Applegate Watershed

The Applegate Partnership & Watershed Council

The Applegate Partnership is a community-based non-profit organization involving industry, conservation groups, natural resource agencies, and residents cooperating to encourage and facilitate the use of natural resource principles that promote ecosystem health and diversity. Through community involvement and education, this partnership supports management of all land within the watershed in a matter that sustains natural resources and that will, in turn, contribute to economic and community well-being and resilience.

The Applegate Partnership had its beginning in October 1992 when a group of concerned people gathered to seek solutions to the "lizards vs. logs" conflict on U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands. We had grown weary of the constant conflict and battles that had degraded community life over the previous decade. It was generally concluded that natural resource management and environmental quality were not mutually exclusive and that common ground solutions could be found if everyone rolled up their sleeves and worked together. We soon discovered that the ecological concerns were not limited to timber harvest on public lands, but included housing expansion, land use laws, agriculture, road maintenance, traffic, water quality, air quality, private land habitat loss, restoration needs, community well-being, neighbor relations and many other social issues.

The Applegate Partnership was approached in 1994 by the State of Oregon to act as the Watershed Council for the Applegate Valley in support of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds. The Applegate River Watershed Council (ARWC) became the implementing group for restoration projects primarily on private lands in the Applegate. The Partnership and the ARWC have been successful in helping shift the management approaches taken by private landowners as well as public land managers in the Applegate Valley . Our federal partners moved to landscape level planning with broader ecological restoration activities and discontinued clear cutting as their primary harvest method. Strong leadership and collaboration with agency partners helped us to develop an extensive water quality monitoring program throughout the Applegate. Publication and distribution of the Applegator newspaper to all Applegate households and many agency partners has helped broaden the community's understanding of ecological restoration in our watershed.

THE APPLEGATE RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL

The Applegate River Watershed Council (ARWC) implements an integrated program designed to restore and sustain ecological structure and function in the Applegate Watershed. Our program begins with stream habitat and water quality monitoring, watershed-based analysis and planning, and education and community outreach. Building on the knowledge and relationships developed through these activities, we promote conservation and stewardship practices to maintain a healthy watershed and we conduct restoration projects to improve degraded areas. Strong community participation, volunteer efforts and partnerships with landowners, agencies, and interest groups are essential to the success of this program.

The Applegate River Watershed Council, a sub-committee of the Applegate Partnership, was recognized by the state and local governments in 1994. Projects include fish passage improvements and aquatic habitat restoration, road rehabilitation, floodplain enhancement and protection, revegetation of native riparian and upland plant communities, and the implementation of sustainable agricultural and forest management practices.

The Applegate River Watershed Council promotes a voluntary approach to ecological restoration, conservation, and stewardship of the Applegate River Watershed. Through our watershed-based assessments, we identify restoration needs and conservation opportunities. Working with landowners and natural resources agency representatives, we develop specific projects, seek funding when necessary, and provide project design and implementation assistance. The education and outreach work we do ensures that we not only raise awareness within the Applegate community concerning watershed health, but provide community members the opportunities and tools to improve it. Our monitoring projects are linked to all program components, providing data for watershed assessments, tracking program and project effectiveness, and providing educational experiences for community members.