Powder River BioRegion

 

The Powder River Bioregion in eastern Oregon is a landscape shaped by history and natural beauty. Originating in the Blue Mountains, the Powder River supports agricultural activities and sustains diverse wildlife habitats. It serves as the lifeblood of this system, collecting constant runoff from the surrounding valley bioregion. In doing so, the Powder nourishes and sustains the land it flows through, fulfilling its potential while offering even more.

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The region’s gold rush heritage is preserved in towns like Baker City, which celebrate their connection to the Oregon Trail. These communities formed to grow and thrive through mutual help and support, fostering sustainable futures for all.

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Settlers on the Oregon Trail followed in the footsteps of the bioregion’s Indigenous history. The present-day Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, located near Pendleton, Oregon, had been traveling portions of the Oregon Trail long before American pioneers made it famous. For as long as storytellers could remember, the Tribes made annual journeys through multiple Snake River bioregions, starting from their homeland near Pendleton.

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From Pendleton, the Tribe traveled south toward Burns, Oregon, and the Malheur River Bioregion. They may have skirted the Owyhee River Bioregion, venturing in occasionally as their needs or desires dictated. Continuing down the Malheur River, they journeyed to the annual Snake River gathering of Indigenous nations to harvest salmon and trade with tribes who came from as far away as the Great Plains, on the other side of the Rockies.

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These early nations exemplified bioregionalism at its finest, fulfilling the needs of the people while honoring the land and water that sustained them. Through these interactions, they built community relationships that benefited everyone. This was not the fast-paced, cosmopolitan mindset of today’s interstate highways and speeding cars. Instead, it was a community-driven approach to survival that simultaneously nurtured the land, waterways, and wildlife for the good of all.

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Bioregionalism, as practiced naturally by these nations, was a simple manifestation of a beneficial way of life that supported the entire ecosystem they were part of. After the annual Snake River gathering, the Umatilla Nation headed north, eventually passing through the Powder River Bioregion on their way back to their homeland.

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Modern conservation and development efforts in the Powder River Bioregion initially focused on water management. In its early days, the Baker Valley was nearly a swamp, fed by an abundance of pure snowmelt and artesian springs from the Elkhorn Range of the Blue Mountains. Water management efforts involved digging trenches to channel mountain creeks toward newly formed gold-mining communities while draining the Baker Valley wetlands.

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One of the most well-known early communities was Old Auburn, whose wealth of gold flowed into what is now Baker City—once simply called Baker. As Old Auburn’s gold reserves dwindled, Baker acquired its water rights. The Baker City Watershed, managed by the city, became so well-developed that it rivaled Portland, Oregon’s Bull Run Watershed.

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Gold remained a livelihood for many in Baker. The Pine Creek Valley region above Baker Valley boasted mines along all three of its creek drainages, prosperous enough collectively to support a permanent cathouse. During these gold-rich early days, Baker grew and flourished, even being considered for Oregon’s state capital. The town’s prominence was such that its three-story Grand Ronde Hotel became the third hotel west of the Rockies to feature a modern elevator—following the second, located in San Diego, California.

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The health of the soil and Baker Valley’s water management enabled the reclamation of land for agriculture. The valley produced such rich grasslands that thriving cattle ranches persist to this day, ensuring the area’s long-term resilience and economic stability.