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Land Board Awards

Group of people stand outside behind three people holding awards.Every year since 2004, the State Land Board Awards recognize projects and partners for their exceptional contributions to thriving Oregon waterways, wetlands, and lands.

State Land Board Award Nominations Are Now Closed 

This year's nomination deadline has passed. Thank you to all who submitted nominations. Awards will be presented at the October 15, 2024 Land Board meeting. 

About the Awards

  • The Stream and Wetland Project Awards recognize exemplary stream or wetland projects completed during the previous calendar year.
  • The Partnership Award recognizes organizations that have been exceptional collaborators, helping advance Department of State Lands goals.
  • The Catalyst Award recognizes an individual partner whose work supports and inspires stewardship of state lands and waters.


Current Award Winners

In the Mt. Hood National Forest, a 112-year-old wooden pipeline supplied over 50 percent of The Dalles annual water supply. In replacing the aged pipe, collaborators behind this project consistently made decisions that benefitted the river, the forest, and the community.

The project ensured fish passage and aquatic habitat despite extraordinary site challenges, resulting in installation of an aquatic species passageway, removing two barriers to fish passage upstream, and employing an innovative solution for fish screening. Beyond care for aquatic species, the project also restored a historic cabin and built a new trailhead for the mountain bike community.

The project demonstrates that imaginative solutions are possible when partners work together across public, private, and nonprofit lines. Thank you to the city of The Dalles, Jacobs Engineering Group, 44 Trails mountain bike community, and USDA Forest Service for being an example of Oregon spirit.​


Wildlife inventory by the Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation identified this location as a top priority for watershed restoration. This project took multiple actions – including reestablishing ground and surface water interaction, protecting spring wetlands and re-routing surface springs, planting thousands of trees, and relocating exposed channels into forested locations – to increase base flow and duration, reduce water temperature and turbidity, improve access to quality habitat upstream, and more.

In a city with nearly half of the population Spanish-speaking, it was important for the project team that there were plenty of bilingual opportunities for the public to be informed and participate in the project. This project also built strong relationships from the ground up with key landowners, resulting in large donations of material, altering of cattle management strategies, and 10-year agreements that ensure adequate real estate is available for the project to meet recovery objectives.​


The Department manages approximately 620,000 acres of rangeland in southeast Oregon, primarily in Lake, Harney, and Malheur counties. Much of the land is arid high desert with grasses and shrubs that are well-suited for livestock grazing. More than a dozen community and agency partners support the Department's work to keep rangelands thriving.

These partners have been strong advocates for management of rangelands by advocating for funding, applying for grants, working with lessees on projects, acting as contract administrators, accepting federal funding for our projects, and coordinating large project with many partners and private landowners.

These partners were nominated by the Department's Real Property Program, and include:

  • Harney Soil Water Conservation District
  • Crook County Soil Water Conservation District
  • Malheur County Weed Control
  • Malheur County Soil Water Conservation District
  • Lake County Soil Water Conservation District
  • Jordan Valley Cooperative Weed Management Area
  • Harney Cooperative Weed Management Area
  • Harney County Weed Control​
  • High Desert Partnership
  • Pheasants Forever
  • Natural Resource Conservation Service
  • Owyhee Watershed Council
  • US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Oregon Department Fish and Wildlife
  • Sage Con​


In the southern Willamette Valley, there is an ecologically important wet prairie, emergent, and scrub shrub wetland collectively known as Quamash Prairie. This restoration site, once a degraded agricultural floodplain of the Willamette River, is fortunate to be under the care of Chad Hoffman.

Hoffman personally oversees seed collection and proliferation of desirable natives while hand-removing undesirable non-natives. However, it's his outreach to local student groups that scales Hoffman's care into the wider community. He brings student groups to Quamash Prairie on a weekly basis, fostering community involvement and stewardship starting at a young age. ​


Frequently Asked Questions


Anyone and YES! Past nominations have come from landowners, consultants, funding partners, DSL staff, government agencies, watershed councils, local planners, businesses, organizations and more. 

If you have been a part of an exemplary project or partnership, please submit a nomination!​​​

​DSL convenes a selection committee that typically includes staff, partner organizations, and representatives of other state agencies to review nominations. Generally, one award per category is presented each year. However, the committee may recommend that more than one award be given, or that no award will be given, in a specific category.​​

For stream and wetland projects, the se​​lection committee considers:
  • Benefits to the resource
  • Innovation and creativity
  • Community involvement and partnerships
  • Avoidance and minimization in design

For partnership and catalyst awards, the selection committee considers:

  • Innovation and effort
  • Consistent outstanding service
  • The example set by the nominee

The Land Board Awards are presented by the Land Board – Oregon’s Governor, Secretary of State, and Treasurer – during the October board meeting. The award is a plaque featuring the artwork of glass artist Ann Cavanaugh. Award recipients are also highlighted in a news release, web features, and on social media.​

Past Awardees



CONTACT

Katrina Scotto di Carlo
Communications Officer
katrina.scottodicarlo@dsl.oregon.gov

Nomination Forms

Nomination forms for the 2024 award cycle: