Lower Rogue Watershed Council Capacity 19-21

The Council’s Guiding Principles: We believe that a healthy environment and a healthy community are inextricably linked. We believe that watershed stewardship should be based on a combination of sound science, education, and community involvement. We believe that a strong stewardship ethic enables us to leave healthy natural resources for future generations. We value our relationships with the landowners who have voluntarily joined in whole watershed habitat enhancement. General proposed work was 1) Watershed Conservation, Restoration, and Enhancement: Maintain, enhance, and restore function in the streams and estuaries of the lower Rogue River watershed. 2) Water Quality and Quantity: Assess and monitor water quality and quantity, and promote user participation in sustainable ecological practices and methods. 3) Community Outreach: Provide opportunities for community members to learn about natural resources and to participate in activities to benefit watershed health. 4) Community Sustainability: Promote strategies that produce a sustainable, natural resource-based economy. Project partners included: Curry Soil & Water District, South Coast Watershed Council, Rogue Basin Partnership, Curry Central School District, Curry Public Library, OSU Extension, Wild Rivers Land Trust, Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, and Freeman Rock, LLC. The Lower Rogue Watershed Council implemented the following projects under each category:1. Acquire form willing landowners and interest – 7 new partners; 2. Projects to protect or restore native fish & wildlife habitats – 4 projects; 3. Projects to protect or restore natural watershed function to improve water quality – 2 projects; 4. Resource assessment – 1 project; 5. Planning – 1 project; 6. Design & engineering – 2 projects; 7. Technical Assistance – 1 project; 8. Monitoring – 3 projects; 9. Outreach – 6 events (during covid).

The Lower Rogue Watershed contains 55 miles of mainstem stream habitat (and 100’s of miles of tributaries) for spring and fall Chinook salmon, coho salmon, summer and winter steelhead, cutthroat trout, lamprey, Klamath small-scale sucker, and green and white sturgeon. Limiting factors include amount of suitable rearing habitat for juveniles, temperature, water quantity, and channel modification.

The Lower Rogue Action Plan (2015) focuses largely on fish recovery actions. In the past 2 years the council has assisted with the development of 7 restoration projects that address salmon and/or steelhead and their habitats. The coordinator will utilize watershed assessments, action plans and relevant Recovery Plans to develop a prioritized list of future restoration and monitoring projects.