Wasson Creek, a 525-acre basin in the South Slough watershed of Coos County, Oregon, is poised to be a globally important classroom for wetland and forest restoration science. – South Slough Reserve, Coos Bay, OR – South Slough Reserve announced Friday they have secured $3.5 million to launch a living laboratory as part of an existing national network of place-based research, education, and training. The Wasson Creek Restoration Project is a ridgetop-to-estuary restoration effort within the nearly 7,000 acre South Slough Reserve that aims to improve habitat for coho salmon, lamprey, and marbled murrelet. Restoring an entire watershed that already has decades of baseline data provides unique value to the scientific community. “In envisioning this project, the South Slough Reserve team looked even beyond restoration,” explained Vicki Walker, director of Oregon Department of State Lands. “They challenged themselves to make an impact in the field of restoration science, to lift up the local community, and to honor the cultural resources of the Wasson Creek Watershed.” Due to the project’s national significance, the majority of funding is coming from the National Estuarine Research Reserves Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Fund. However, additional national, state and tribal partners are providing important funding, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ($64,203), Coos Basin Coho Partnership ($40,000), and Coquille Indian Tribe Community Fund ($5,000). “People have been living, working, learning and recreating in this valley since time immemorial,” explains Reserve Stewardship Coordinator Dr. Alice Yeates, “this project initiates the next chapter in the relationship between humans and the Wasson watershed.” The project will include wetland, stream, and forest restoration as well as enhancing public access. While volunteer efforts and projects assisted by the U.S. Coast Guard are already underway, the official project start date is set for May 2023. Restoration science is a multi-year process, however, the Reserve hopes to complete the living laboratory by May 2026 and learn for many years to come. Partners for this project include Coos Watershed Association; Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians; Coquille Indian Tribe; Bureau of Land Management; Institute for Applied Ecology; Oregon State University, OSU Extension; Oregon Department of Forestry; Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; and U.S. Forest Service. For more information on this project please visit: www.oregon.gov/dsl/SS. Would you like to get involved? Please contact Dr. Alice Yeates, Reserve Stewardship Coordinator. Email: Alice.Yeates@dsl.oregon.gov. Phone: 541 888-8270 ext. 314.
