The Partners   Strategic Plan / Outcomes 

The Yamhill Partnership for Land & Water is  an informal group of public and private organizations working together to assure a legacy of characteristic natural areas and resources for the Yamhill valley area and its people by conserving significant lands & waters for wildlife habitat, for working lands, and for parks & natural spaces for the long-term vitality of the Yamhill area.

Background

Shared Concerns

In 2008, several organizations involved in land trust and related activities in the Yamhill County area began meeting to discuss common issues.  Over the course of several months, consensus was clear that there were growing needs for more stewardship of the lands and waters of Yamhill County, that there were increasing opportunities and that there is growing land-owner interest.  The group identified common observations:

• concerns of limited capacity for conservation, especially limited financial capacity; 
• challenges from a growing population and changing demographics;
• shifting economic and agriculture base; 
• declining per-capita parks and park acreage, among the lowest of comparable counties;
• a crisis level loss of natural communities, especially Oregon White Oak savannas and woodlands, upland and wet prairies;
• poor water quality, especially murky and high temperatures;
• a generational transfer of lands underway with desire to preserve rather than convert lands; and
• growing landowner interest but with limited individual capacity to respond.

Addressing Opportunities

To address these concerns, the group's intially met to:

• Increase knowledge of each group’s interests, capabilities and capacities;
• Cooperate and coordinate activities;
• To identify ways to get opportunities to the organizations best suited to them; and 
• Collaborate on getting land trust deals done.

Goals

Work Areas

The partnership identified these main areas of work:

• Outreach: education and public awareness of goals, opportunities, achievements
• Building public support for the goals of the partnership
• Protection, restoration and stewardship of natural areas
• Increase capacity and funding for the goals of the partnership

Mutual Commitment