Western Rivers Conservancy Update

Join us on Saturday, April 27th, at 10:30AM, as Jake Campbell and Jim Cox of the Western Rivers Conservancy update us on the latest projects undertaken by the Western Rivers Conservancy, including this section of the Little Deschutes and Paulina Creek.

“Confluences are often the most dynamic, biologically rich, and fascinating parts of a river. At WRC, we pay special attention to them, acting quickly when opportunities arise that allow us to protect these meeting points that breathe so much life into rivers. In Oregon, we just signed an agreement to purchase Paulina Meadows, a 655-acre property that surrounds the confluence of the Little Deschutes River and Paulina Creek, plus significant stretches of both streams.

The Little Deschutes is a tributary to its namesake river, the legendary Deschutes, one of Oregon’s most beloved trout and steelhead streams, and one of the great fly fishing rivers of the West. Paulina Creek flows from Paulina Lake in the Newberry Crater National Volcanic Monument, high in the Central Cascades. Most of this small stream is protected inside the National Monument and Deschutes National Forest, but a 1.75-mile reach of the creek, between the forest boundary and the Little Deschutes, remains unprotected. It is this stretch, along with the confluence and 1.5 miles of the Little Deschutes, that WRC will conserve by purchasing the Paulina Meadows property.

After purchasing the property, we will work to secure funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund so we can convey the property to the Bureau of Land Management. Protection of the property will complete the conservation of the entire length of Paulina Creek and complement significant habitat restoration efforts immediately upstream. The project will also safeguard important big game habitat within the state’s largest mule deer migration corridor and conserve critical habitat for Oregon spotted frog. Lastly, the project will improve recreational access for all manner of users.”

Western Rivers Conservancy is the only organization dedicated exclusively to saving the great rivers of the West through land acquisition. We buy critical properties along our finest rivers and streams to conserve habitat, protect key sources of cold water, and provide public access for all to enjoy.

We partner with long-term stewards like the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, state parks, tribes, and universities to ensure our conservation results are permanent. Western Rivers Conservancy has created sanctuaries for fish and wildlife and secured recreational access along more than 200 rivers and streams around the West. Our approach is effective, tangible, and permanent.

WRC’s projects vary widely in size and scale, but they all have one thing in common: impact. When we set out to buy and permanently conserve river lands, our efforts deliver an outsized benefit to the river—and to the fish, wildlife, and people that depend on it.

Royal Treatment Fly Fishing is proud to host this presentation and fully supports the work of the WRC.