Western Rivers Conservancy is creating a wild refuge along Portland's backyard river, the Sandy, in Oregon. The Sandy River and its tributaries are natural treasures on Portland's eastern edge, linking the glaciers of Mt. Hood with the Columbia River. With scenic deep gorges, runs of wild salmon and steelhead, and a string of public parks and nature preserves, the Sandy River has been a favorite playground and sanctuary for Oregonians for more than a century.
In the summer of 1999, Western Rivers Conservancy and Portland General Electric (PGE) formed a partnership to restore the Sandy and Little Sandy rivers to health. PGE carried out its plans to remove Marmot Dam on the main-stem Sandy in 2007 and the Little Sandy Dam in 2008, making the rivers completely free flowing. PGE is also donating 1,500 acres to Western Rivers Conservancy over the course of the project. Western Rivers Conservancy is committed to acquire 4,500 acres of riverlands in order to assemble continuous river corridors along thirteen miles of the Sandy River and four miles of the Little Sandy. These corridors are becoming refuges for fish and wildlife and a public resource for hikers, floaters, anglers and viewers of salmon and wildlife. The new natural resource and recreation area will be managed by the Bureau of Land Management as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
Assembling this refuge is a multi-year project for Western Rivers Conservancy. Dozens of landowners are involved, both individuals and corporations. To date, WRC has acquired more than 3,000 acres of high-quality habitat along ten river miles in the Sandy basin. This includes 789 acres of forested properties donated by PGE. Land protection, combined with PGE's removal of dams and diversions in the basin, are giving the Sandy and Little Sandy's runs of wild salmon and steelhead the best possible opportunity to recover and thrive.
Some notable acquisitions:
Purchase of the historic Koch Ranch on Mensinger Bottom included nearly two miles of river frontage where the owner had proposed a major sand and gravel mine, vehemently opposed by local residents.
Along the Sandy's spectacular Inner Gorge, WRC acquired 356 acres with approved building permits, preventing home site development along a critical reach. WRC has completed protection of the Inner Gorge, which provides some of the most thrilling whitewater in northwestern Oregon as well as deep pools and rearing habitat for threatened salmon and steelhead.
Western Rivers Conservancy also has acquired 450 acres on the Little Sandy River, once a blue-ribbon steelhead stream, 200 acres on Wildcat Creek and 39 acres on the Salmon River, a critical tributary for fish. The lands WRC is acquiring are helping to create a north-south habitat connection between the old growth forests of the Bull Run Watershed Management Unit and the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness Area.
