About Us

We live for the Columbia River

The Estuary Partnership was founded in 1995, and 2020 was our 25th year of protecting and advocating for the lower Columbia River. 

We restore habitat for keystone species like salmon and steelhead. We monitor ecosystem conditions and share our scientific findings. We seek methods to mitigate for changing climate conditions.

We educate the upcoming generation about outdoor science and offer opportunities for community members to make a difference in their watershed. And we work in partnership with hundreds of organizations, companies, agencies, and individuals, because together our impact is so much greater.

More about us

  • Our Area

    The Estuary Partnership focuses on the lower 146 miles of the Columbia River. This tidally-influenced area stretches from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean and includes 28 cities and portions of nine counties.

  • Land Acknowledgement

    The lower Columbia River (Wimahl in Upper Chinook and Nch’i-Wàna in Sahaptin) has been inhabited and stewarded by numerous tribes and bands of Indigenous peoples since time immemorial, and these peoples continue to have a deep and abiding connection to our lands and waters. The broad geography of the lower Columbia historically included dozens of seasonal and permanent villages and an interconnected web of tribal affiliations. Tribes including the Chinook, Clatsop, Kathlamet, Wahkiakum, Multnomah, Cascades, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla, Wasco, Clackamas, Cowlitz, Skilloot, and Atfalati have ancestral connections to the lower Columbia and continue to be stewards of the river. We recognize that tribal territories were often shared and overlapping, and that this may be an incomplete list of those who lived on these lands. We pay respect to the elders, both past and present, who have stewarded the waters and lands of the Columbia River throughout generations. Read more.

  • Our Mission

    To restore and care for the waters and ecosystems of the Lower Columbia River, for current and future generations of fish, wildlife, and people.

  • National Estuary Program

    The National Estuary Program ensures our critical coastal waterways are healthy and support the communities around them. National Estuary Programs are local people working together to restore the water quality and ecological integrity of the 28 estuaries of national significance across the United States, including the lower Columbia River. 

    Created by Congress in 1987, the National Estuary Program provides seed money to local communities, who leverage those resources to improve habitat, find solutions to difficult ecological issues, support our coastal economies, and engage community members to care for their waterways.

     

Water Trails

Discover your local waterways by nonmotorized boat!


logos for KPFF, Ash Creek Forestry, and Fort George
FEATURED SPONSORS

Earth Month Sponsors

KPFF is a multi-discipline engineering firm whose team thrives on designing innovative solutions for projects of all scales, kinds, and industries. KPFF have worked with the Estuary Partnership to engineer the Baker Bay stormwater project.

Ash Creek Forest Management is an environmental restoration firm and certified B-Corp, Ash Creek has been integral to revegetation work at the Steigerwald Reconnection Project, Horsetail Creek floodplain, and many other sites around our region.

Fort George Brewery has been brewing and selling great beer in Astoria since their founding in 2007. Their home in the Fort George Building is in the same location Fort Astoria was erected in 1811. With their location at the mouth of the Columbia, Fort George knows the importance of a healthy, thriving river. This year, they are donating 1% of all their 12-ounce can sales throughout the month of April to support the Estuary Partnership's mission.