TRAVIS SNELL, CTUIR
UMATILLA COUNTY, Ore. – On Sept. 26, the Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC), Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) completed a 100-acre land transfer of Birch Creek Ranch to the CTUIR.
This transfer lays the groundwork for restoration of critical salmon and steelhead habitat in the Umatilla River Basin and re-connecting the CTUIR with ancestral homelands.
Located southwest of Pendleton, the ranch includes more than a mile of Birch Creek, a vital tributary to the Umatilla River and the largest producer of Endangered Species Act-listed mid-Columbia summer steelhead in the Umatilla Basin. The project also supports the Umatilla Basin’s chinook, coho salmon and rainbow trout populations.
“We thank the Western Rivers Conservancy and Bonneville Power Administration for their help on this project and look forward to restoring this property for the benefit of the fish and wildlife of the Umatilla Basin,” said Anton Chiono, CTUIR Habitat Conservation Project leader.
The Umatilla River was once one of the mid-Columbia’s major producers of salmon and steelhead, but decades of water withdrawals and other habitat impacts devastated the river’s fish runs. The CTUIR has led the charge to restore these runs for years.
At Birch Creek Ranch, which the CTUIR will call Kwálkwal, the CTUIR will now be able to expand stream and floodplain restoration efforts. The CTUIR intends to undertake extensive stream restoration work on more than a mile of wandering floodplain, including the removal of a longstanding earthen barrier that has impeded upstream fish migration for decades. The CTUIR also plans to dedicate the ranch’s significant surface and groundwater rights back to instream flows, which will nourish the creek and floodplain below.
“Conserving Birch Creek Ranch will breathe new life into a formerly thriving steelhead and salmon stream,” said Jessica Inwood, Washington State project manager with WRC. “We’re grateful for our ongoing partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to support and enable some of the most significant fisheries recovery projects in the Columbia Basin.”
With its meadows, uplands and rimrock formations, the ranch also provides habitat for diverse wildlife species, including Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, pronghorn, cougar, golden eagle, wild turkey, osprey and Canada goose. Additionally, the property includes a spring complex and section of Stewart Creek, which joins Birch Creek downstream of the property.
This work builds upon the WRC and CTUIR partnership, which is anchored by a shared vision of conserving rivers and habitat within the CTUIR’s homeland. In a recent effort, completed in January, the WRC worked with the CTUIR, Blue Mountain Land Trust and BPA on a conservation easement over the 943-acre UmaBirch Floodplain property at the confluence of Birch Creek and the Umatilla River, downstream from Kwálkwal. This set the stage for one of the largest floodplain restoration opportunities in the Umatilla Basin, which continues today.
Taken together, these collaborative projects will bolster basin-wide fisheries recovery and improve the odds the salmon and steelhead will thrive again in the Umatilla system.
About Western Rivers Conservancy
WRC’s motto is “Sometimes to save a river, you have to buy it.” It purchases land along the West’s finest rivers and streams to conserve habitat for fish and wildlife, protect key sources of cold water and create public access for all to enjoy. For more than 30 years, WRC has taken the lead in marrying conservation and tribal land back outcomes, working with tribal nations around the West to permanently protect rivers and the lands that sustain them. WRC has created sanctuaries for fish and wildlife and secured recreational access along 250 rivers and streams around the West. Its approach to river conservation is effective, tangible and permanent. For more information, visit westernrivers.org.
