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The White River Partnership (WRP) is committed to restoring and maintaining healthy riparian areas along the White River in northwest Colorado and northeast Utah through collaboration among public, private, and non-profit entities.

The White River is a dynamic riverine ecosystem where the threats from Russian olive, tamarisk, and related invasive plant species have been mitigated and native, resilient vegetation communities reflect a healthy river system beneficial to fish and wildlife habitat that supports the ecological, social, and economic sustainability of the multiple land uses found along the White River corridor. 

Watershed Concerns

The health of the White River is vital to the socio-economic well-being of local communities that depend on it for agricultural production, industry, recreation, aesthetics, and cultural uses. The White River and its tributaries provide crucial habitat for native fish including endangered and conservation priority species such as the Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker. Large herds of elk, deer, and other animals utilize the White River corridor for habitat and forage. 

 

The White River's riparian areas are increasingly dominated by invasive plants such as tamarisk and Russian olive. These trees increase the risk of wildfire, diminish aquatic and riparian habitats, reduce natural river functions, and impede recreational, agricultural, and cultural uses of the river.

The White River Partnership aims to further develop and implement a collaborative and comprehensive approach to improving the condition of riparian areas that complements ongoing efforts by partners as well as identifies and creates new opportunities for restoration. 

The WRP supports a collaborative, landscape-scale approach to restoration in order to work across state and jurisdictional boundaries by meeting the needs and preferences of the diverse landowners, land managers, communities, and stakeholders of the White River basin in Colorado and Utah.

The WRP's Riparian Restoration Plan provides a guiding framework for riparian restoration along the White River by identifying common goals among partners, ecological stressors on the system and the assumptions made to address them, criteria for prioritizing restoration sites and restoration methods, as well as the relevant background information about the White River. The Plan also identifies 3-year goals and objectives related to restoration implementation and partnership development. Partners developed the plan throughout 2020 and 2021 and the plan will be publicly available summer 2021 after final edits and formatting. Please use the contact information below if you have any questions about the plan. 

In spring 2021 partners signed the WRP Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a non-binding agreement to encourage collaborative riparian restoration along the White River as well as to identify the ecological, social, cultural, economic, and management goals of the WRP. The WRP is an inclusive partnership and welcomes the participation of interested individuals and entities whether or not they are signatories to the MOU. The MOU is available here.

Contact Information

 

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