Winter 2024 Riverlands Newsletter - Issue 54

Five-Mile Stretch of Prized Colorado Fly Water Forever Conserved

Tarryall Creek

The South Platte River is the biological and scenic centerpiece of South Park, one of three major high-altitude basins within the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies. One of the river’s principal tributaries is Tarryall Creek, which flows from the 13,823foot Mount Silverheels and is renowned for its excellent brown and rainbow trout fishing. Roughly 10 miles northeast of the town of Fairplay, Tarryall Creek flows through the 1,860-acre Collard Ranch, which sits

immediately off Highway 285. For five miles, the stream meanders through the ranch’s open grasslands in beautiful horseshoe bends, with 360-degree views of the Lost Park Wilderness, the Kenosha Mountains and the Mosquito Range. With its sweeping vistas, open meadows and a storybook stream at the heart of the property, the ranch is without a doubt one of the ecological, scenic and recreational gems of the South Park basin.

This Issue:

Tarryall Creek, CO

Conservation of Collard Ranch is a huge win for wildlife, people and a cherished trout stream

Bear River, WA

WRC adds a critical property on Willapa Bay to the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Columbia River, WA

New effort on the banks of the upper Columbia will expand an important state wildlife area

Little Deschutes River, OR WRC sets out to protect a strategic property in the Deschutes River basin

North Umpqua River, OR

Another mile of river permanently conserved on this legendary steelhead stream

Colorado

WRC just conveyed Collard Ranch on Tarryall Creek to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, permanently protecting outstanding habitat for fish and wildlife and creating new public access to one of South Park’s most coveted fly fishing streams.

JUSTIN

CHRISTIE BODIE

WRC Adds Prime Salmon Habitat and Key Stands of Old-Growth to National Wildlife Refuge

Bear River Washington

Washington’s Willapa Bay is the second largest estuary on the West Coast. Protected from the pounding storms of the Pacific by the fingerlike Long Beach Peninsula, it is a world of salt marshes and tidal mudflats, coastal dunes and beaches, grasslands, wetlands and stands of old-growth forest. Although the bay is expansive, it is relatively shallow, and half of its water is drained and returned by the tides every day. The place teems with life. Salmon, steelhead, sea-run cutthroat and Pacific lamprey come and go with the seasons, and more than 200 species of birds have been documented across the bay.

Much of Willapa Bay is protected within the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, which was created in 1937 and includes some of the best habitat for the area’s incredible fish and wildlife. It’s also home to a trove of recreation opportunities, including paddling, birding, hiking, hunting and wildlife watching.

This winter, WRC was able to add the remarkable 2,366-acre Willapa Coastal Forest property to the refuge, permanently protecting three miles of the Bear River, along with a network of smaller streams and critical stands of old-growth forest.

Our efforts to conserve the Willapa Coastal Forest started in 2020, when we first recognized the vital importance of this property and began negotiations to purchase it from Forest Investment Associates. We spent the next three years working to secure funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Washington state Salmon Recovery Funding Board. This January, with funding in place, WRC purchased the property and conveyed it to the US Fish and Wildlife Service for protection within the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.

This is an exciting achievement, building on the refuge’s recent restoration efforts in the estuary, where juvenile salmon rear in tidal habitat after emerging

from and leaving their upstream spawning beds. Protecting river habitat upstream is the perfect complement to that work downstream. We’ve also expanded the refuge and positioned the USFWS to improve recreational access in an area that was hard to reach.

Most of all, this is a win for this unique property and the Bear River itself. The Willapa Coastal Forest is a special place, densely covered in ferns and trees, where moss dampens sound and it’s green in every direction. In fall, as the maple trees drop their leaves, wild salmon can be seen swimming up the small Bear River, hiding in pools and digging redds to lay their eggs. Three miles of this critical freshwater habitat are now protected, ensuring that the emerging young salmon will have a better shot at moving downstream to the recently restored estuary at the mouth of the Bear. There, they will build muscle and mass before heading out to the Pacific on the outgoing tides. g

TYLER ROEMER

The Bear River provides excellent spawning habitat for chum salmon, coho, fall Chinook, winter steelhead, coastal cutthroat trout and Pacific lamprey.

New Effort in Sagebrush Country on the Banks of the Columbia

Columbia River Washington

About 875 river miles before it reaches the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River runs into Chief Joseph Dam, forming what is essentially a 51-mile-long lake called Rufus Woods Lake. Although one can hardly look at the lake without reflecting upon the freeflowing river that once rolled through underneath (not to mention the lost and legendary “June Hog” salmon run), the scenery is still spectacular. Sweeping upwards from the river in every direction is the gentle, endless sea of sagebrush of the eastern Columbia Plateau.

In this land of wildflowers, grouse and big orange sunsets, Western Rivers Conservancy just purchased the 2,135acre Big Bend Ranch on the south bank of the Columbia, immediately adjacent to the Big Bend Wildlife Area. Our goal is to convey the property to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for permanent protection within the wildlife area. The Big Bend Unit is an expansive and important reserve, home to four species of grouse, including Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, one of Washington’s most imperiled wildlife species. Waterfowl, shorebirds, Neotropical migrants,

raptors, upland gamebirds and songbirds are all present on both the ranch and the wildlife area. Mule deer, black bear and cougar are just a few of the mammals found out here. And for people, the wildlife area is a much-loved destination, with great wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing and hiking.

The importance of this landscape and the opportunity to expand the wildlife area motivated WRC to purchase Big Bend Ranch. After negotiating purchase of the ranch, working with neighboring ranchers to accommodate compatible grazing, and securing interim funding, we successfully bought the ranch in January. We are now working to secure permanent funding that will allow us to convey the lands to WDFW for protection within the state wildlife area.

The addition of Big Bend Ranch to the Big Bend Wildlife Area is the perfect outcome for this strategically important property. These 2,135 acres of open space will remain intact for the benefit of wildlife and everyone who ventures here to hike, hunt, fish and otherwise enjoy the wide open vistas of the upper Columbia River. g

Big News for the Little Deschutes

Confluences are often the most dynamic, biologically rich and fascinating parts of a river. At WRC, we pay special attention to them, acting quickly when opportunities arise that allow us to protect these meeting points that breathe so much life into rivers. In Oregon, we just signed an agreement to purchase Paulina Meadows Ranch, a 655-acre property that surrounds the confluence of the Little Deschutes River and Paulina Creek, plus significant stretches of both streams.

The Little Deschutes is a tributary to its namesake river, the legendary Deschutes, one of Oregon’s most beloved trout and steelhead streams and one of the great fly fishing rivers of the West. Paulina Creek flows from Paulina Lake in the Newberry Crater National Volcanic Monument, high in the Central Cascades. Most of this small stream is protected inside the national monument and Deschutes National Forest, but a 1.75-mile reach of the creek, between the forest boundary and the Little Deschutes, remains unprotected. It is this stretch, along with the confluence and 1.5 miles of the Little Deschutes, that WRC will conserve by purchasing Paulina Meadows Ranch.

After buying the ranch, we will work to secure funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund so we can convey the property to the Bureau of Land Management. Protection of the ranch will complete conservation of the entire length of Paulina Creek and complement significant habitat restoration efforts immediately upstream. Our efforts will also safeguard important big game habitat within the state’s largest mule deer migration corridor, while improving recreational access for boaters, anglers, hunters, hikers, birdwatchers and others. g

A hiker climbs a bluff overlooking the Columbia River at Big Bend Ranch, which WRC purchased this winter with the goal of conveying it to the adjacent Big Bend Wildlife Area.

TYLER ROEMER

SUCCESS!

North Umpqua River

WRC has long committed itself to saving wild fish habitat, forests and public access on Oregon’s North Umpqua River. With its emerald-green water, cold flows, incredible setting and a deep-seated, interwoven legacy of fly fishing and conservation, the North Umpqua is, after all, one of the state’s most revered and important streams.

Our first effort here was at the former Swiftwater Park, which Douglas County needed to sell in 2016. To ensure the park remained intact and open to all, we purchased it and conveyed it to the BLM for protection within the North Umpqua Wild and Scenic River corridor. The park controls the westernmost entrance to the 79-mile North Umpqua National Recreation Trail and marks the beginning of the river’s fabled fly-only water.

Building on that effort, we recently acquired another 220 acres of county land within the wild and scenic stretch and immediately conveyed them to the BLM. This permanently conserved an additional mile of river frontage, welcome news in the wake of devastating wildfires that swept through the river corridor in 2020. Working together with the BLM, we’ve guaranteed that these vulnerable and irreplaceable expanses of North Umpqua frontage will remain intact and on the road to recovery.

Like the Swiftwater tract before it, WRC’s most recent acquisitions lie within multiple protected areas, including the wild and scenic river corridor, the Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway, the North Umpqua Special Recreation Management Area, the North Umpqua Area of Critical Environmental Concern, the North Umpqua National Recreation Trail and North Umpqua State Scenic Waterway. Our efforts help guarantee this incredibly important river remains forever protected and open to all. g

Tarryall Creek

CONTINUED FROM COVER

This month, Western Rivers Conservancy permanently conserved Collard Ranch, and every inch of the creek running through it, in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado.

Collard Ranch is part of a major migration corridor for thousands of Rocky Mountain elk, which use the property as their primary route from the high peaks of the Rockies to lowerelevation grasslands during their annual migration into and across South Park. Mule deer and pronghorn frequently move through the area as well.

Beavers, which were nearly eradicated from most of Colorado’s valley floors, are another special feature of Collard Ranch. Several beaver ponds are found along this stretch of Tarryall Creek, adding to the complexity of the stream’s habitat and the importance of the ranch to waterfowl and other migratory birds.

Another common visitor to Tarryall Creek comes in the human form, specifically fly anglers who chase the nonnative rainbow and brown trout that make this stream a beloved destination

for so many. The stretch that flows through Collard Ranch holds exceptional fly water.

When Collard Ranch was listed for sale, WRC jumped at the opportunity to conserve the property and negotiated a purchase agreement with the landowner. WRC bought the ranch in early December 2023 and held it while working to secure funding from Great Outdoors Colorado’s Centennial Program and the Colorado Habitat Stamp. This month, WRC permanently conserved the ranch when we conveyed it to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Now in the hands of CPW, Collard Ranch will soon be open to the public, offering new fishing and hunting access along all five miles of Tarryall Creek. State ownership will also establish more uniform resource management for fish and wildlife along the creek, given the property’s adjacency to Cline Ranch State Wildlife Area and other conservation lands. For the fish, beavers, elk and other animals of South Park—including the two-legged fly rod-toting type—this is a tremendous conservation achievement. g

Collard Ranch is one of the few places in South Park with significant beaver activity, indicating excellent habitat in the stretch of Tarryall Creek that WRC just conserved.

TYLER ROEMER

Riding the North Umpqua Trail.