In Oregon there are two main avenues of habitat improvement: top down and bottom up.  The top down method involves public agencies using public money to restore habitat on public (and sometimes private) lands. The bottom up or grassroots approach is more complex.  Generally if a private individual in Oregon wants to improve habitat in Oregon, they join a Watershed Council. Watershed Councils are wonderful meeting places for people with diverse backgrounds, interests, and philosophies. Watershed Councils also receive funding (public and private) to conduct restoration on private and public lands.  The majority of the funding comes from OWEB, while smaller fractions come from the ODEQ, the BLM, the USFS, NWFW, USFWS, et cetera. Private donations make up the smallest proportion of restoration dollars.  While Watershed Councils serve an important role in getting everyone at the table, providing a non-contentious meeting place, and educating the public about water quality and fish habitat, they also implement almost all of the non-agency habitat restoration in Oregon.

Is this effective?  Definitely. Should this be the only way? That depends on who you ask. There is no coordinated effort by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality or the Environmental Protection Agency (in Oregon) to restore habitat and water quality in Oregon (aside from the TMDL). These agencies provide funding, they monitor, they assess, but they rarely enforce water quality laws (except in gross circumstances).  The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is an effective organization but they have no regulatory control (probably a good thing or they wouldn't have as much support). The agencies which have regulatory control do a great job at collecting data and reporting on that data. But where is the agency whose sole purpose is to take action? Where is the Oregon Department of Conservation?  It doesn't exist. This leaves Watershed Councils and natural resource agencies responsible for improving water quality in Oregon. Watershed Councils can't move boldly forward at the risk of losing members or funding and agencies must manage lands for multiple uses.  This is a two-legged tripod, and the balance is tenuous.