Watershed Restoration: Principles and Practices

Chapter 15: Integrating Public and Private Restoration Strategies: Coquille River of Oregon

W. F. Hudson and P. A. Heikkila

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781888569049.ch15

The Coquille River restoration project was initiated to improve habitat for anadromous salmonids and water quality for residents of the Coquille River watershed of southwestern Oregon. The Coquille River basin, like other Pacific Northwest basins, has experienced declines in salmonid habitat and water quality due to land use activities that started in the late 1800s. Just as the declines occurred over a long period, restoration will require a long-term commitment to improve land management practices and upland, riparian (streambank), and aquatic habitats (Lichatowich 1989; Bilby and Ward 1991). Because land ownership patterns and social and political factors in the watershed are diverse and complex, restoration requires cooperative involvement and coordination among the various interests in the watershed and necessitates an ecosystem approach (i.e., one that looks at all components of the whole basin regardless of political or ownership boundaries).