With Bella Vista’s support, the Mattole River and Range Partnership (Mattole Restoration Council, Mattole Salmon Group, and Sanctuary Forest) is putting together a long-term plan for restoration of the Mattole River watershed. This partnership was formalized in 2002. All three organizations have worked in the Mattole watershed for over twenty years and each has its own niche in the overall Mattole restoration effort. The Mattole Restoration Council focuses on upslope restoration work and watershed planning. Mattole Salmon Group works in the river with the fish and aquatic habitats, while Sanctuary Forest strives for landscape-level conservation and protection of instream flows.

The strategic planning incorporates three components. First, the MRRP will strengthen the organizational capacity of all three organizations and their strategic alliance so that they can more effectively carry out the second component of their planning - the updated watershed restoration plan. Second, MRRP will expand and update its 2005 Mattole Watershed Plan, which describes the current condition of the watershed and outlines a five-year implementation program for the watershed’s recovery. Much of this work has already been completed. With Bella Vista’s support, MRRP will establish medium-term benchmarks and indicators for watershed recovery (objectives to be achieved by the year 2020) and design a monitoring program that will track their progress toward those objectives. MRRP will conduct outreach to stakeholders and distribute the updated plan widely. Finally, MRRP will address some emerging issues that are not covered by public funding such as encouraging the creation of local enterprises that can take advantage of the second-growth forests in a sustainable manner, increasing fire safety in the watershed, and preventing the spread of sudden oak death. This planning work will create a framework for long-term investment by Bella Vista and other funders in restoration efforts in the Mattole.

As Jeremy Wheeler, Executive Director of Mattole Restoration Council says “This is a fantastic opportunity to create a visionary yet specific plan for the next ten years of one of the most comprehensive, coordinated watershed restoration efforts on the west coast. We are convinced of the value of careful planning to make the best possible use of available funding for ecosystem restoration. The endangered wild Mattole salmon and other inhabitants of our coastal watershed are sure to benefit greatly from this support.”

Bella Vista Foundation: Ecosystem Restoration Strategies and Guidelines