Oregon Sea Grant

It has become increasingly obvious that to restore and protect the beleaguered Pacific salmon, regulators, governments, landowners, and local communities must shift their management approaches. And they must do this at the watershed level.

In response to this need, the state of Oregon has created a watershed-based program, the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, that focuses resources, coordinates agency efforts, and prioritizes restoration actions in a ridgetop-to-ridgetop fashion. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, which manages the Oregon Plan, has developed a multidisciplinary strategy to address the habitat needs of salmon, including the protection and restoration of water quality, the management and restoration of riparian areas, and the management of uplands and metropolitan "built" environments.

Oregon State University's Watershed Extension Program has also taken a multidisciplinary approach to the strategic and technical needs of the communities, constituencies, and watersheds it serves. Staff are funded by Sea Grant Extension, Forestry Extension, and Extension Agriculture programs at OSU. This unique, multiprogram approach encourages collaboration among people involved in the two major uses of Oregon land: agriculture and forestry.