Jesse Beers, Siuslaw Tribal member and CTCLUSI Cultural Stewardship Manager, is pictured with James Neeley from the OSU Fish & Wildlife Club.

Join McKenzie River Trust, the Siuslaw Watershed Council, and the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians in helping to restore this historic estuary on the lower Siuslaw River just upstream from Cushman Landing. You'll learn about the history of this area, once home to emergent marsh, Sitka spruce, and crabapple tidal swamps, and help to plant native plants and remove invasive species.

ABOUT WAITE RANCH

This historic estuary on the lower Siuslaw River just upstream from Cushman Landing has long been identified as a conservation priority. Historically, the property was home to emergent marsh and Sitka spruce and crabapple tidal swamps. Habitats like these once blanketed the estuaries of the Pacific Northwest. Made up of deep tidal channels snaking through multi-layered vegetation and abundant woody debris, tidal swamps are now almost completely gone from our region.

The Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI) and the Siuslaw Watershed Council (SWC), in conjunction with the McKenzie River Trust and other partners, will lead a major restoration project on the property in the coming years to restore the estuary and re-establish tidal exchange between the river and the property’s interior. Restoration will re-build the complex estuary ecosystem, benefitting native fish like coastal coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead, and many other sensitive birds and wildlife species.