Long Tom Watershed Council (LTWC)

08/31/2026

Long Tom Watershed Council in partnership with the Calapooia Watershed Council
Completes Major Restoration Project at Snag Boat Bend Unit of William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, bringing benefits to wildlife and water quality.

✨A special thanks goes out to CWC Executive Director Collin McCandless, Haley Construction, SWCA Environmental Consultants, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!✨

Peoria, Oregon – The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) will reopen the Snag Boat Bend unit of William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge at the end of August following completion of a major habitat restoration project. The project has reconnected a 1.1-mile-long historical channel of the Willamette River at Snag Boat Bend, a 341-acre wildlife refuge located just south of the town of Peoria in Linn County. Channel reconnection is an important step in restoring floodplain connectivity, water quality, and natural river processes to improve habitat for native fish and other wildlife species. The site was closed to the public in July and August to allow crews to safely access the area and conduct their work.

USFWS has been working with the Long Tom Watershed Council (LTWC) to restore habitat at Snag Boat Bend since 2015.

“This work is the result of over a decade of collaborative efforts between non-profits, agency partners, and private landowners.” said Jed Kaul, Director of Programs at the Long Tom Watershed Council, “It’s a really monumental effort on behalf of so many different partners working with the river to improve habitat for native species in this area – to make sure that salmon will return here for generations to come.”

08/27/2026

Coming up this Tuesday! Join Amanda Reinholtz, LTWC’s River Scientist & GIS Specialist, at Monroe City Park for a free and fun summer outing on the water. Lend a helping hand to the watershed while also learning about invasive water primrose-willow (ludwigia) and parrot feather and how to control it.

Ludwigia has an extremely aggressive growth pattern. In just a couple of years, it can take over slower-moving bodies of water, forming dense mats that may span the entire water body and form a thick fringe of vegetation at the water’s edge. It can alter flow, impair aquatic habitat, reduce available oxygen in the water, interfere with navigation, recreation, and water withdrawal, and pose threats to water delivery and flood conveyance. Ludwigia populations in and around Eugene and the Long Tom Watershed are the oldest and furthest upstream populations of the plant in the Willamette system. This makes them source populations that lead to the spread of ludwigia to downstream areas. LTWC and partners have been highly successful in managing the spread of ludwigia and parrot feather over the years and have seen significant decreases in their populations. Sustained success depends on engagement from volunteers and property owners, so you’re help is extremely valuable!

RSVP is required, so click below to sign up and join in on the fun! ⬇️

https://www.longtom.org/long-tom-paddle-pull/

Snacks and training provided. Bring your own canoe or kayak, or use one of ours.

08/12/2026

07/30/2026

Exciting things are happening at Snag Boat Bend, a 341-acre wildlife refuge located just south of the town of Peoria in Linn County.

🐟 Habitat restoration is underway, where crews are working to remove a revetment to restore floodplain connectivity and natural river processes to a 1.1 mile channel of the Willamette River to improve habitat for native fish.

🚧 The site will remain closed from July 6th to August 28th to ensure visitor safety and to provide contractors with full access to complete the restoration.

🤝 This project wouldn’t be possible without the following organizations, funders and partners: US Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), Bonneville Power Association (BPA), Pacific Power Blue Sky Habitat Fund, River Design Group/SWCA Environmental Consultants and Haley Construction Co.

Thank you so much to these partners for making our work possible at landscape scale!

07/28/2026

🌱 LTWC and partners have been highly successful in managing the spread of ludwigia and parrot feather over the years and have seen significant decreases in their populations. Sustained success depends on engagement from volunteers and property owners, so your help is extremely valuable! 🛶 Join us for the Long Tom Paddle & Pull September 1st, 3pm-6pm, at The Monroe City Park! RSVP is required. Visit https://www.longtom.org/long-tom-paddle-pull/ (link in bio) to sign up. Spots are limited, so don’t delay if this sounds like fun to you!

🥨 Snacks and training provided. Bring your own canoe or kayak, or use one of ours.


07/16/2026

Mountain Rose Herbs has an awesome program called the Mountain Rose Restoration Project, where they connect their employees with opportunities to get involved in restoration and other volunteer projects in the area.

This year, seven Mountain Rose Herbs employee volunteers helped remove tons of Scotch broom within the footprint of an area previously burned in 2021 at our beloved Chaa-lamali.

Regular use of controlled fire helps reduce the encroachment of brush and noxious non-native plants. When we are unable to burn regularly, we need to give these areas a little TLC to keep sun, water, and nutrient resources available to our native and cultural plants, providing food and habitat for the wildlife that depend on them.

We are so grateful to the Mountain Rose Herbs volunteers—you wouldn't even know there was ever Scotch broom in that area! We hope you'll join us again next year! 💚

07/09/2026

Mark your calendars to visit Snag Boat Bend after August 26th!

Willamette River Floodplain Restoration at Snag Boat Bend Snag Boat Bend is a 341-acre unit of William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, and is owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is located just across and downstream of the historic mouth of the Long Tom River, on Peoria R...

06/24/2026

Do you have a project that could improve water quality, fish habitat, wetlands, or watershed health?

Through OWEB’s Small Grant Program, grants of up to $20,000 are available for on-the-ground restoration projects throughout Oregon. Applications are accepted year-round through April 15, 2027.

Eligible projects include:
• Native tree and shrub plantings
• Wetland restoration
• Fish passage improvements
• Irrigation efficiency upgrades
• Streambank stabilization
• Urban stormwater projects
• Erosion reduction and road impact improvements

Private landowners are welcome to participate by partnering with an eligible organization such as a watershed council, nonprofit, school, Tribe, or Soil and Water Conservation District.

Small actions can create lasting benefits for clean water, healthy fish and wildlife habitat, and resilient communities.

Interested in learning more? Email us at [email protected] or call (541)654-8965

06/18/2026

This afternoon, staff from the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs delivered 100 Pacific lamprey from the John Day to the Long Tom Watershed as part of a decades-long effort to restore lamprey populations in the greater Columbia River Basin.

The team was met on site by families with the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP), which connects Native youth and their families to culture and ecology. Youth helped release 50 lamprey into Coyote Creek and another 50 into the Long Tom River.

This year’s release was the second carried out through the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, a collaborative effort that unites Tribes in the Columbia basin to protect and promote native fish.

Ahead of the release, youth from the TEIP Program helped collect eDNA near the release sites. This monitoring will help determine how the first cohort of Long Tom lamprey (released in 2025) fared in the watershed, and supply researchers at CRITFC with important information to support ongoing efforts.

🔗 You can learn more about lamprey in the Long Tom and the work of CRITFC at www.mckenzieriver.org/longtom-lamprey

05/01/2026

Watershed stewardship takes more than good intentions-it takes partnership. 💧🌿🐟

At Deck Family Farm, that partnership comes to life through thoughtful creek management and a deep commitment to the land. With support from Long Tom Watershed Council, projects like riparian planting, fencing, and improved fish passage are helping protect water quality and create healthier habitat for native species.

Amanda from LTWC has been a key partner in this work, teaming up with the Deck family to bring technical expertise, collaboration, and care to each phase of the project.

👉 Read the full story: https://www.deckfamilyfarm.com/post/creek-management-on-deck-family-farm

👉 Learn more about the farm: https://www.deckfamilyfarm.com

Last week we were visited by the Long Tom Watershed Council for their regular monitoring of the creeks. The data collected helps us to be better stewards of our land. (Click for the full story...)