Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership

The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership is a collection of dedicated scientists, educators, and community members who are passionate about the Columbia River. Our mission is to restore and care for the waters and ecosystems of the lower Columbia River, for current and future generations of fish, wildlife, and people.

We work along the lower Columbia River and estuary, beginning upstream at Bonneville Dam and stretching to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, including communities in Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon. We take a multi-faceted approach to support the Columbia River and its communities:

• Restoring habitat to benefit fish, wildlife, and local communities. 
• Educating students about their watershed and getting them outside to learn about science and the world around them. 
• Monitoring habitat and studying river conditions 
• Engaging community members to plant trees streamside to enhance habitat for birds and wildlife and add shade to cool stream waters
• Preparing for sea level rise and other climate change impacts in partnership with communities
• Reducing toxics in our waterways through stormwater retrofit projects at schools, businesses and public places
• Partnering with community groups to take their members out on engaging and memorable Big Canoe paddles on local waterways
• Coordinating and stewarding the Lower Columbia River Water Trail for non-motorized boaters

Last year, we completed the largest habitat restoration project ever along the lower Columbia River at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This award-winning project reconnected 932 acres of floodplain habitat to the Columbia River, allowing salmon and lamprey unobstructed access to this area for the first time in generations.