Press Releases

In the scenic Methow Valley, Western Rivers Conservancy has taken a critical step forward in the effort to permanently protect an outstanding 1.6-mile stretch of the Chewuch River, the primary tributary to the Methow River.

A piece of the Northwest’s most important habitat for bighorn sheep was protected this week, thanks to a partnership between Western Rivers Conservancy and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

At the heart of one of California’s most scenic stretches of coastline, where endangered condors soar above multi-million-dollar properties, the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County has regained its first ancestral homelands since it was displaced by the Spanish four centuries ago.

This week, on the flanks of Mount Lassen, Western Rivers Conservancy and the Lassen National Forest (LNF) protected a crucial 1,150-acre property, and a significant branch of South Fork Antelope Creek, a rare stronghold for salmon and steelhead in the Sacramento River system.

The killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, as well as the attack on Christian Cooper while he was birding in Central Park, have shone a light on the tremendous work we must do in this country to end racism in all of its forms.

Western Rivers Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have successfully conserved a 2,200-acre ranch along the Williamson River, in the headwaters of the Klamath River and adjacent to the Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge.

WRC and the community of Alamosa just added a pristine 203-acre riverfront park to the city’s open space offerings. Named Alamosa Riparian Park, this new public open space is the result of a two-year effort by WRC, the City of Alamosa, and a long list of partners to conserve a mile of the Rio Grande and create new opportunities for recreation along its banks.

At the heart of the John Day Wild and Scenic River corridor, Western Rivers Conservancy and the Bureau of Land Management have created new overland recreational access to 78,000 acres of public lands in a landmark conservation project that will benefit fish, wildlife, recreationists and the communities of Oregon’s John Day River.

The San Luis Valley Conservation Fund, a partnership between Colorado Open Lands, Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust, Western Rivers Conservancy and the LOR Foundation, announced today its fourth and final round of grant awards for organizations working in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.