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The Freshwater Trust (TFT) protects and restores freshwater ecosystems. Using science, technology, and incentive-based solutions, the organization is changing the course of conservation on a timeline that matters. TFT has nearly 40 years of technology-driven, watershed-scale restoration and conservation expertise and its policy and program work spans the states of Oregon, Idaho, California, Washington, and Colorado.

In June 2022, Blue Forest and TFT announced a new partnership through which the two organizations would explore innovative, large-scale conservation finance opportunities for Western watersheds.

“Our mission is to increase the pace and scale by which watersheds can achieve resilience, and to do that, we must think big and change the systems that fund and deliver restoration and conservation efforts,” said TFT Vice President of Finance & Policy, Tim Wigington. “We’re looking to foster new approaches in environmental projects, policies and financing. Blue Forest Conservation is the perfect partner to work with toward this ambitious goal.”

As the two organizations explore opportunities for collaboration, members of the Blue Forest team had a chance to visit TFT’s Ashland office during an Oregon site visit last month. The team met with Southern Oregon Stewardship & Monitoring Coordinator, Taylor Owen and Restoration Project Manager, Katelyn Detweiler. Taylor and Katelyn gave us a tour of two project sites — a restoration project within Ashland followed by their Wagner Creek restoration project near Talent. Both projects replant native trees and shrubs along streambanks to improve water quality and support native fish habitat. We were able to see the damage caused to both the landscape as well as nearby communities by the 2020 Almeda Fire.

“It was exciting to see the difference that TFT’s projects are making on the ground. Their work is a real-world example of how restoration can create fire-resilient ecosystems and protect communities. We’re so excited for this partnership, both in and beyond Oregon,” said Blue Forest Senior Project Scientist, Dr. Tessa Maurer.

Back at the TFT office, we had a chance to explain the Forest Resilience Bond model in detail and discuss our Rogue Valley Projects currently in the project pipeline. It was such a positive experience for both teams to learn about each of the organizations’ work and mission.

“It was a pleasure to showcase some of our compliance-grade projects here in the Rogue for Blue Forest,” said Detweiler. “Collaboration is a catalyst for more impactful results on the ground, and that’s what’s needed right now.”

Seeing these two TFT projects and learning about their impact on local communities and river health was inspiring and really piqued our team’s interest in collaborating in this beautiful and vibrant part of Oregon and across other landscapes.

With this new understanding of TFT’s boots on the ground work and its value, we are now working with our larger teams to explore more deeply the opportunities available through this partnership in the coming months. We’re excited to continue working with The Freshwater Trust and are working to identify initial projects by 2023.