WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER

RESTORATION:IN 2023, WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER ORGANIZED AND HOSTED THE WILLAMETTE AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES SUMMIT IN SALEM DRAWING 100 PROFESSIONALS AND PRACTITIONERS, TO ASSESS CURRENT CONDITIONS AND DISCUSS FUTURE STRATEGIC PLANNING EFFORTS FOR PRIORITY AQUATIC SPECIES ACROSS THE WILLAMETTE WATERSHED.OUR 2023 AQUATIC INVASIVE ERADICATION EFFORTS FOCUSED ON TWO EARLY DETECTION RAPID RESPONSE (EDRR) "A" LISTED AQUATIC INVASIVES; YELLOW FLOATING HEART (NYMPHOIDES PELTALA), AND GARDEN LOOSESTRIFE (LYSIMACHIA VULGARIS). STAFF AND PARTNERS SURVEYED 125 MILES OF THE RIVER, IN ADDITION TO SEVERAL MILES OF BACK CHANNELS, ALCOVES AND SLOUGHS. SIMULTANEOUS TREATMENTS WERE COMPLETED WHILE ON THESE SURVEYS, BY OUR CONTRACTORS. THIS ALLOWED OUR STAFF TO DETECT NEW POPULATIONS OF BOTH SPECIES, AND DOCUMENT SUCESSES FROM OUR 2022 TREATMENT EFFORTS RESULTING IN THE ERADICATION OR LARGELY REDUCED HISTORIC POPULATIONS OF YELLOW FLOATING HEART. THIS PROJECT IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE OREGON DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S NOXIOUS WEED PROGRAM.WRK ALSO HELD A "PEER TO PEER" DAY ON THE RIVER TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND IDENTIFICATION TIPS ON PRIORITY AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES WITH SEVERAL COLLEAGUES FROM ENTITIES ACROSS THE ENTIRE WILLAMETTE BASIN ATTENDING. SOME OF THESE PARTICIPANTS WERE ALSO FIRST TIME PADDLERS ON THE RIVER. THROUGH OUR ADDITIONAL AQUATIC WORK WE TREATED 85 ACRES OF THE AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES LUDWIGIA IN WINDSOR SLOUGH AT WILLAMETTE MISSION STATE PARK, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OREGON PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND MULTIPLE COLLABORATING LANDOWNERS. WE CELEBRATED OUR FOURTH AND FINAL YEAR OF LUDWIGIA TREATMENT ON WILLAMETTE SLOUGH AT MINTO BROWN ISLAND PARK, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY OF SALEM. WE ALSO COMPLETED OUR MAINTENANCE AQUATIC TREATMENTS IN THE BACK CHANNEL AT GAIL ACHTERMAN WILDLIFE AREA FOR LUDWIGIA AND YELLOW FLOATING HEART. WE ALSO INSTALLED 15,075 BAREROOT NATIVES IN THE SOUTH FOREST OF WILLAMETTE MISSION STATE PARK, BRINGING OUR TOTAL OF NATIVE TREES AND SHRUBS PLANTED AT WILLAMETTE MISSION TO JUST OVER 550,400 PLANTS THROUGHOUT THE 752 ACRES OF PROJECT ACREAGE. AT GAIL ACHTERMAN WILDLIFE AREA, WE INTERPLANTED ROUGHLY 40,000 NATIVE PLANTS BRINGING AN APPROXIMATE TOTAL OF 188,125 NATIVE PLANTS INSTALLED ACROSS THE 290 ACRE PROPERLY. ADDITIONALLY, WE SOWED OVER 32 ACRES OF NATIVE HERBACEOUS FORB SEED ACROSS FOUR UNITS OF THIS SITE. AS THE LAST STAGE OF OUR WORK ON WILLAMETTE SLOUGH AT MINTO BROWN ISLAND PARK WE INSTALLED APPROXIMATELY 12,500 NATIVE TREES AND SHRUBS, AND OVER 3,000 WETLAND GRASSES AND RUSHES ON THE RIPARIAN LAND ADJACENT TO THE SLOUGH.IN 2023, WE WORKED TO CONTINUE OUR RESTORATION EFFORTS AT MINTO BROWN ISLAND PARK BY SUBMITTING A $420,000+ GRANT PROPOSAL TO THE OREGON WATERSHED ENHANCEMENT BOARD REQUESTING FUNDING TO RESTORE OXBOW SLOUGH WITHIN THE PARK. WE WERE AWARDED FULL FUNDING FOR THIS PROJECT THIS YEAR AND BEGAN WORK.IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, WRK'S 2023 RESTORATION PROGRAM GARNERED THE FOLLOWING VOLUNTEER STATS FROM A VARIETY OF PROJECTS: - 60+ VOLUNTEERS FOR PADDLE & PULL EVENTS REMOVING 135+ BAGS OF AQUATIC INVASIVE WEEDS FROM THE WILLAMETTE RIVER - 15+ HIGHSCHOOL STUDENT VOLUNTEERS FOR A SERVICE-LEARNING DAY TO HELP RESTORE UNIT A AT WILLAMETTE MISSION STATE PARK. THEY SOWED NATIVE SEED AND MULCHED NATIVE SHRUBS ON APPROXIMATELY 1/2 AN ACRE - OUT OF 130 RIVER MILES SURVEYED FOR AQUATIC INVASIVE WEEDS, 40 OF THOSE RIVER MILES WERE WITH THE HELP OF VOLUNTEERSWRK'S MUSSEL MANIA SURVEY PROJECT COLLECTED AN ABUNDANCE OF NEW DATA ON THE HEALTH OF FRESHWATER MUSSELS IN THE WILLAMETTE, USING EDNA TO ENABLE THE DETECTION OF MUSSELS ON GIVEN RIVER REACHES BY SCREENING SAMPLES OF RIVER WATER. THIS YEAR'S PORTION OF THIS LONG TERM PROJECT WAS FOCUSED ON THE SANTIAM SYSTEM, A KEY TRIBUTARY OF THE WILLAMETTE. WRK ALSO COMPLETED SEVERAL VOLUNTEER SURVEYS ON THE MIDDLE FORK WILLAMETTE, A CRITICAL UPSTREAM TRIBUTARY TO THE MAINSTEM, ENGAGING 15 VOLUNTEERS OVER THREE SURVEY SITES, AND BRINGING A SMALL GROUP OF INDIGENOUS YOUTH FROM THE GRANDE RONDE TRIBE, BY CANOE, TO EXPLORE AND LEARN ABOUT VARIOUS SITES OF MUSSEL POPULATIONS IN THE UPPER MAINSTEM WILLAMETTE.

RIVER CLEANUPS:IN 2023, WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER COORDINATED 57 RIVER CLEANUPS ACROSS THE WILLAMETTE WATERSHED THROUGH ITS RIVER GUARDIANS PROGRAM, ENGAGING 425 VOLUNTEERS AND GENERATING 1,410 SERVICE HOURS VALUED AT $44,838. WE REMOVED 143.5 YARDS (57,400 LBS./28.7 TONS) OF GARBAGE AND PROPERLY DISPOSED OF 341 HYPODERMIC NEEDLES FROM OUR WILLAMETTE RIVER.WHILE REPARIAN CAMPING REMAINS ILLEGAL ALONG MOST URBAN RIVERBANKS, JURISDICTIONAL RESOURCES AND ENFORCEMENT PRIORITIES REMAIN AN ISSUE. WRK COORDINATED BOTH ADVOCACY AND ON THE GROUND CLEANUP EFFORTS WITH STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS THE WATERSHED OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR, COLLABORATING STRATEGIES TO HELP ENFORCE CLEAN WATER RESPONSIBILITIES, MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE HEALTHY HABITAT AND WATER QUALITY, AND PROMOTE SAFE, ENJOYABLE RECREATION ACCESS ON THE WILLAMETTE RIVER THROUGH ACTIVE REPRESENTATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS, PROVIDING PUBLIC TESTIMONY AND WORKING TOGETHER WITH PARTNERING ORGANIZATIONS TOWARD LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS FOR KEEPING OUR WILLAMETTE RIVER CLEAN.