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Travis Williams, who has led Willamette Riverkeeper for 24 years, announced over the weekend he’s moving on—but not very far.
“My passion these days is land acquisition for conservation and to some degree low-impact recreation,” Williams says in an email. “I’ve started a new land trust that will work in portions of the Willamette Valley that prior to this had not been covered.”
In his new role at the Willamette River Preservation Trust, Williams will focus on conserving lands and tributaries of the the mid-Willamette.
Willamette Riverkeeper, founded in 1996, was the 12th Riverkeeper organization in the U.S. There are now more than 250 such organizations, protecting rivers, bays and coastlines and enforcing the federal Clean Water Act.
Under Williams’ leadership, Willamette Riverkeeper has worked on a variety of issues, including numerous cleanups and the restoration of habitat along the river’s 187 miles; negotiating with wake-boarders and powerboat owners for less damaging speeds; litigating against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of salmon; and convincing Ross Island Sand & Gravel owner Robert Pamplin Jr. to give part of the island to the public—and do more to properly reclaim the rest of the island after decades of mining.
Williams, a Milwaukie native, has written three guidebooks about the Willamette, most recently, Willamette Water Trail Guide, published last year, and through Riverkeeper spurred 20,000 people to get out on the Willamette Water Trail in canoes and kayaks.
“I’ve had a great time,” Williams says, “but it is time to move in a new direction.”