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Clackamas Water Environment Services (WES) is awarding $330,000 in grants through its RiverHealth Stewardship Program to 12 organizations dedicated to protecting local watersheds.
The grants will support a variety of activities that restore habitat, manage invasive plant species, organize community volunteer events, provide landowner education, and remove trash from waterways while enhancing water quality.
The following organizations will receive a combined total of $330,000 in grant funds:
- Columbia Land Trust/Bird Alliance of OR ($27,802) - The Backyard Habitat Certification Program helps residents become site stewards. It offers in-person and follow-up education, resources, and recognition for managing stormwater on their properties. The program also encourages planting native plants, removing plants that harm the ecosystem, using fewer or no pesticides, and caring for wildlife. These efforts lead to cleaner waterways, cooler temperatures, and better habitat for wildlife.
- Clackamas River Basin Council ($28,800) - The Clackamas River Basin Council will expand restoration work in the Rock Creek and Sieben Creek watersheds. They will start new projects at the Shadow Creek Headwaters and Schofield properties and continue caring for the McCormack and Bullock sites by controlling invasive species and supporting native plants, which will improve watershed health in the long term.
- Clackamas River Community Cooperative ($18,300) - The Clackamas River Community Cooperative is using nature-based green infrastructure to protect a 9-acre riparian area where Sieben Creek meets the Clackamas River. This project will stabilize a steep, eroding hillside by treating invasive ivy and blackberry and planting native plants.
- Friends of Trees ($28,000) - Friends of Trees will continue their restoration and community work in Clackamas County. The project brings together native plantings and community activities to encourage long-term care of natural areas. Volunteer planting events and school partnerships in the Rose Creek area combine restoration with hands-on learning to raise awareness about watersheds. These efforts improve habitats, water quality, and help people connect with local nature.
- Happy Valley Heights HOA ($27,700) - Happy Valley Heights HOA is working with four other HOAs to restore their shared natural areas. These green spaces have not been maintained and are in poor shape. By working together on riparian improvements, they hope to lessen the effects of new development in Happy Valley.
- Johnson Creek Watershed Council ($25,911) - The Johnson Creek Watershed Council plans to involve volunteers and community members in stewardship activities in the WES District. About 200 volunteers will help with the Johnson Creek Clean-Up, and 250 will join the Watershed Wide Event to restore the creek’s riparian buffer. Private landowners will also take part through CreekCare to restore their riparian areas.
- Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership ($29,628) - The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership will improve 5.8 acres of riparian, floodplain forest, wetland, and oak savanna habitats at Beebe Island and Carli Creek East. These areas help protect the river from nearby industry and support a wide range of wildlife, including salmon, turtles, and pollinators. The Partnership will work with the Clackamas River Basin Council to involve local communities—schools, businesses, volunteer groups, and residents—in stewardship through service-learning work parties. Volunteers will learn about the Clackamas Watershed and its habitats while planting 2,000 native trees and shrubs, mulching, and cleaning up trash in the floodplain.
- North Clackamas Watersheds Council ($30,000) - North Clackamas Watersheds Council will restore areas around Parmenter Ponds, which are important cold-water refuges for salmon, as shown by temperature studies. This habitat will be even more important after the Kellogg Dam is removed in 2028-30. The council will work with landowners along the cold-water plume from Kellogg Creek to support restoration. They will offer nine workshops to help landowners understand how watersheds work and will visit 15-20 landowners to help with maintenance, beaver issues, and balancing revegetation with fire considerations.
- Northwest Youth Corps ($28,800) - The Northwest Youth Corps will train young people from different backgrounds to care for previously restored sites. Locations include Windswept Waters HOA, Southern Lites Park/Spring Mountain, Rose Creek Natural Area, and Forest Creek Open Space. NYC crews will mulch, mow, remove invasive plants by hand, and water plants as needed. Participants earn money and academic credit for their work.
- Oswego Lake Watershed Council ($25,159) - The Oswego Lake Watershed Council will restore the natural water flow in Pecan Creek, which is threatened by development and lack of care. Poor riparian conditions and new beaver activity make this work urgent. The restoration will help beavers and improve the creek’s resilience. Replacing invasive plants with a dense native buffer will prevent erosion and provide shade.
- The Wetlands Conservancy ($29,900) - The Wetlands Conservancy will thin out areas with only one type of tree and improve soil and water conditions for native plants. Volunteers will be able to plant and monitor the site. The project also calls for applying Effective Micro-organisms and planting seed balls. As part of the watershed, the Conservancy will survey amphibians in the 3-Creeks region to study water quality and offer a community science activity.
- Tualatin River Watershed Council ($30,000) - The Tualatin River Watershed Council will continue riparian improvement work in the Surface Water Management Agency of Clackamas County (SWMACC) area. They will work with six landowners along Wilson, Saum, and Rock Creeks to enhance streamside areas.
RiverHealth Stewardship Grants are funded by surface water revenue.