Restoration Sensitive Areas
Habitat Restoration in the Watershed
Fish populations continue to decline from historical levels, with some fish runs diminished to the point of being listed under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Fish populations have declined, not only in the Clackamas River Basin but in watersheds throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Despite the region’s dramatic growth and development, the Portland metropolitan region still supports a rich diversity of fish and wildlife habitats, and the Clackamas River still supports some of the healthiest salmon, steelhead, Pacific lamprey and bull trout populations in the region. While these trends are positive, substantially more habitat restoration is needed to recover and sustain the environment that supports native fish and wildlife populations. To address these issues, several organizations are working to improve the health of the river through coordinated restoration projects.
Clackamas Partnership
The Clackamas Partnership is a group of more than fifteen Portland metropolitan region organizations committed to working collaboratively to improve watershed health. Together, they developed the Clackamas Partnership Strategic Plan to guide restoration actions designed to improve river and stream habitat and the environment that sustains native fish populations. To learn more about the Clackamas Partnership and these fish restoration efforts go here https://www.clackamaspartnership.org/
Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric has also been working on restoring habitat for fish and wildlife. To learn more about these efforts go to https://portlandgeneral.com/about/rec-fish/clackamas-river/restoring-clackamas-habitats
Interested in getting involved?
If you love our Clackamas River, please consider volunteering your time and helping out with the various restoration projects occurring along the Clackamas and its tributaries. Volunteer opportunities include planting trees, removing invasive weeds, removing trash, and placing Christmas trees in rivers for fish habitat.
There are several organizations offering volunteer opportunities in the Clackamas basin. Please visit the Clackamas River Basin Council’s website for up to date volunteer events near you: http://clackamasriver.org/events/
Join or Lead a Cleanup! Down the River Cleanup
This annual trash sweep is the largest and longest-running on-water cleanup event of its kind in Oregon. Taking place at the end of summer, it covers a 20+ mile stretch of the Clackamas River from Estacada to the confluence with the Willamette River in Oregon City.
In rafts, kayaks, SCUBA gear, drift boats and any other safe vessel, upwards of 200 volunteers rally together to scour the stream bed and banks for trash, collecting an average of 2 tons with over half recycled. Since 2003, over 40 tons of garbage — well over the approximate weight of one gray whale — has been removed from the Clackamas River by more than 4,500 volunteers!
If you are interested in volunteering in the Down the River Cleanup, or by doing it yourself on a day of your choosing (DIY Cleanups!) please click here: https://www.welovecleanrivers.org/events/19th-anniversary-down-the-river-cleanup/