Okanogan Project

Stewardship Partners has been promoting a preservation and enhancement project along the Okanogan River between Riverside and the Janis Bridge. With 6.2 miles of river frontage, this is the last completely natural and road less area along the 80 miles of the Okanogan south from Orville to the confluence with the Columbia River.

The river corridor contains ponderosa pine, rapids, and a waterfall. There are several well-preserved indigenous pictograph sites and clear remnants of pit houses. There are undisturbed natural features including shrub steppe prairie, wetlands, and abundant wildlife. The river is home to a variety anadromous fish including sockeye, chinook, and steelhead, as well as resident species. In fact, nearly 40 percent of all chinook returning to the Okanogan spawn within WDFW index number 5 that includes these 6.2 miles of river.

Stewardship Partners recognizes the unique habitat and archeological features of this property and seeks to protect its biological functionality and historic significance through acquisition and cooperative land stewardship. For two years we have worked with Central Washington University on the idea of a field research and education/conference center. This would be a clearinghouse for environmental education in the region and offer an outdoor classroom for local school districts and Central Washington University. Unfortunately this concept has developed neither the required funding nor the necessary local political support to succeed.

One of the three landowners recently sold their property to the Colville Tribe.