The South Santiam Source
Fall 2026 Newsletter
Quarterly News Source from the South Santiam Watershed Council
About the SSWC
The South Santiam Watershed Council (SSWC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps residents work together to improve the health of the South Santiam watershed. These efforts are rooted in science, partnership, and community engagement.
In this Issue
Executive Director Message
This Season in the Watershed
Help Shape the Future of SSWC
Upcoming Events
SSWC Mission
To enhance and protect the natural resources of the South Santiam River watershed for the social, environmental, and economic benefit of all those who live, work, and visit.
Executive Director's Message
It’s been a while since we’ve put out a regular newsletter from the South Santiam Watershed Council (SSWC). As we bring the newsletter back, I wanted to take this opportunity to reintroduce SSWC, share a little about what has changed over the past year, and give you a sense of what’s happening across the watershed and what you can expect from us moving forward.
For 30 years, SSWC has worked throughout the South Santiam watershed to enhance and protect natural resources for the social, environmental, and economic benefit of those who live, work, and visit here. Our mission-driven work includes voluntary, science-based habitat restoration, education, community information sharing, landowner assistance, and collaboration with local, state, federal, Tribal, and private partners.
The past year has brought quite a bit of change to SSWC. Following the departure of our longtime Executive Director, Shannon Richardson, in fall 2025, I stepped into the Executive Director role. We have also welcomed new staff and expanded our work in wildfire preparedness and resiliency. Through these changes, we’ve continued our longstanding youth education programs, including Salmon Watch and Outdoor School, which provide local 6th-grade students with hands-on opportunities to learn about salmon, streams, forests, wildfire, and the watershed they call home.
There is a lot happening throughout the South Santiam watershed right now. We are working on projects ranging from fish passage and stream habitat restoration to Pacific lamprey recovery, wildfire resilience, community involvement, and education. Over the coming months, we hope to do a better job of sharing that work with you.
Going forward, you can expect to hear from us more regularly through this newsletter. We’ll share updates from the field, upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, educational programs, project milestones, and ways to get involved. We also want to introduce you to some of the people, partnerships, and places behind the work happening throughout the watershed.
Whether you’ve been involved with SSWC for years, signed up for this newsletter a long time ago and haven’t heard much from us since, or are just getting to know the Council, I’m glad you’re here. On behalf of the board and staff of SSWC, we look forward to keeping you better connected with SSWC and the work happening throughout the South Santiam watershed.
Land. Water. People. From our headwaters to our communities, we are all connected.
Tyrell
This Season in the Watershed
Welcoming New Faces & Building Wildfire Resilience
The South Santiam Watershed Council is proud to be a partner in Wildfire Ready Linn County, a collaborative effort bringing local fire districts, watershed councils, and county and state agencies together to help Linn County communities prepare for wildfire.
Through the program, SSWC is expanding our work around wildfire preparedness, including free home assessments, community education, defensible space guidance, and connections to local resources and support.
As part of this effort, the South Santiam Watershed Council has welcomed two new staff members to the team, Loren Jenkins as our Wildfire Resiliency Specialist and Aaron Gibson as our Wildfire Outreach Specialist.
We're thrilled to have them on the team and are excited about the great work they are doing in the South Santiam Watershed!
Revisiting Our Fish Passage Projects
In 2025, the South Santiam Watershed Council improved fish passage at three road crossings on Cascade Timber Consulting-managed lands. The project replaced two undersized culverts with bridges on Ames Creek, and one culvert was replaced with an open-bottom culvert on the SS500 Road, allowing migratory fish to reach high-quality habitat in the upper South Santiam basin.
However, restoration doesn’t end when the construction stops and the plants are installed. The South Santiam Watershed Team returned in August to monitor how the streams and surrounding vegetation are responding to the changes. We identified numerous juvenile fish, macroinvertebrates, and many of the installed native plants surviving and stabilizing the streamside.
By tracking changes as the restored crossings settle in and habitat recovers, we can learn what’s working, identify opportunities for improvement, and help ensure these projects provide lasting benefits for fish and healthy stream ecosystems.
Pacific Lamprey Return to the Upper Watershed
Pacific lamprey are returning to the South Santiam as part of a collaborative, Tribal-led restoration effort. In June, the South Santiam Watershed Council supported the release of 50 adult lamprey above Green Peter Dam, where they are expected to spawn and help rebuild a sustainable population.
In October, the SSWC will use Environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor the extent and reach of the newly released lamprey. eDNA is a non-invasive technique that detects genetic material shed by fish into water to identify which species are present. It is especially useful for rare, elusive, or endangered species without needing to catch, handle, or harm the animals. Stay tuned to see what we discover!
Learn how this project supports healthy rivers, honors Tribal stewardship, and brings an important native species back to its ancestral habitat.
Recent News
Help Shape the Future of SSWC
The South Santiam Watershed Council (SSWC) is updating its Action Plan to guide our work over the next five to ten years.
Your perspective will help us understand the priorities, opportunities, and challenges that matter most to our communities and shape the goals and strategies that guide our work.
This questionnaire should take approximately 5 - 10 minutes to complete. There are no right or wrong answers. Please share your honest perspective.
Thank you for helping shape the future of the South Santiam Watershed.
Upcoming Events
Thank You
Everything we do—from sharing stories in this newsletter to restoring streams, planting native vegetation, and engaging our community—would not be possible without the generous support we receive from grantors, donors, and volunteers.
Our staff is composed of four people and supported by a board of seven community members. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve the watershed we call home.
Healthy watersheds are built through strong partnerships and engaged communities. Thank you for helping protect and restore the South Santiam Watershed!
Find Your Connection
Whether you're a landowner interested in improving habitat, a volunteer looking to make a difference, or someone who simply cares about healthy rivers, we'd love to work with you.