The Nature Conservancy and Hampton Lumber work together to restore Tillamook wetlands

The Nature Conservancy recently received a donation from Hampton Lumber to help restore wetlands in Tillamook County. Restoration of the habitat will allow juvenile salmon to shelter and grow before swimming into the ocean, improving the survivability and likelihood that they’ll return to spawn upriver years later.

Since 2010 The Nature Conservancy has acquired 120 acres of land along the Kilchis River, which feeds into Tillamook Bay. Conservationists are working to reconnect the river with the wetlands and recreate sloughs and tidal channels. Thanks to Hampton Lumber’s support, The Nature Conservancy can complete the project with on-the-ground construction and re-vegetation activities.

“We wanted to step up and support a project that would have long-term positive impact for the community and the environment.”

“The Nature Conservancy has a long history of doing collaborative, high-impact work,” David Hampton, Co-owner of Hampton Lumber, said following a visit to the site in June “We wanted to step up and support a project that would have long-term positive impact for the community and the environment.”

The Nature Conservancy estimates that just 17 percent of Oregon’s tidal marshes remain in natural condition.

“We are focused on restoring strategically located marshes that will provide multiple benefits,” said Associate Coast and Marine Conservation Director Dick Vander Schaaf. “Estuaries are some of the most productive ecosystems on the planet; helping improve water quality and are critically important to rearing juvenile salmon—coho, chinook, chum and steelhead.”

Oregon’s forests are not only a source of natural beauty and recreation but also provide essential ecosystem services such as clean water. The state’s forested watersheds are home to a vast network of streams and rivers that supply cold, clean water to communities, agriculture, and industry throughout the region. Join Oregon Forests Forever to protect water quality, and ensure that timber harvests are carried out with minimal impact on aquatic ecosystems.