RIVER OF THE MONTH
North Santiam A stronghold for native fish in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the North Santiam River flows from Mount Jefferson, in the Cascades, to the main Santiam, a tributary to the Willamette River. From its source at Santiam Lake, the river is nearly pristine until it hits the dams of Detroit Lake. Below the reservoir, it meanders peacefully past farmlands and forests, where WRC is conserving rare relics of the natural floodplain for salmon, steelhead and other wildlife.
Why It Matters
ODFW
ADAM CLAUSE
The North Santiam is a unique Willamette Valley river that retains healthy swaths of lowland deciduous forest and floodplain habitat that are increasingly rare in the valley. The river traverses the homeland of the native Santiam Kalapuya people, and through some of Oregon’s best old-growth forest, eventually supplying drinking water to Salem, the state capitol. The North Santiam is critical for salmon and steelhead of the Willamette River system.
Fish
STEVE TERRILL
The North Santiam once produced two-thirds of the Willamette’s winter steelhead and a third of its spring Chinook—runs that face extinction today. Improved fish-passage management, habitat conservation and other programs on both the North Santiam and Willamette are upping the odds that these fish will survive. The river remains the best hope for salmon and steelhead in the valley. It’s also home to cutthroat trout, Pacific lamprey and Oregon Chub (pictured).
Wildlife
Anchored by its wilderness sources, the North Santiam system supports a rich assemblage of wildlife, including sensitive species like western pond turtle, olive-sided flycatcher, willow flycatcher, northern goshawk, northern red-legged frog, roughskinned newt and the federallythreatened northern spotted owl. The floodplain habitat of the lower river is especially important to many of these species.