Resource Guides & This Website
Giving every McKenzie River resident straight answers on rebuilding, septic, zoning, wildfire and local services: in plain language, in one place, and free.
The project in one minute
Active. 72 plain-language guides are live, alongside river news we’ve published since 2020. Volunteers write and maintain them today.
Online for anyone, written for the McKenzie River corridor in Lane County, Oregon, from Walterville to McKenzie Bridge.
Residents who are rebuilding or planning, landowners and renters, absentee owners, local businesses, and the agencies and volunteers who answer their questions.
Researcher, writer and editor: we turn agency rules and programs into short local guides, link to the official source, and keep them current.
$15,000 to $40,000 a year for a part-time editor, plus hosting, tools and printing.
Every guide is written so other rural communities can copy and adapt it. We ask only for credit.
The answers exist. They’re just hard to find.
After the Holiday Farm Fire burned 173,393 acres in September 2020, residents had to make big decisions fast: whether to rebuild, what the septic rules were, what zoning allowed, which grants were open. The answers were spread across county, state and federal websites, written for specialists, and they kept changing. Some owners waited months for an answer or acted on outdated information. Six years later the questions keep coming: ADUs, septic options for tight lots, Blue River’s future, keeping a home insurable. A clear, current, local answer saves a family time and money, and sometimes saves a rebuild.
Local, neutral and already doing it
- We live here. Our guides answer the questions neighbors actually ask us, about this river, this county and these rules.
- We’re neutral. MCP doesn’t sell anything. Each guide explains the options and links to the agency or program that decides.
- We’re already doing it. Volunteers have written 72 guides and published river news since 2020.
- We build for reuse. Guides are structured so search engines and AI assistants can find and cite them, and so other towns can adapt them.
The plan grows with funding
Each phase stands on its own. Volunteers keep phase 0 going no matter what; funding is what keeps every answer current and reaches people who don’t go online.
72 guides and a rebuilt website
Live now: guides on rebuilding and ADUs, septic and wastewater, wildfire and Fire-Ready Homes, Blue River’s future, the local economy and local services. Each one links to the official source.
A part-time editor
- Recheck every guide at least twice a year
- New guides as rules and programs change
- Printed copies at the community center and post office
- Spanish versions of the most-used guides
- Short local how-to videos
A toolkit for rural towns
- An open template other rural communities can copy
- Training for volunteers in neighboring towns
- Q&A sessions with county and state staff
- Ongoing site upgrades, accessibility and security
Why this matters beyond one question
Better decisions
Owners who understand the rules make choices that pass review the first time, saving time, money and frustration.
Less load on agencies and volunteers
One clear guide answers the same question again and again, so county staff and local volunteers can spend their time on the hard cases.
Faster recovery
When people can find the path to rebuild, open a business or stay insured, they stay, and the river’s schools, stores and volunteer crews stay with them.
A model others can use
Rural towns across the Cascades face the same questions after a disaster. Our guides are free for them to copy and adapt.
Ways to help this project
MCP is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3). Gifts to this project keep the guides accurate and the website running, and we report what changed.
Give any amount
Covers website hosting, security and tools, printed guides for the community center and post office, and fact-checking time.
Sponsor a guide
Local businesses and groups can sponsor a topic, such as septic or insurance, with credit on the guide and in River Updates. Sponsors never edit content.
Fund the editor
Foundations, utilities and agencies can fund the part-time editor who keeps every guide current and adds new ones as rules change.
Results we’ll report
Residents have told us they want answers they can trust. So we’ll count what happens and report it here and in River Updates.
- Guides published, and guides rechecked against the official source
- Visitors and the most-read guides
- Questions answered by email and at community events
- Links and citations from other organizations and AI assistants
- Communities that copy or adapt a guide
So far: 72 guides and six years of river news, all by volunteers. The website was rebuilt in fall 2026.
Before you give
Yes. McKenzie Community Partnership (McKenzie Community Development Corporation) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, tax ID 93-1186618. Gifts are deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Yes. Note “Resource Guides” with your gift and we’ll put it toward this project.
Each agency publishes rules for its own programs, usually written for specialists, and no single agency covers everything a rural owner runs into. MCP pulls the pieces together for this river and always links back to the official source.
Volunteers keep the guides online and as current as we can. Funding lets us check them more often, add topics faster and reach people who don’t use the web.
No. MCP doesn’t sell services, and sponsors and donors never edit guide content. If a guide touches a board member’s own business or property, we’ll say so on the guide.
Yes: sponsor a topic, share a question your customers keep asking, or host a Q&A session. Contact us.