Goal: Promote Conservation, Stewardship, Collaboration
- Achieve positive social and environmental outcomes
- Inspire, educate, and engage people in actively caring for Central Oregon rivers, farms, and community
- Engage business community in the above, including recreation, agriculture, angling, real estate interests
How it works
Individuals sign the Share the Vision: Be the Change pledge. In doing so, they
- Commit to conserving water in their daily lives
- Donate to the Be the Change Fund
- Register to volunteer on a restoration project (optional)
Program Details
Pledge to conserve water:
Individuals sign the Share the Vision: Be the Change pledge and commit to voluntarily conserving water in their daily lives. Through the pledge, we help raise the community’s “water IQ.” We inspire people to take steps to value water and to recognize our individual participation in consumption and conservation. Individual actions can be as simple as turning off the faucet when brushing teeth and taking shorter showers. Others might want to take bigger steps such as xeriscaping their yards.
Donate to the Be the Change Fund:
Pledge signers have the option of making a donation to the Be the Change Fund. Funds will be used to support projects such as: river restoration; tree planting; creating pollinator plots on piped/buried canal rights of way. Learn more at our Plotting for Pollinators page.
Donations to the Be the Change Fund will be matched by business sponsors. Funds will be used to support projects done in partnership with land management agencies, partner nonprofits, irrigation districts, and businesses.
Business partners:
- Support the Be the Change Fund through mechanisms appropriate to their businesses. Examples include: a direct financial donation: a store sales day dedicated to Be the Change; or a fundraiser
- Help promote the Be the Change program
- Engage directly with projects if they so choose, and as appropriate for their business. For example, they may choose to allow employees to participate in restoration projects as part of their work week
.
Sign up to volunteer:
Pledge signers are invited to volunteer on the restoration projects. This provides an opportunity for individuals to be actively engaged in caring for our rivers and natural resources.
Why "Be the Change"
Share the Vision: Be the Change comes at a critical time for Central Oregon rivers, agriculture, and communities. Collaboration is essential if we are to solve problems facing our rivers and farmlands as quickly as possible. Effective collaboration requires understanding of the issues; it requires dialogue and relationship-building among diverse groups.
Share the Vision: Be the Change is a vital onramp for all of these. This program offers a constructive way for the broader community to:
- engage directly with our rivers through restoration projects
- learn about the fascinating aspects of our Central Oregon rivers, and the varied demands made on them
- gain insights into farming and rural life, and learn about irrigation district operations and water conservation methods
- introduce different sectors of Central Oregon to each other
- make a commitment to conserving water in their daily lives
.
Letters of Support for an Oregon Community Grant proposal submitted January 15, were received from:
-Deschutes National Forest
-Middle Deschutes Watershed Council
-Deschutes Brewery
-Deschutes Redbands Chapter of Trout Unlimited
-Upper Deschutes Watershed Council
-Juniper Group of Sierra Club
-Deschutes River Conservancy
-Beaver Works Oregon
-FANs of Deschutes Canyon
-Farmers Conservation Alliance
-Copeland Gallery
-Tumalo Creek Kayak & Canoe
-Sunriver Brewing
-Central Oregon Seed Incorporated
-Central Oregon Irrigation District
-North Unit Irrigation District
-Fox Hollow Ranch
-Senator Merkley
Be the Change Participants Share
"Coalition for the Deschutes has demonstrated that it possesses the leadership and commitment to achieve the goals of Share the Vision: Be the Change. The collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach Coalition for the Deschutes is championing is truly precedent-setting for resource industries, such as agriculture, where stakeholder interests are often opposed.
"We have partnered with Coalition for the Deschutes to host several tours on our farm. During these tours I have witnessed firsthand the transformative influence and progress that is possible from the outreach, education, advocacy and action the Coalition is leading. In short, the concept and objectives of Share the Vision: Be the Change are not only critical for the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the Deschutes Basin; I’m also confident in the Coalition for the Deschutes’s ability to implement the vision and successfully change the trajectory of the river’s health and benefit communities in our region for generations."
Kevin L. Richards
Jefferson County family farmer
Fox Hollow Ranch