Long
Tom Watershed Council
751 South Danebo Ave.
Eugene, OR 97402
Dana
Dedrick
Watershed Coordinator/
Executive Director
(541) 683-6578
Cindy
Thieman
Restoration Program Director
(541) 683-2983
Jed Kaul
Restoration Technician
(541) 683-2983
Amanda
Wilson
Fiscal Manager
(541) 683-6949
Rob Hoshaw
Operations Manager
(541) 683-6949
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About
the Watershed
Where
is the Long Tom Watershed?
The
Long Tom Watershed is one of the major watersheds
in the upper Willamette River Basin. The headwaters of the
Long Tom River originate in the forested Coast Range Mountains
and foothills, flow through small farms, ranches, rural and
urban areas to Fern Ridge Reservoir, and then through larger
farms until it joins the Willamette River.
To learn more about land use, land ownership, and the ecoregions of the Long Tom Watershed, click on the text above the thumbnails of the maps below to view the full-size image.
The Long Tom
Watershed encompasses the entire area drained by the Long Tom River and
its tributaries, including Amazon and Coyote Creeks.
The Watershed
encompasses roughly
410 square miles, or roughly 262,000 acres, including the cities of
Eugene, Veneta, and Monroe.
There are
approximately 140,000 people living within the watershed boundaries.
92% of the land
within the Watershed is
privately owned
Land use in the
Watershed is comprised
of 46% forestry, 31% agriculture, 9% rural,
8% urban, and 6% parks and other public land (see chart at right).
The Long Tom
Watershed is an anchor
area for wetland, prairie, and oak savannah
habitats in the Willamette Basin.
The Watershed is
home to several
important species, including cutthroat
trout, western pond turtle, red-legged frog,
bald eagle, fender’s blue butterfly,
Kincaid’s lupine & camas
Recreational
uses within the watershed include fishing, hunting, hiking, camping,
swimming, biking, and boating.
The Watershed before 1850
The Kalapuya
Indians inhabited this area prior to and during the early stages of white
settlement. The land provided a bounty of food and was managed by the Indians
through regular burning of the prairies. This practice maintained the lush
growth that greeted white settlers arriving in the Valley in the early 1800's.
The early
landscape of the Willamette Valley was soon changed as settlers altered the
historic fire regime, and began farming, introducing cattle, pigs and sheep,
and grain crops.
