Born in Los Angeles, writer and activist Andrea Scharf has been living and writing quietly along the Yachats River the past dozen years or so, “just beyond the fog zone,” as she describes it. In between her native West Coast urban roots and Northwest Coastal life has been an extraordinary amount of living, seeing and experiencing. Indeed, the born and …

Two thousand kilometers.  One river. One paddler. Last summer, Canadian artist and adventurer Claire Dibble paddled alone in a skin-on frame kayak that she built (with some help from her dad, Keith), starting at Columbia Lake near Canal Flats, British Columbia, and ending just past Astoria, Oregon. The journey—from “source to sea” along the Columbia River—began in early July and …

(It’s been 10 years since the removal of Savage Rapids Dam. Today, this stretch of the Rogue River near Grants Pass moves freely. Photo courtesy of John DeVoe.) This October marks the ten-year anniversary of the Rogue River moving freely for the first time in nearly a century on a stretch of river near Grants Pass, Oregon, when work crews …

In the Summer 2019 Instream, we announced that longtime development director Molly Whitney departed for the Cascade Forest Conservancy to become its executive director. In this fall issue, we would like to formally introduce WaterWatch’s new development director, Neil Brandt. Many of you have already encountered Neil in person, on the phone, or by email. He’s been at WaterWatch for …

That’s WaterWatch’s communications manager, David Row, tabling at Patagonia’s downtown Portland store. Expect to see our staff increasingly at these events where they’ll be spreading the good word about WaterWatch to new and familiar supporters! With the arrival of three new staffers (Neil Brandt, Robyn Gottlieb and David Row) in the past few months, WaterWatch has a rare luxury: A …

Wetlands, like this autumn scene of the Tualatin Wildlife Refuge, are more than beautiful stretches of nature. They provide clean water and habitat, sequester carbon and reduce flooding. With the passage of House Bill 2437, however, wetlands in Oregon are increasingly in peril. In the 2019 Oregon legislative session, legislators and Oregon Governor Kate Brown focused much of their attention …