StreamCare

StreamCare provides eligible streamside landowners with free weed control and native tree and shrub planting along the creek, plus five years of maintenance. East Multnomah SWCD staff evaluate the area, obtain any necessary permits, and supervise contracted crews. The program is 100% funded in-kind — there is no cash payment to the landowner. It is currently offered along Big Creek, Smith Creek, Johnson Creek, Beaver Creek, Buck Creek, and Bonnie Brook.

Interested landowners along the six named waterways. Big Creek, Smith Creek, Buck Creek, and Bonnie Brook: all landowners along the creek are eligible. Johnson Creek and Beaver Creek: landowners with property along the creek outside the Gresham city limits may be eligible.

StreamCare is 100% funded in-kind, with no cash payment to the landowner — EMSWCD is responsible for all project costs (subject to available funding). Participants enter a five-year Stream Care Cooperative Agreement. EMSWCD provides site preparation, planting (all labor and materials), seeding, and quarterly maintenance and monitoring, targeting a minimum survival rate of 50% for trees and 40% for shrubs. The cooperator provides site access, prevents livestock from entering the project area (financial assistance is available if fencing is needed), and agrees not to alter or remove the plantings during their minimum effective life. EMSWCD may terminate the contract on 30 days' notice.

Contact Nikola Smith, Rural Lands Program Supervisor (503-935-5360, nikola@emswcd.org), to determine eligibility. Staff evaluate the streamside area and recommend planting. The project schedule is contingent on the cooperator signing and returning the agreement by April 1; agreements received on or after April 1 may delay installation until winter.