Programs
Restoring Flow to a Key Salmon StrongholdNews & Program Updates
North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership invests in improving fish habitat and restoring flows to Deer Creek in Oregon
Deer Creek has been identified as one of the most important spawning and rearing tributaries for coho salmon in the Illinois River sub-basin and Rogue watershed in Oregon. The North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership approved funds for a restoration project along a two mile stretch of Deer Creek identified by Kevin O'Brien of the Illinois Valley Soil and Water Conservation District and Illinois Valley Watershed Council. Funding for liDAR remote sensing on Deer Creek will provide essential baseline data for project design. Phase One of restoration will help leverage additional public and private financial support for the project.
Through the collaborative efforts of over ten private and public partners, including Oxbow Ranch landowner Ellen Lovett, the project will eventually return 3.2cfs to the stream, reconnect floodplains, stabilize stream banks, and restore natural hydrological processes and critical off channel rearing and spawning habitat along two continuous stream miles of Deer Creek.