Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council Capacity Application 2025-2027

The Middle Fork Willamette watershed forms the headwaters of the Willamette River, flowing west from the Cascade Mountain Range, through predominantly public lands, to the confluence of the Coast Fork Willamette river in Springfield. The Middle Fork Willamette Watershed Council (MFWWC) works with communities for a healthy Middle Fork Willamette watershed through three primary programs: habitat restoration, youth education, and community engagement. MFWWC staff work collaboratively across programs to engage students, youth, and community members in restoration efforts and cultivate stewardship-minded communities. Primary agency partners include the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Geological Survey, Oregon Parks and Recreation District, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Middle Fork Willamette watershed contains 278 miles of stream habitat for spring Chinook salmon. Limiting factors include high stream temperatures due to a lack of riparian vegetation, numerous fish passage barriers for upstream and downstream migration, altered geomorphic processes and hydrologic regimes, invasive plant species, wetland degradation, and lack of floodplain connectivity. The council’s 2012 Headwaters to Confluence 10 year action plan, and newly revised 3-year strategic plan (2022-2024) provide important strategic direction on fish recovery actions. In the past 2 years the council has assisted with either the development, implementation, or monitoring of 8 restoration projects that address salmon and/or steelhead and their habitats. MFWWC staff, including the Executive Director and Restoration Projects Manager, will utilize watershed assessments, action plans, and relevant Recovery Plans to develop a prioritized list of future restoration and monitoring projects. Increasing the acreage and potential benefit to salmon also increases the need for planning, stakeholder engagement, landowner input, and coordination with agency partners. This operating capacity grant directly enables the MFWWC to plan and develop these critical projects.