Protecting Land on the West's Outstanding Rivers

With backing from GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is permanently protecting land along outstanding rivers across the western United States. Your gift supports the core costs of purchasing and conserving land for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people. Your contribution is dedicated to such efforts as preserving salmon and wildlife habitat, and creating new hiking trails, boating access and recreational opportunities.                          

Thanks to your support, Western Rivers Conservancy is:     

• Expanding Protection of Idaho’s Wild and Scenic Selway River

• Permanently conserved a cherished mountainside above Washington’s Lake Wenatchee and Nason Creek

Idaho’s Selway River:  

Picture the ultimate wild river: roaring whitewater, horizons notched by snow-capped peaks, corridors of evergreen forests, bear and elk sporadically roaming the riverbank, trout surfacing on the water, and not another human in sight. This is Idaho’s Wild and Scenic Selway River.

The 98-mile long Selway is widely known as one of America’s most spectacular, and most thoroughly protected, free-flowing rivers. From its source in the Bitterroot Mountains, the Selway flows west to the Lochsa River to form the Middle Fork Clearwater. It is one of eight rivers designated in the original Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, and much of the river lies within the Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness, one of the initial wilderness areas that was protected under the 1964 Wilderness Act.

Thanks to this long history of protection and the river’s remarkably untouched quality (only one raft trip is permitted per day), the Selway is one of few rivers that provides vast, unbroken habitat for fish and wildlife, including westslope cutthroat trout, steelhead, Chinook salmon, Canada lynx, Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The Selway is also revered by veteran river-runners, as it guarantees boaters a truly pristine wilderness experience.

Before the Selway’s confluence with the Lochsa, it leaves the Selway- Bitterroot Wilderness and continues through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. Along this stretch, a few private inholdings along the otherwise wilderness-blanketed river remain unprotected.

Last year, WRC negotiated a deal to purchase one of the most important of these inholdings, the 152-acre Selway River Ranch. The ranch is the finest example of a flat, pristine meadow on the lower Selway. It spans nearly a mile of the western bank of the river and includes half a mile of Elk City Creek, a minor Selway tributary.

In April 2022, we purchased the ranch, locking in our commitment to this special property. We will now hold it while we pursue funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to convey the ranch to the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. Our aim is to keep the property intact and undeveloped, to protect its fish and wildlife habitat, and to help maintain the exquisite, untamed character of Idaho’s Wild and Scenic Selway River forever. g

Washington’s Nason Ridge:     

After four years of hard work, Western Rivers Conservancy, Chelan County and Chelan- Douglas Land Trust (CDLT) successfully created Nason Ridge Community Forest! Washington’s newest community forest now spans 3,714 acres above Lake Wenatchee and permanently protects two miles of Nason Creek and all of Kahler Creek, two outstanding salmon-bearing streams and critical sources of cold water for the Wenatchee River.

This landmark project has its roots in— and owes its success to—the people of Lake Wenatchee, who have tried to protect Nason Ridge for over two decades. The property is highly visible from around the lake and is home to a network of trails that connect to the neighboring Lake Wenatchee State Park. With some 60,000 people visiting Nason Ridge every year to hike, mountain bike and cross country ski, the property has long been part of the fabric of the community. But Nason Ridge was owned by the Seattle-based timber company Weyerhaeuser, and its future was uncertain for years.

In 2018, WRC negotiated a deal to purchase Nason Ridge from Weyerhaeuser. We then held the property and joined forces with CDLT, Chelan County and the local community to raise funds to convey it to a steward that could keep the property intact and in public hands forever. That steward turned out to be Chelan County.

Following WRC’s purchase of Nason Ridge, the partners raised over $6 million in public and private funding to convey the property to Chelan County, and to underwrite its stewardship as a community forest and public recreation area, all while helping to protect and restore habitat. In April 2022, WRC conveyed the property to the county, beginning an exciting new chapter for Nason Ridge.

Conclusion

The Selway and Nason Ridge projects are just some of our recent projects. WRC currently has over two dozen active projects in seven states. With the support of GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is expanding our efforts to protect riverlands for fish, wildlife and people.

We love to hear from our supporters. Please contact Anne Tattam at 503-241-0151, ext. 219 (or atattam@westernrivers.org) for further information. Thank you.

• Western Rivers Conservancy: Project Photos (PDF)
  

With backing from GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is permanently protecting land along outstanding rivers across the western United States. Your gift supports the core costs of purchasing and conserving land for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people. Your contribution is dedicated to such efforts as preserving salmon and wildlife habitat, and creating new hiking trails, boating access and recreational opportunities.                                  

Thanks to your support, Western Rivers Conservancy is:     

• Preserving the lifelines of Washington’s scenic Methow Valley

• Protecting Land, Water, Habitat and Access in the Big Hole Valley

Washington’s Methow Valley:

In Washington’s Methow Valley, Western Rivers Conservancy has completed two projects on the Methow and Chewuch rivers that add key pieces to the valley’s conservation puzzle. On the Methow, we conveyed the 35-acre Stafford Ranch to a conservation buyer with a restoration-access easement, laying the groundwork for restoring critical salmon and steelhead habitat along the ranch’s river frontage. A week later, we conveyed the 328-acre Wagner Ranch on the Chewuch River to the Methow Conservancy, locking in a conservation future for this historic ranch and its important fish and wildlife habitat.

Located in the heart of the Methow Valley, both properties were at risk of being subdivided and developed, which spurred WRC to purchase the ranches and find solutions that instead prioritized healthy habitat and open space. Wagner Ranch—which spans 1.6 miles of the Chewuch River, the largest tributary to the Methow—is a particularly important property. Over a dozen different salmon restoration opportunities have been identified on the ranch, and it abuts the 14,800-acre Methow Unit of Washington’s Methow Wildlife Area, providing important habitat connectivity for wildlife.

The Stafford property spans a short but vital stretch of the Methow River and controls groundwater rights that will allow for future re-watering of dried side-channels and reestablish spawning and rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead.

Both projects deliver important wins for the Methow Valley, with special thanks going to the Methow Conservancy for step­ping up to acquire and conserve the Wagner Ranch. The Methow River Valley is a place where recreation and community coexist with fish and wildlife, and WRC is proud of contributing to the balance of this relation­ship, ensuring more intact open space and healthy habitat for the benefit of all.

Montana’s Big Hole Valley:     

Montana’s Big Hole River is a poster child of an iconic western stream. One of the country’s premier fly fishing rivers, the 150-mile long Big Hole tumbles from high mountains through some of the most diverse geography of any river in the state. It is a beloved trout fishery and, remarkably, the only river left in the Lower 48 with fluvial Arctic grayling.

Currently, WRC is working on two important projects in the Big Hole system aimed at delivering water for imperiled grayling and other fish; preserving recreational access; and protecting habitat for the Big Hole Valley’s diverse wildlife. Most recently, we signed an agreement to purchase the 317-acre Clemow Cow Camp property, which contains vital wildlife habitat and serves as an entry point into the 148,150-acre West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area, the largest remaining roadless area in southwest Montana.

Two high-mountain Big Hole tributary streams, Cox and Old Tim creeks, flow through the Clemow property, which controls 2.77 CFS of water rights. WRC intends to purchase the property and convey it to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, which plans to work with Trout Unlimited’s Western Water Project to dedicate that water in-stream. By conserving this property, we will protect habitat for Canada lynx, grizzly bear, Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer and pronghorn. We will also conserve 154 acres of riparian wetland and wet-meadow habitat that is crucial for waterfowl and shorebirds and offers important headwater flow into the Big Hole River.

Our efforts at Clemow Cow Camp build on a project we launched this summer, when we purchased the 200-acre Eagle Rock Ranch to return critically needed water to the Wise River, a major tributary to the Big Hole. Conserving Eagle Rock Ranch will allow us to return nearly 11 CFS of water to the Wise, a significant boost for a stream this size. We plan to convey the ranch to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and dedicate the ranch’s water in-stream in partnership with Trout Unlimited’s Western Water Project.

The Big Hole Valley is a gateway to some of Montana’s most scenic countryside and home to some of its very best fly fishing. WRC’s efforts in the valley will protect habitat for wildlife, deliver prime recreational access and return much-needed water to the system for the benefit of imperiled fluvial Arctic grayling, as well as westslope cutthroat and non-native rainbow and brown trout for which the Big Hole is famous.

Conclusion

The Methow and Big Hole Valley projects are just some of our recent projects. WRC currently has over two dozen active projects in seven states. With the support of GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is expanding our efforts to protect riverlands for fish, wildlife and people.

We love to hear from our supporters. Please contact Anne Tattam at 503-241-0151, ext. 219 (or atattam@westernrivers.org) for further information. Thank you.