About salmon drift creek watershed council
Salmon Drift Watershed Council has now merged with MidCoast Watersheds Council. For more information, please visit http://www.midcoastwatersheds.org.
SDCWC's mission was to promote the protection or restoration of healthy fish and wildlife resources, water quality, water quantity, and overall watershed health by assessing the condition of the watershed, determining restoration strategies, developing and implementing projects, and monitoring results.
Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council (SDCWC) does this work on Oregon's central coast in the watersheds near Lincoln City, from the Salmon River Estuary to Drift Creek. Local watershed volunteers established SDCWC as a 501(c)(3) public non-profit In 2005 in order to focus energy and efforts on addressing the critical and unique needs for habitat restoration and public ecosystem awareness in these watersheds.
A small sampling of SDCWC’s projects include the removal of a dam blocking coho passage on Rock Creek, a culvert survey on the Salmon River, restoration planting and fencing along Crowley Creek, the placement of large wood for fish habitat on Bear Creek, and planting native shrubs on the shoreline of Devils Lake. Major projects include restoration of the former Pixieland amusement park site and a nearby former mobile home park site (both within the Salmon River estuary) to a more natural state, improving fish and wildlife habitat. These projects included removal of man-made structures and earthen dikes, regrading elevations and restoring natural tributary channels, control of invasive plants, and planting with thousands of native trees, shrubs and grasses. Efforts like this require cooperation with federal, state and local agencies like the US Forest Service and hiring of many local contractors as well as coordination of volunteers.
Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council has run a water quality sampling and testing program throughout its jurisdiction in north Lincoln County since 2002, utilizing a dedicated crew of volunteers who collect samples in the field and run testing in the lab. This program is overseen by a staff water quality coordinator, who then reports findings to the State of Oregon’s DEQ.
SDCWC pioneered a program for educating local youth beginning in 2013, known as REEF (Restoring Ecosystems and Educating Future ecology leaders). While funding was available, this program reached thousands of local youth over 5 years to bring ecology education to the classroom and field trips in local watersheds, as well as operating a native plant nursery at Taft 7-12 in Lincoln City. Students learned about water sampling, watershed ecology, restoration efforts, ecology careers, and led a coastal meadow charette process. Current outreach efforts include development of a "watershed education" non-credit course at Oregon Coast Community College for local people to gain classroom and field-based learning.
This small, mostly volunteer non-profit organization has made real strides in protecting and restoring habitat for coastal salmon, and in the process improved habitat for a diversity of wildlife from Drift Creek in the south to Salmon River in the north. SDCWC has brought millions of habitat-restoration dollars into the community, employing local contractors and hiring fishers during their off-season to help with vegetation planting. Finally, we have worked to secure the future of these watersheds by educating our future conservation leaders and look forward to increased public education and volunteer activities.
We invite you to join us in these efforts!
SDCWC's mission was to promote the protection or restoration of healthy fish and wildlife resources, water quality, water quantity, and overall watershed health by assessing the condition of the watershed, determining restoration strategies, developing and implementing projects, and monitoring results.
Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council (SDCWC) does this work on Oregon's central coast in the watersheds near Lincoln City, from the Salmon River Estuary to Drift Creek. Local watershed volunteers established SDCWC as a 501(c)(3) public non-profit In 2005 in order to focus energy and efforts on addressing the critical and unique needs for habitat restoration and public ecosystem awareness in these watersheds.
A small sampling of SDCWC’s projects include the removal of a dam blocking coho passage on Rock Creek, a culvert survey on the Salmon River, restoration planting and fencing along Crowley Creek, the placement of large wood for fish habitat on Bear Creek, and planting native shrubs on the shoreline of Devils Lake. Major projects include restoration of the former Pixieland amusement park site and a nearby former mobile home park site (both within the Salmon River estuary) to a more natural state, improving fish and wildlife habitat. These projects included removal of man-made structures and earthen dikes, regrading elevations and restoring natural tributary channels, control of invasive plants, and planting with thousands of native trees, shrubs and grasses. Efforts like this require cooperation with federal, state and local agencies like the US Forest Service and hiring of many local contractors as well as coordination of volunteers.
Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council has run a water quality sampling and testing program throughout its jurisdiction in north Lincoln County since 2002, utilizing a dedicated crew of volunteers who collect samples in the field and run testing in the lab. This program is overseen by a staff water quality coordinator, who then reports findings to the State of Oregon’s DEQ.
SDCWC pioneered a program for educating local youth beginning in 2013, known as REEF (Restoring Ecosystems and Educating Future ecology leaders). While funding was available, this program reached thousands of local youth over 5 years to bring ecology education to the classroom and field trips in local watersheds, as well as operating a native plant nursery at Taft 7-12 in Lincoln City. Students learned about water sampling, watershed ecology, restoration efforts, ecology careers, and led a coastal meadow charette process. Current outreach efforts include development of a "watershed education" non-credit course at Oregon Coast Community College for local people to gain classroom and field-based learning.
This small, mostly volunteer non-profit organization has made real strides in protecting and restoring habitat for coastal salmon, and in the process improved habitat for a diversity of wildlife from Drift Creek in the south to Salmon River in the north. SDCWC has brought millions of habitat-restoration dollars into the community, employing local contractors and hiring fishers during their off-season to help with vegetation planting. Finally, we have worked to secure the future of these watersheds by educating our future conservation leaders and look forward to increased public education and volunteer activities.
We invite you to join us in these efforts!
Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council has merged with MidCoast Watersheds Council in Newport, OR. Inquiries for the north Lincoln County area should now be directed to their staff. Please visit http://www.midcoastwatersheds.org/
