What we’re working on
Practical projects that make the McKenzie River safer, more connected and better able to rebuild, led by locals with MCP’s support.
Projects that change things on the river
Resource Guides & This Website
Plain-language guides on the issues residents face, from septic and rebuilding to wildfire readiness. Next up: in-depth guides that tie each series together.
Helping river homeowners keep their insurance by making homes far more likely to survive a wildfire: a free toolkit now, with chipper days and grant help next.
Blue River Recovery
Helping downtown Blue River come back after the fire, from Flex zoning to wastewater options and plain-language rebuilding guides.
Bringing Businesses Back
Recruiting businesses back to the Upper McKenzie after the fire, including Lucky Boy Mining Camp, a planned home for local vendors and micro-businesses.
Main Street & VisitMcKenzieRiver.com
Visitor guides, business directories and event listings that bring travelers, and their spending, to local businesses up and down the river.
Holiday Lights
Volunteers light the Belknap and Goodpasture bridges, line Hwy 126 with displays and host the Christmas boat parade on Leaburg Lake.
We also advise on Three Sisters Meadow, where a dozen local nonprofits are planning the future of a 16-acre former millsite.
Past wins on the river
Some of MCP’s biggest results now stand on their own. A few we’re proud of:
First on the ground after the fire
In the weeks after the September 2020 fire, before the McKenzie Valley Long Term Recovery Group formed, MCP carried a large share of the local emergency response. When residents could return, we opened resource centers stocked with food and household supplies.
State funding to rebuild Blue River’s water and sewer
Right after the fire, an MCP effort led by Tim Laue, then MCP’s manager and a board member, worked with state lawmakers to secure $15.5 million in state funding (HB 5006, 2021, through Business Oregon) to replace drinking water and wastewater systems in the McKenzie River Valley. Alongside FEMA aid and insurance, it is helping rebuild the Blue River Community Water System, now nearly complete, and carried the community sewer project through design.
A world-class track in Vida
MCP served as fiscal sponsor to help the community build an eight-lane certified track in Vida. It has since hosted Ireland’s national team before the 2022 World Athletics Championships, sheltered residents during the Holiday Farm Fire, and become its own 501(c)(3).
What makes a good MCP project
We’re a small, volunteer-run group, so we focus on projects where our help makes a real difference.
Solves a real local problem
It answers a need residents have told us about, like wildfire risk, rebuilding, jobs or getting around.
Has local champions
Neighbors are ready to lead it. We help with the paperwork, partners and planning so they can focus on the work.
Can pay its own way
It can be funded through grants, sponsors, tickets or participation fees, so it lasts beyond the first year.
Have an idea for your community?
If you and your neighbors want to make something happen, we may be able to help.
Tell us the idea
A short note is enough: what you want to do, where, and who’s involved.
We help find a path
We look at partners, permits and funding, including grants a nonprofit can apply for.
You lead, we support
Your group stays in charge. We help with fundraising, paperwork and getting the word out.
Who we work with
Projects move faster with good partners. These organizations have supported MCP’s work on the river.
United Way
Eugene Cascades & Coast
Oregon.gov
EWEB
The Lamb Foundation
Travel Oregon
Weyerhaeuser
OCCU
Lane County Oregon
The Ford Family Foundation
