Where We Need Help

What began around a kitchen table has grown into work that now reaches across the Row River Valley. We have good people beside us, including residents, volunteers, agencies, foundations and other partners.

Right now, our greatest needs are funding for our permanent fire stations, protecting the Upper Coast Fork watershed and its critical tributaries, and enough working capacity to support the community work already underway.

Permanent Fire Stations

Row River Valley residents worked for years to establish local fire protection. In May 2024, voters created the Row River Rural Fire Protection District, and community partners have since donated land for permanent stations in both Dorena and Disston.

Now we need to build them.

The Disston Auxiliary Station is fully permitted and ready for construction. The Dorena Main Station continues to move forward through preconstruction and the federal appropriations process.

What’s next: Secure the funding needed to build permanent fire stations for the district our community worked so hard to create.

Protecting the Upper Coast Fork Watershed

Much of the four-mile Disston Pathway runs alongside critical tributaries of the Upper Coast Fork Willamette River, part of a vital watershed that provides drinking water for more than 15,000 people.

Residents who live here are often the first to see dumping, abandoned or burned vehicles, and damage near waterways. They are helping clean it up, report problems and keep watch over the area.

The Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District recognized that caring for the pathway also helps protect the watershed and Cottage Grove’s drinking water source, and is supporting our community stewardship work.

Bollards are our next priority. Closing unauthorized vehicle access points will help prevent dumping and vehicles from reaching sensitive areas near the tributaries.

What’s next: Fund and install bollards at identified access points and continue supporting residents who are helping protect this important Rural Oregon watershed.

Investing in the People Behind the Work

RRVCP grew from volunteer effort, and volunteers remain an important part of how things get done in the Row River Valley.

The organization supporting that work is very small. Community meetings, Neighborhood Teams, Think Tank Tuesday, the Row River Review, grants, partnerships, events and volunteer projects all require someone behind them to organize, communicate and follow through.

Our greatest need is dependable operating support.

The work has grown faster than the funding for the people carrying it. Staff time is increasingly being volunteered to keep programs and commitments moving forward. We can do that for a while. We cannot build a sustainable community organization that way.

Operating support gives us the working time to coordinate volunteers, manage grants, support Neighborhood Teams, publish the Row River Review, meet with agencies and partners, organize community gatherings and keep projects moving. It also gives us enough room to explore a good idea when a neighbor brings it to Think Tank Tuesday and, with the community’s support, help move it forward.

What’s next: Build enough dependable support to keep good people doing the work and good ideas moving forward.

These are some of the priorities in front of us today. There is much more happening across the Row River Valley.