Rogue River Watershed Council (RRWC) is a designated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Central Point. Our mission is to enhance resilience in Rogue River watersheds through ecological restoration and engagement with community partners. Our work improves water quality, enhances ecological communities and wildlife populations, and ultimately benefits humans. The funding for our projects comes primarily from state and federal agencies, including from the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife, and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. The federal funding freeze and budget cuts are greatly concerning to our crucial work in southern Oregon for 2025 and beyond.

 

RRWC is facing high uncertainty related to projects we have scheduled in the near term due to the federal funding announcements over the past four weeks. In 2025, we expected to implement seven restoration projects throughout our service area. These project locations include West Fork Trail Creek, Chicago Creek, Elk Creek, Sugarpine Creek, and North Fork Little Butte Creek. Most of these projects rely on at least one federal grant to cover the cost of the restoration work, and the total amount of funding from federal grants for 2025 restoration work is just over $2 million. Until we can confirm that these grant funds will be available, our staff has made difficult decisions to postpone five of the seven projects. The delayed projects range in budget from $80,000- $1,600,000. If previously awarded federal grants are rescinded, the projects may be further affected until additional funding is secured.

 

We are dedicated to the restoration of Rogue River watersheds, but we cannot move forward with most of our near term projects without confidence that we will receive the awarded funds. We strongly believe that our projects are important to Southern Oregon and the community members of Jackson and Josephine Counties, and we know that for every dollar put into restoration, there is an estimated return of $7-30 in economic benefit. Our communities will be affected by these funding decisions in both the short and long term.