BW Impact = $584,669

Status Update April 2011

Overview

MMT’s Willamette River Initiative (WRI) has now been in place for almost three years.  During this time, we have made 39 grant awards – totaling $3,573,331 – to 14 nonprofit organizations and watershed councils working to improve the river’s health.  As noted in FSG’s recent “lookback” report, WRI has established itself as a credible leader, developed effective working relationships and significantly increased capacity and coordination among Willamette River stakeholders.

Highlights

Basin Wide Impact Fund Grants – WRI has awarded two grants through the new “Basin Wide Impact Fund” since the January 2011 MMT program meeting.  A grant of $70,000 was awarded to the Long Tom Watershed Council to implement – in partnership with the City of Eugene and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality – a Pesticide Stewardship Partnership (PSP) to reduce nonpoint pollution in Amazon Creek. This PSP is unique from others in the state because it will address both urban and agricultural land uses in the Amazon watershed.  We also awarded a $56,000 grant to Salmon Safe and the Food Alliance to develop certification standards with the nursery industry, which is a heavy user of certain toxic chemicals detected at unsafe levels in some Willamette basin waterways.

Willamette Wildlife Habitat Agreement  (WWHA) – As reported previously, last October the State of Oregon and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) signed an agreement establishing a long-term, BPA-funded wildlife habitat program in the Willamette Basin.  The agreement will bring over $150 million into the basin over the next 15 years, most of which will be dedicated to land acquisition.  WRI has been asked to serve on the taskforce charged with developing criteria and standards for awarding these funds, and we continue to work closely with key state agencies regarding how best to maximize leveraging opportunities with the MMT/OWEB Special Investment Partnership.  We have briefed the agencies on MMT’s new conservation land acquisition PRI, and will keep them apprised of details as they develop.

Mainstem Project Updates

There have been several developments on the mainstem Willamette since January:

Harkens Lake and Oxbow Lake Properties – Progress continues on these important mid-Willamette conservation easement/floodplain restoration projects.  Acquisition of conservation easements will be co-funded through the OWEB Willamette Special Investment Partnership and the WWHA (see above).  MMT funds have supported appraisal work, Greenbelt Land Trust capacity to work with the landowners and an assessment of opportunities to work with other landowners in the area.

Blue Ruin Island – Located in Lane County, Blue Ruin Island contains mostly intact floodplain forest, gravel bars, and large woody debris in a very dynamic part of the river.  It contains one of the most important coldwater fish refuge areas on the Willamette.  Using WWHA funds, the McKenzie River Trust will purchase two private properties adjacent to existing state land, and is negotiating for a third parcel owned by Linn County.   We have received a request from MRT for a small grant to cover appraisal costs for these properties.

Half-Moon Bend – This new project site, north of Corvallis on the west side of the river, involves multiple landowners, including Oregon State Parks, OSU, Knife River (aggregate), and several private parties.  In February, State Parks contracted with local farmers to mow invasive plants and prepare 25 acres for restoration on its land.  Future restoration will include floodplain forest re-vegetation and potential culvert replacement/removal to improve side channel flows.  

Research, Planning, and Assessment Work – MMT-funded projects mapping high flows (to assist in identifying and planning restoration sites) and assessing restoration opportunities in the Albany area have been finalized.

Willamette Model Watershed Program Update

MMT is scheduled to award $700,000 in grants to its five model watershed partners and project manager Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) in FY 2012 (which began April 1).  OWEB recently approved $1 million in funding for on-the-ground restoration projects identified in model watershed restoration plans, and expects to approve another $1 million next year.  The proposed projects will restore 56 miles of stream, re-vegetate 315 acres of riparian area, restore large wood to 24 miles of stream and involve 125 landowners. 

Other Activities

• Received draft PSU assessment of options for improving coordination among key agencies and funders
• Traveled with several partners to Chico, CA to meet with nonprofit group implementing large-scale riparian restoration projects in the Sacramento system
• Issued RFP for first phase of WRI website development
• Updated three-year strategic plan and annual work plan; began assessing additional staffing needs and long-term organizational structure for WRI  
• Presented WRI/Willamette SIP update to OWEB board of directors

During FY 2011, WRI Restoration Grants Totals (paid or committed):

Main Stem projects – $427,845     
Model Watershed projects – $500,000    
Basin Wide Impact projects – $131,420
2011 Total – $1,059,265

Status Update January 2011

Overview

MMT’s Willamette River Initiative has now been in place for two and a half years. During this time, we have made 39 grant awards totaling more than $3.1 million to 13 non-profit organizations and watershed councils. In addition, the Initiative’s role in helping align key Willamette stakeholders around a shared restoration vision, in building the financial and institutional foundation to implement that vision over the long term, continues to grow. 

Highlights

Within Our Reach Conference – The MMT and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) -sponsored conference Within Our Reach:  New Partnerships for a Healthier Willamette was held December 7-8 at Oregon State University. Over 150 non-profit and watershed council representatives, scientists, agency personnel, landowners, and students attended. Speakers included noted regional scientists and natural resource policy specialists, public agency directors and program managers, landowners and others. Twelve MMT partner organizations brought detailed project exhibits to share with participants. The conference was well received and many participants urged MMT to convene similar Willamette gatherings on an annual or biennial basis.  

Willamette Wildlife Habitat Agreement – In October, the State of Oregon and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) signed an agreement establishing a long-term, BPA-funded habitat protection and restoration program in the Willamette Basin.   This program, which resolves BPA’s legal obligations to mitigate for the impact of the Willamette system dams on fish and wildlife, will bring over $150 million into the basin over the next 15 years.  Most of this money will be dedicated to land acquisition.  MMT has been asked to serve on an advisory committee charged with developing selection criteria for projects to be funded under the agreement.

Mainstem Project Updates

There have been several important developments on the mainstem Willamette since August:

• Willamette River Confluence Acquisition – This property, previously owned by the Wildish Land Company of Eugene, encompasses 1270 acres of valuable fish and wildlife habitat, including over six miles of river and stream banks.  It also includes four of the highest priority floodplain restoration sites identified in a recent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Nature Conservancy (TNC) study (partially funded by MMT).  TNC acquired the property in October using $23.4 million in BPA and OWEB funds.  No MMT funds were involved in the acquisition.
• Confluence Aggregate Restoration Acquisition – This $1.3 million acquisition, which also closed in October, includes 58 acres of floodplain surrounding the old McKenzie River channel on the southeast side of Green Island, currently the single largest floodplain restoration site on the river.   The McKenzie River Trust will hold title to the site. MMT funds paid for the property appraisal and the development of site restoration alternatives.
• Greenbelt Land Trust Projects – Progress continues on two mid-Willamette conservation easement/floodplain restoration projects under development through the Greenbelt Land Trust of Corvallis.  Grant requests for both projects have been initially approved through the OWEB Special Investment Partnership process.  MMT funds have supported appraisal work, Greenbelt Land Trust’s capacity to work with the landowners, and an assessment of opportunities to work with other landowners in the area.
• Half-Moon Bend – This new project site, north of Corvallis on the west side of the river, involves multiple landowners. Restoration could include floodplain forest re-vegetation and potential culvert replacement/removal to improve alcove/slough conditions.  We expect a grant application in the spring of 2011.
• Research, Planning & Assessment Work – MMT-funded projects designed to help identify key restoration opportunity areas between Eugene and Albany will be finalized in the first quarter of next year.

Willamette Model Watershed Program Update

MMT has awarded $500,000 in grants to its five model watershed partners in this fiscal year.  This past summer and fall, program management staff at the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) and representatives of model watersheds presented OWEB with multi-project funding proposals supporting implementation of each watershed’s 10-year restoration strategy.  OWEB has committed $1.0 million to model watersheds for these purposes in 2011, and expects to commit another $1.0 million in 2012.

Status Update August 2010

Overview

In July 2008, MMT trustees authorized the first two Willamette River Initiative funding strategies.  Since then, the initiative has helped catalyze a dozen river restoration projects on the mainstem above Willamette Falls, as well as plans and public funding to conduct restoration work on close to 50 tributary stream miles.  As the projects associated with these grants develop, we are gaining a clearer picture of both the rewards and frustrations of attempting river and stream restoration at a “meaningful, measurable” scale. 

Meanwhile, the strategic planning exercise we initiated last fall has produced a three-year blueprint calling for a growing WRI role in aligning Willamette stakeholders around a shared restoration vision, and building the financial and institutional foundation to implement that vision over the long term.  This evolution is driving us to take a new look at the initiative’s staffing and governance structures over the next several months.
 
Mainstem Highlights

Nine restoration projects have now been funded through the Willamette Special Investment Partnership, seven on the Willamette and two on the McKenzie River (the other three of the dozen mentioned above have not yet applied for funding). Only one new mainstem grant has been made since our April report, an early project development award of $65,670 to the Greenbelt Land Trust for site planning, landowner outreach and real estate appraisal costs associated with several prospective farmland/floodplain easement projects. Assuming they go forward, these  projects are well positioned to receive habitat restoration and stewardship funding from MMT, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and the Bonneville Power Administration. In addition to these projects, MMT grants made in 2009 to the McKenzie River Trust (MRT) have resulted in the acquisition of a key parcel on the lower McKenzie and an option to purchase a separate parcel that will expand MRT’s floodplain restoration acreage at Green Island.
 
The side channel reconnection project at Willamette Mission State Park will not take place this summer.  Instead, work will be limited to invasive plant removal and native species plantings.  Grantee and project manager Willamette Riverkeeper, along with its public agency partners, has worked hard to address concerns regarding potential impacts on adjoining farms, and federal permits for the project seem likely to be approved in the near future.  However, OWEB has decided to withhold funding for the side channel work to allow additional time for negotiations with neighboring landowners.
 
Willamette Model Watershed Program

In May, MMT awarded five $100,000 grants to model watershed program participants in support of the first full year of the program.  OWEB has earmarked $500,000 for high priority restoration projects in the model watersheds this year, and projects another $1 million will be available in the 2011-13 biennium.  These projects – focused on long, contiguous stretches of stream and involving multiple landowners – are ambitious and ecologically significant. Model watershed program grantees and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), which manages the program on MMT’s behalf, have collaborated with several respected scientists to develop a “first of its kind” monitoring program to gather data to gauge the results of restoration activities.  BEF is providing technical assistance to augment local capacity to implement the projects and the monitoring program.
 
Other Developments

• Strategic Planning – A final draft of the initiative’s strategic plan has been reviewed by our advisory group and by the WRI management committee. Comments are being incorporated and a summary of the plan will be shared with key partners this summer. The plan has four primary goals supported by a number of strategies and specific activities.
• Within Our Reach Conference – MMT, OWEB, and other partners are planning a two-day conference focused on the main stem Willamette for December 7-8 at the OSU Alumni Center in Corvallis. We are aiming to attract 125-150 people from watershed councils; state, federal and local agencies and Tribes; consultants, land trusts and landowners to the conference.
• Meetings attended by WRI staff since April include:

• Watershed Committee of the BEF Board of Directors
• Green Island celebration and river tour
• Model watershed grantee meeting (at MMT) and Tualatin watershed tour
• Oregon Governor’s Fund grant awards ceremony
• Meeting of Oregon land conservation/stream restoration funders
• Russell Family Foundation stormwater management informational meeting
• Meeting with directors of Oregon State Parks & OWEB regarding Mission Slough project
• Annual Tides Center governance conference call
• OWEB project review team meeting

Grants made under the Willamette River Restoration Initiative are included in MMT's Awards Database.

Status Update May 2010

Background
The goal of the Willamette River Initiative is to “achieve meaningful, measurable improvements in the health of the Willamette River and selected tributaries by 2015, creating a national model for effective philanthropic engagement in the restoration of large, complex ecological systems.”  The initiative’s first two funding strategies are focused on improving river/riparian habitat and function on the mainstem of the Willamette and restoring watershed health in selected Willamette tributary systems.

Mainstem Willamette Strategy
Since January, MMT has awarded four grants totaling approximately $256,600 in support of mainstem projects, bringing the total for FY 2010 to a little over $485,000.  All projects funded since January are aimed at identifying and cultivating new restoration opportunities, with a significant focus on high-priority locations in the mainstem/McKenzie confluence area and the Albany – Corvallis reach.  These efforts are expected to yield on-the-ground restoration opportunities in 2010 and 2011; several landowners in these areas have already expressed interest in projects.
 
We continue to monitor the status of the restoration work proposed at Willamette Mission State Park, the first project funded under the Special Investment Project.  As reported previously, though the project receives high marks for ecological benefit, implementation has been stalled by federal permitting issues and neighbor concerns.  Our grantee, Willamette Riverkeeper, and the landowner, Oregon State Parks, have worked diligently to address those concerns.  We should know within 60 days whether the project will move forward in the current construction season.
 
Tributary Strategy
MMT has awarded approximately $240,000 in grants related to the model watershed program since the January 2010 status update, including a grant to the Bonneville Environmental Foundation for FY 2011 program administration.  Also since our last report, all model watershed grantees (first round grantees Middle Fork, Long Tom, and N. Santiam/S. Santiam/Calapooia watershed councils, along with second round finalists the Luckiamute and Mary’s River councils) have completed drafts of 10-year restoration strategies for each sub-watershed in the program. Model watershed grants for 2010 now total $646,000.
 
Overall, the draft strategies propose restoration activities on approximately one-third of the total stream miles in the model sub-watersheds, working with nearly 650 landowners who have already been identified as being interested in restoration work on their properties.  BEF’s watershed science committee is currently reviewing the proposals.  Assuming favorable review, BEF and MMT will begin negotiating program participation and funding agreements with the model watersheds later this month.  The groups plan to continue landowner outreach and conduct baseline monitoring this summer, with restoration projects slated to begin in 2011.  A detailed monitoring and evaluation program has been drafted and is also under review by the BEF watershed committee, model watershed program personnel, and other experts.

Other Developments

• Strategic Planning – We are completing the final draft of a strategic plan for the initiative developed with the assistance of an advisory group of Willamette stakeholders.  The plan endorses continuation of the mainstem and tributary funding strategies, identifies ways in which the initiative could strengthen the alignment of public agencies, nonprofits, and watershed councils around a common restoration vision, and urges a stronger convening and independent research role for the initiative.  It contains suggestions for additional funding strategies. The draft plan will be shared with the WRI management committee in May and presented to the trustees for discussion and consideration at a later date.
• Shared Restoration Priorities – Principal partners in mainstem restoration work, including MMT, OWEB, and The Nature Conservancy, have initiated discussions regarding development of a set of restoration planning maps for the Eugene – Albany section of the river.  The maps will provide detailed topographic information and depict the location of “anchor habitat” areas based on the work of Stan Gregory, Dave Hulse, and other experts at a scale usable by project proponents.  MMT, OWEB, and the Bonneville Power Administration are focusing restoration funding in these areas.  The maps will also show the geographic “footprint” of various river levels, further assisting the identification of high-potential restoration sites.
• State Conservation Funding Ballot Initiative – TNC, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Trust for Public Land are leading an effort to make permanent the dedication of lottery funds to parks and natural resources first approved by Oregon voters in 1998. OWEB administers half the funds – approximately $30 million per year in grants to watershed councils, land trusts and others for watershed restoration projects, including the Willamette Special Investment Partnership. Funding ends in 2014 unless voters approve an extension.

Meetings attended by WRI staff since December include:

• Water Funders – Conference of state, regional, and national funders of water conservation and restoration work, held in January in Racine, Wisconsin.
• State Conservation Funder Network – New network of state, federal, and private funders of conservation work in Oregon including U.S. Department of Agriculture, OWEB, MMT, Oregon Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Environmental Quality, and others.
• OSU Farm Tours – Tours of mid-Willamette farms owned by growers with a strong interest in conservation, including riparian and other stream restoration.
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – Assisted review of Willamette-related applications to the Governor’s Fund for the Environment.
• General – Multiple coordination meetings in Corvallis, Albany, and Salem to discuss ongoing and pending projects.

Status Update as of January 2010

To date, MMT has invested approximately $1.25 million in its Willamette River funding initiative. Grant awards have been split about equally between the main stem and tributary strategies. On the main stem, grants are being used to support such things as:

• Studies and plans needed to identify restoration options, costs and benefits
• Outreach to private landowners who may be interested in conservation and stewardship projects addressing the initiative's ecological objectives
• Costs related to project management
• Monitoring and evaluation

To date, most interest in main stem projects has focused on public lands, including Willamette Mission State Park near Salem, Bowers Rock State Park near Albany, and the Howard Buford Recreation Area in Lane County. Funds are available to support additional main stem projects, or projects in the lower reaches of major Willamette tributaries, that address the objectives of floodplain restoration and increased channel complexity. For more information, contact initiative staff.

Grants made through the tributary program, now called the Willamette Model Watershed Program, support the development of long-range restoration plans for three model watershed groups–the Long Tom Watershed Council, the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council, and a collaborative group comprising the North and South Santiam and Calapooia watershed councils. Over time, MMT funds will be used to implement and evaluate the long-range plans. MMT also provides funds to the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to provide technical assistance and other support to the model watershed groups.

The application process for the model watershed program is now closed.