McKenzie Watershed Education Outreach Project

The McKenzie Watershed Education and Outreach program integrates watershed education with active watershed enhancement and monitoring. The program involved middle and high students from three school districts (Springfield Public Schools, Marcola School District, and McKenzie School District) within the McKenzie River Watershed. Over 500 students participated in the program during the two-year grant period covering the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years. Program activities focused on involving students in active restoration projects such as riparian restoration and in-stream enhancement through tree planting, site preparation, general maintenance, and pre- and post-project monitoring. Other student teams focused on water quality monitoring and stream habitat surveys. Classroom lessons were developed and implemented with two schools and both involved field study aspects developed around on-campus streams. Partners included the Eugene Water & Electric Board, the McKenzie River Trust, the Eugene District BLM, USFS McKenzie River Ranger District and private landowners. OWEB funding supported project management. Additional program funding was sourced from the Charlotte Martin Foundation and the International Paper Foundation.

The McKenzie Watershed Education Outreach Program seeks to achieve the following primary goals: I) the creation of applied learning opportunities for middle and high school students through active watershed monitoring and enhancement projects, and 2) the development of voluntary and collaborative watershed enhancement projects with private landowners. Field-based education programs will increase middle and high school student knowledge and understanding of the salmon life cycle, habitat requirements, land use actions that impact salmon, and restoration actions that may be taken to enhance critical salmon habitats. Student monitoring data will aid landowner outreach designed to develop voluntary and cooperative watershed restoration projects within the McKenzie watershed. Enhancement projects such as riparian enhancement and large wood placement will directly benefit spring Chinook salmon through by increase protective stream buffers along waterways, filtering of nutrients, providing a source of woody material and small detritus for recruitment into waterways, creation of cover critical for juvenile rearing and refugee, and aid in the retention of substrate critical for maintaining spawning habitat.