Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

In 2020, WRC and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation partnered to revive an imperiled run of Upper Columbia River steelhead and return four square miles of ancestral lands to the Colville Tribes. The property, which we conserved in September 2023, is called Antione Valley Ranch. It was once part of the original Colville Reservation and was within the traditional territory of the Okanogan people, who are now members of the Colville Tribes. As part of this project, the tribes are using an existing reservoir (located upstream of a natural barrier to steelhead migration) to return desperately needed water to Antoine Creek, a critical steelhead spawning tributary to the Okanogan River.

In 2022, WRC again partnered with the Colville Tribes, this time on the mainstem Okanogan, in the heart of the spectacular McLoughlin Canyon. Here, WRC purchased McLoughlin Falls Ranch to conserve outstanding fish and wildlife habitat and return ancestral lands to the Colville people. The ranch was a historic fishing site for the Colville Tribes and is home to sensitive cultural sites that were permanently protected with the completion of this project in 2023.