A Conversation with MillerCoors Grant Finalist - Johnson Creek Watershed Council

Since 1994, the Johnson Creek Watershed Council has inspired thousands of watershed residents, volunteers, businesses, and pubic agencies to recognize the value of a healthy creek, and to act as stewards of the watershed. The mission of JCWC is to inspire and facilitate community investment in the Johnson Creek Watershed for the protection and enhancement of its natural resources.

RN: Describe your organization’s proposed project for the MillerCoors River Network grant

JWCW: JCWC and partners plan to enhance instream habitat and restore streamside forests at the mouth of Johnson Creek, from where it flows under SE 17th Avenue to its confluence with the Willamette River View Project Flyer

The goals of the project are to provide refuge areas for salmon and trout, restore six acres of riparian forest, and provide opportunities for the public to participate in and learn about wildlife habitat conservation. To enhance fish habitat, we plan to construct engineered log jams throughout the quarter-mile-long reach and place boulders and logs in two areas of exposed bedrock in the creek. With the assistance of volunteers, invasive weeds will be cleared and replaced with native seedlings.

JOHNSON CREEK WATERSHED RESTORATION from Karen Wrenn on Vimeo.

RN: How does your proposed project align with your organization’s mission?

JWCW: This highly visible project is an opportunity for the local citizens to engage in environmental restoration and salmon recover in Johnson Creek and the Lower Willamette River.

For example, high school students are already monitoring the site so we can document habitat improvements before and after the project is implemented. At the north end of the Milwaukie Riverfront Park, an interpretive overlook and trail is planned for construction. The overlook will provide information about salmon and other wildlife that use the site and benefit from the project.

RN: How will your proposed project make an impact on water quality, conservation and awareness of water issues in your community?

JWCW: Confluences are “ecological hotspots” because they are dynamic mixing areas of different water temperatures, chemistries, and flow regimes. By enhancing this confluence area, this project will provide much-needed refuge for Willamette River salmon just upstream of Portland’s “downtown gauntlet,” where dense industrial development and cement sea walls have left few resting areas and little protective cover for migrating fish.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists highlight how all the threatened Coho and Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout in the middle and upper Willamette Basin-an area with over 11,000 miles of rivers and streams-pass by the mouth of Johnson Creek, and will benefit from this project.

RN: Why do you think people should vote for your organization’s proposed project?

JWCW: Johnson Creek is one of few Portland streams with active runs of threatened Coho, Chinook, and Steelhead. The creek is a 26-mile-long green corridor for birds and wildlife that is fed by 52 square miles of tributaries and hillslopes. This complements the over 400 restoration projects that have been implemented throughout the Johnson Creek Basin over the past twenty years.

RN: Thanks again for all you’re doing to ensure healthy fish habitat in an urban area!

View project summaries from the MillerCoors-River Network Watershed Protection Grant competition and cast your vote today!