Southern Oregon-Northeastern California (SONEC) I WRB

Expanding access to conservation practices on working lands is critical for landscape resilience in the Western U.S., improving the health of these ecosystems, and strengthening rural economies and communities. In the Western U.S., private working lands are critical to landscape health because they host 80% of water resources. Yet many of these landowners face barriers to participating in funding opportunities and carrying out restoration on their lands. To address this issue, Blue Forest and Pheasants Forever partnered to develop the first-of-its-kind Southern Oregon-Northeastern California I Watershed Resilience Bond (SONEC I WRB), launched in 2024.

The SONEC I WRB sought to reduce obstacles faced by private landowners and accelerate restoration of working lands in the SONEC region, which provides critical habitat for many important species, including migratory birds. While federal funding is available for private landowners to implement conservation projects, participation in conservation programs boils down to overcoming three main barriers: time, financial capability, and knowledge. Removing these barriers allows more people to participate in conservation and communities to come together behind a shared vision of healthy working landscapes. Through the SONEC I WRB, Pheasants Forever aimed to reduce or eliminate these barriers by managing contracts and financing the upfront project costs on behalf of landowners, enabling landowners to repay their portion of the cost share over time to Pheasants Forever interest-free. Additionally, Pheasants Forever provided essential technical support, assisting with funding applications, project planning, and implementation. Project treatments are expected to include enhancement and restoration of forest, wet meadow, grassland, and rangeland ecosystems, and will enhance water resources through streamflow stabilization and raising the water table, and increase fire resilience by increasing the amount of wet meadows on the landscape.  In addition, projects are expected to improve wildlife habitat for Oregon Conservation Strategy species, including sage grouse, greater sandhill cranes, and Great Basin redband trout—among many others.

The SONEC I WRB reached maturity in December 2025. While the restoration work led by Pheasants Forever ultimately did not require use of the WRB line of credit, the project created valuable opportunities for learning and collaboration. Pheasants Forever and Blue Forest have since worked closely to reflect on and evaluate insights from this innovative WRB model, helping to guide how conservation finance can be most impactful in supporting Pheasants Forever’s restoration efforts going forward.