News

We recently released our 2020 State of the Estuary Report. Every five years, we examine and report on five indicators on the health of the lower Columbia River and estuary: Habitat, Water Quality, Land Use, Endangered Species, and Connecting People to the Columbia. Each indicator is presented as an interactive storymap that together paint a picture of a river with many champions and many

We owe a thanks to our sister organization, fellow National Estuary Program the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP), for lending us one of their VetsWork Interns this year. Over the last few months, Chris Sutherland has worked on a variety of projects with us. While he’s still assigned to TEP, unexpected challenges from the pandemic made it hard to reach Tillamook consistently. Since he is local

In a normal year, the Estuary Partnership’s Big Canoes hit the water in mid-late March, with a warm up paddle here and there. By mid-May, we typically have 10 paddles under our PFDs, and our staff is ready and dialed in for a summer of providing multiple on-water Big Canoe trips a week for youth and community groups from diverse communities. Trips in our Big Canoes—29-foot, 14-passenger, orange

Major construction has wrapped for the season for the Steigerwald Reconnection Project. Fall rain and the in-water work window, which protects salmon during the most vulnerable parts of their life cycle (spawning and egg incubation), means most construction has to stop during fall and winter. There is one more season of construction to come next year. We recently released a video recapping the

The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership intends to establish a short-term contract for the procurement of native bare root plant materials for use at the Steigerwald Reconnection Project located in Washougal, WA. These plant materials are needed for the winter 2021 planting window (i.e., 1/1/2022 – 4/1/2022). BACKGROUND Over the past six years, the Estuary Partnership has partnered with the Port of

The Steigerwald Reconnection Project is well into its second year of construction. By 2022, the refuge's lands and Gibbons Creek, which flows through it, will be reconnected to the Columbia River for the first time in generations. This effort will bring a lot of changes to the Refuge, and we're excited to share them with you while the project takes shape! Check the Refuge 20/20 Blog for the latest

Thanks to the generosity of 51 awesome donors, we blew past our goal to raise $11,300 during Give More 24 to support watershed-focused distance learning for students across Southwest Washington. Thank you! Special thanks to Vernier Software & Technology for matching our first $1,500, and to Wolf Water Resources for a special $5,000 contribution. Our region—and our planet—are facing unprecendented

After pausing volunteer events in the spring, we are back and ready to plant with you this fall! We are prioritizing the safety of staff and you, our volunteers, by limiting the number of participants per event, requiring preregistration, and instituting COVID-19 safety protocols. Sign up for an event on our homepage or head to our volunteer page for more details.

Hello friends and supporters of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership! I’m just wrapping up my first month as the new Executive Director, so I want to introduce myself to you. I’m a Missouri farm-girl, born and raised outside of Kansas City, Missouri. After high school I spent seven years on active duty in the Coast Guard where my primary duties were driving motor lifeboats, fisheries enforcement

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery were killed because of systemic racism. These acts of appalling racism are not new, nor are they isolated. The harm and the trauma caused by white domination has existed for too long. The injustices that Black people have experienced in this country for over 400 years are staring at us – again – still, begging us to be better than this. Every Black