Protecting Land on the West's Outstanding Rivers

With backing from GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC) is permanently protecting land along outstanding rivers across the western United States. Your gift supports the core costs of purchasing land and placing properties into permanent conservation stewardship. Your contribution is dedicated to such activities as: developing relationships with willing seller landowners; preserving salmon and wildlife habitat; and creating new hiking trails, boating access and recreational opportunities.

Thanks to your support, WRC is:

- Conserving trophy trout water and opening public access on the upper Yampa River in Colorado.

- Protecting habitat for large mammals and redband trout, as well as a scenic trail and wetlands in northeastern Washington.

Colorado’s Sarvis Creek:

In 2013, Western Rivers Conservancy set out to protect an outstanding reach of the upper Yampa River and open access to some of the finest trophy trout water in Colorado. We are thrilled to announce, “We did it!” In December, 2014, WRC successfully conveyed a historic, 45-acre property at the confluence of the Yampa River and Sarvis Creek to the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. The agencies will now manage the lands for the sake of fish and wildlife conservation and for low-impact public access.

WRC purchased the 45-acre parcel shortly after conserving a 920-acre ranch at the mouth of Cross Mountain Canyon on the lower Yampa River. There, in partnership with the BLM, we protected 2.5 miles of the lower river and opened access to the BLM’s vast Cross Mountain Wilderness Study Area. Our work at Sarvis Creek was the logical next step in our ongoing effort to conserve riverland along what is undoubtedly one of the West’s most remarkable rivers.

Our work at Sarvis Creek focused on the Hubbard’s Summer Place, a stunning property located three miles below Stagecoach Reservoir and surrounded almost entirely by parks, wilderness and wildlife areas. Located only 13 miles from Steamboat Springs, this stretch of the Yampa is coveted by anglers for its behemoth rainbow and brown trout. The river is also home to native mountain whitefish.

Placing the Hubbard’s Summer Place into public ownership enhances ongoing efforts to restore fish and wildlife habitat in and along the Yampa. The project also conserves forests of lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, scrub oak, ponderosa pine and aspen, as well as riparian stands of alder, willow and red osier dogwood. Rocky Mountain elk, black bear, cougar and dusky grouse are among the many wildlife species that inhabit the area.

The Hubbard family’s former cabin, which the family built in 1956, remains on the land and will be managed as a historic structure by the USFS and BLM. And for the first time in memory, this stretch of the Yampa will soon be open to everyone.

Washington’s Big Sheep Creek:

In December 2014, Western Rivers Conservancy completed its second land acquisition on Washington’s Big Sheep Creek, placing 1,440 more acres surrounding this critical stream on the path toward conservation. Now that we own all 2,440 acres of the project area, known as the Bennett Meadows Tract, we can focus on transferring this incredible assemblage of riverland, meadowland, wetlands and conifer forest into the long-term care of a conservation steward.

Big Sheep Creek flows through the heart of the so-called “Wedge,” one of the most important corridors for large mammals and rare carnivores moving north and south between British Columbia and the United States. Grizzly bear, Canada lynx, wolverine, moose, Rocky Mountain elk, mountain goat and the creek’s namesake bighorn sheep all inhabit the valley. And they all depend on Big Sheep Creek for survival.

Our work at Big Sheep Creek will conserve over four miles of high-quality wetland and riparian habitat within the Big Sheep Creek drainage. It will improve habitat connectivity for imperiled Canada lynx and conserve prime habitat for over half the grizzly bear population in Washington. The project will also protect habitat for endangered bull trout and the increasingly rare redside rainbow trout. Both inhabit the stream, which flows cold and clear from Washington’s Monashee Mountains on the Canadian border.

In addition to its importance for fish and wildlife, the land also includes a stretch of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail, which runs through the southern portion of the property. This second acquisition will place a unique section of the trail into public hands, improve wildlife viewing opportunities and help ensure this recreational treasure remains intact and open to the public forever.

Conclusion

Sarvis Creek and Big Sheep Creek are two of our recent successes. WRC currently has dozens of active projects in seven states. With the support of GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is expanding our efforts to protect riverlands for fish, wildlife and people.

We love to hear from our supporters. Please contact David Wilkins at 503-241-0151, ext. 214 (or dwilkins@westernrivers.org) for further information. Thank you.

• Western Rivers Conservancy: Project Photos (PDF)