Nehalem Basin Partnership (NBP) is inviting local landowners and community members to learn more about improving salmon health, water quality, and flood abatement in the Nehalem Watershed. In upcoming public meetings and tours, NBP will share streamside habitat restoration projects, updates, and opportunities relating to the Nehalem Landowner Engagement Initiative. The goal of these meetings and tours is to inform and engage landowners in conversations about restoration opportunities on their own properties that will improve critical habitat for Coho salmon, a keystone species in the Nehalem Watershed. Landowners with river or streamside properties are particularly encouraged to attend!
Public meetings will be held on Thursday, July 31st and Sunday, August 17th from 4-6pm in the Gallery Room at the North Coast Recreation District. NBP will be featuring the Nehalem Bay Watershed Council’s documentary about in-stream wood placements on West Fork Coal Creek and a slide show of current and past streamside restoration projects. Representatives from local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), the Backyard Planting Program (BYPP), the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Ash Creek Forest Management will also be in attendance. Landowners who are interested in improving salmon habitat, water quality, and flood abatement on their own properties will be contacted to schedule a site visit to assess restoration goals and opportunities.
A site tour will be hosted by the Nehalem River Ranch (NRR) on Saturday, July 26th, 2025, starting at 12:00 pm and lasting 1-2 hours. The Nehalem River Ranch is a ‘multi-species, pasture-based farm’ that raises grass-fed beef and pastured pork and partners with local farmers who raise chickens, grow cut flowers and produce other farm products. In 2020, NRR partnered with the Nehalem Bay Watershed Council to plant trees and shrubs along a mile of the Nehalem river and 4 acres of silvopasture. With support from Tillamook SWCD and the BYPP at Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, NRR also installed pollinator hedge rows between pastures. Because this is a walking tour through an active farm, we ask attendees to please wear sturdy walking shoes or boots that can get dirty.
“I’m very excited to share this project with our community,” says Zac Mallon, Director of the Nehalem Bay Watershed Council. “[NRR] is a great example of how managing invasive knotweed on the banks of the Nehalem River isn’t a lost cause. The conifers planted in this project will push the knotweed out as the forest canopy develops. The trees are now reaching a size where grazing among the plantings for knotweed suppression is possible too!” Mallon also says that this project will benefit salmon by absorbing nutrients from the fields, shading the river, and managing erosion by developing strong, fibrous root systems in the riverbank as erosion promoting knotweed gets pushed out. For more information about Nehalem River Ranch, visit their website www.nehalemriverranch.com
NBP will also be hosting a site tour on August 8th, 2025 from 2-4pm at the Hoffman-Casler Property and West Fork Coal Creek. This tour will feature riparian revegetation, a culvert replacement, and an in-stream wood placement.
For more information about site tours, public meetings, and the Nehalem Landowner Engagement Initiative, please contact the Nehalem Bay Watershed Council at info@nehalemwatershed.org or visit NBP at www.nehalembasinpartnership.com/Nehalem-landowner-engagement-initiative. The Backyard Planting Program at Tillamook Estuaries Partnership can be found at www.tbnep.org/programs/habitat-restoration/backyard-planting-program/ .
This work is funded by the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. We thank them for their support in the Nehalem Watershed.
Public Meeting:
July 31st, 2025 and August 17th, 2025
4:00-6:00pm
North Coast Recreation District, Gallery Room
36155 9th St, Nehalem, OR 97131
* Parking is available at the building entrance
or behind the building on B Street.
Public Site Tours:
July 26th, 2025
12:00-2:00pm
Nehalem River Ranch
22095 Foss Rd, Nehalem, OR 97131
*Park in front of the barn after turning into the driveway
August 8th, 2025
2:00-4:00pm
Hoffman-Casler Property (Stop 1):
41205 Anderson Road, Nehalem, OR 97131
* Parking for this will be along Anderson Road
and attendees are encouraged to carpool with friends.
West Fork Coal Creek (Stop 2):
42105 Anderson Road, Nehalem, OR 97131
*Park along the road in the intersection
