Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

WRC and the Umatilla Tribe’s accomplishments came after several years of exploring riverland properties that would deliver conservation and land repatriation in eastern Oregon. In 2014, we hit on our first winning property and were able to return 545 acres along Catherine Creek (a tributary to the Grande Ronde and Snake rivers) to the tribe. Once in tribal ownership, the CTUIR undertook a massive restoration project to completely revitalize 2.5 miles of Catherine Creek—what was then the highest salmon restoration priority in the Columbia Basin. In 2025, we again partnered with the CTUIR to place a conservation easement on the UmaBirch Floodplain property, which allows the tribe to access and restore critical wetlands and floodplain habitat at the confluence of Birch Creek and the Umatilla River. Upstream of the UmaBirch property on Birch Creek, WRC and the CTUIR are working to conserve the 100-acre Birch Creek Ranch, which will allow the Tribes to continue stream and floodplain restoration as well as return 1.48 CFS of water rights back in-stream.