At their meeting today, the State Land Board honored the Tenmile Lakes Basin Partnership for their efforts in working with the Department of State Lands (DSL) over the past two decades. The Land Board’s Partnership Award recognizes organizations for consistently providing outstanding levels of service to the department and setting a good example for other partners. At the beginning of the meeting, Governor Kate Brown provided an overview of the annual awards program, which is now in its 14th year. “Recognizing innovative and collaborative projects that improve the health and habitats of streams and wetlands is an important way for the Land Board to thank all those involved in the projects,” Governor Brown said. “We also want to encourage more partnership projects throughout Oregon. To date, the Land Board has presented 31 awards for a wide array of projects in all corners of the state.” In presenting the award, Secretary of State Dennis Richardson, a member of the Land Board, said the Partnership has been “a major contributor to improving the health of the Tenmile Lakes watershed.” He also praised them for their efforts to facilitate interactions between DSL staff and local groups on a variety of issues and projects. The Partnership’s mainstay projects are culvert removals and bridge projects to improve fish passage. They also have spearheaded activities that support the department’s work in issuing removal-fill permits; in managing the state-owned beds and banks of the lakes; and in coordinating restoration projects in the Elliott State Forest. “We are dedicated to bringing together many partner organizations to work on improving the health of the entire Tenmile Lakes Basin,” said Fred Larsen, chair of the partnership. “We’ve been happy to serve as DSL’s eyes and ears on the ground for many years.” In addition to DSL, local landowners, businesses, a homeowners association, tribes, government agencies and other natural resource nonprofits all benefit from the work of the Tenmile Lakes Basin Partnership.
