Getting things done in Congress can be a challenge and it’s as true for conservation measures as it is for pandemic relief packages.  

Sometimes, getting conservation done requires new methods, different governments and a flexible, entrepreneurial attitude. In Oregon, for example, the state government and agencies are often more easily navigated toward success by conservation-minded sportsmen than the U.S. Congress.

In 2013, the Oregon State Board of Forestry and Department of Forestry were considering a riparian buffers rule revision that could have profound impacts on water quality and habitat for cold-water fisheries across western Oregon. Trout Unlimited pushed hard to expand the riparian buffer (leaving trees uncut on the river shores) from the current and meager 20 feet to 120 feet. More shade and protection meant better conditions for cold-water species like trout and salmon.

TU began educating and organizing anglers and hunters around this opportunity. Then the organization got those voices heard. Public meetings gave people an opportunity to provide personal testimony on the importance of cold water, particularly in the face of climate change and how important that was to maintaining quality habitat for fish. TU also harnessed social media and technology by creating an easily navigated pathway to provide written comments to each member of the Board of Forestry.  

It was later learned that those comments, e-mails and phone calls made by Trout Unlimited members to the individual members of the Board of Forestry were what made the difference. That had never been done before. Board members heard “loud and clear” how important this issue was to sportsmen. 

Eventually, a compromise was reached, making 80-foot buffers the law of the land on more than 10,000 river miles in western Oregon.  

Adapt and innovate when Congress is broken.  

In a similar move, Trout Unlimited achieved another conservation win working with a local government. For example, Oregon was tasked with provisions under the Federal Clean Water Act to designate certain waters as “outstanding resource waters,” yet for more than two decades had never nominated, nor designated a single water body in Oregon.  

Trout Unlimited had been working on protecting the 180,000-plus acre Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area from a foreign owned company trying to establish an open-pit nickel mine in the headwaters of several important rivers. One river was the North Fork of the Smith River which flows out of Oregon and the Kalmiopsis Wilderness area into California and joins the iconic Smith River near the border. A three-pronged approach to protecting the area was sought. It included Federal legislation, an administrative withdrawal by the federal agencies (Bureau of Land Management/United States Forest Service) as well as Oregon’s very first outstanding resource waters designation.

At the end of the day, the administrative withdrawal was achieved, as well as the outstanding water designation. It’s worth noting that the designation is now being pursued in other parts of the state now that the first domino has fallen.