Learn about the collaborative efforts of the Deschutes Partnership to restore steelhead habitat to 220 miles of Central Oregon streams.

Representatives from the three partnering agencies that make up the Deschutes Partnership highlight the collaborative efforts of the group to restore the habitat necessary to support the reintroduction of salmon and steelhead to 220 miles of Central Oregon streams. A nationally recognized model for collaboration, the collective efforts of the Deschutes Partnership have brought efficiency, focus and leverage to bear in increasing the pace and scale of watershed restoration work. This program specifically focuses on the Deschutes Partnership's success on Whychus Creek, where restoration efforts are focused on restoring streamflow, protecting the floodplain from encroaching development and restoring 18 miles of stream channel.
Brad Nye – Deschutes Land Trust. Brad has identified and carried out the Land Trust’s conservation projects, including conservation easements and fee acquisitions, for the past 14 years. Brad earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon and his JD (with emphases on environmental law and Indian law) from the University of Washington School of Law. Prior to joining the Land Trust, Brad practiced law at Schwabe Williamson, a regional law firm based in Portland (1992-1997), and worked on wildlife habitat protection for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (1997-2001).
Natasha Bellis- Deschutes River Conservancy. Natasha provides strategic oversight of the organization’s streamflow restoration programs including negotiating stream flow restoration agreements and convening and facilitating stakeholder processes in priority stream reaches. Natasha holds a MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana with a focus on collaborative conservation and a JD from Lewis and Clark Law School with a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resource Law. Natasha moved to Bend in 2015 from Portland, OR where she worked as the Flow Restoration Director for The Freshwater Trust. Prior to joining the Deschutes River Conservancy, she developed conservation land acquisitions for the Deschutes Land Trust.
Kolleen Miller-Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. Kolleen has taught environmental education courses throughout Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, and worked as the program manager for the Alaska Center for the Environment prior to joining the UDWC in 2002. Kolleen has trained and managed staff and volunteers within the context of watershed education, and has coordinated riparian restoration projects, water quality monitoring studies, and collaborative conservation education programs. She was the editor for UDWC’s Upper Deschutes Subbasin Assessment (2003) and The Place We Cross the Water: Whychus Creek (2007). Kolleen holds a B.A in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a M.A. degree in English Studies with an emphasis in Ecocritical Analysis from Western Washington University. As the Education Director for UDWC, Kolleen develops and directs the environmental education programs for the Watershed Council in addition to providing leadership for many community-based watershed education projects in Central Oregon.



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