The integrity of aquatic systems depends on the ecological health of the entire landscape and, in turn, healthy aquatic systems benefit the basins they drain. This relationship between land management activities and watershed health underlies all of PRC's work. 

Our projects are based on the recovery strategy of protect the best, restore the rest, as the first step towards natural resource management based on conservation biology. PRC promotes the protection of the best remaining aquatic habitat, or refuges, to provide anchors for restoration of more degraded systems.  PRC advocates a whole watershed approach to land management.  By convening scientific panels and sponsoring research to address crucial aquatic conservation issues, we have established a respected reputation as a credible, effective advocate for the protection and restoration of aquatic resources throughout the nation.

The health of the entire landscape--from forest to field, grizzly bear to bald eagle, salamander to salmon--can be measured by the health of the aquatic systems within it. The Pacific Rivers Council recognizes that protecting and restoring the integrity of aquatic systems benefits the whole landscape. 

Our current programs focus on preventing the dismantling of environmental laws and policies, protecting and restoring critical aquatic species and the habitat they depend on, and providing  the necessary scientific and economic backing to do both.

Two recent accomplishments include providing sound science in the fire management debate and defending the intent of the Endangered Species Act.

• PRC saved critical bull trout strongholds and stopped 100 million board feet of logging on the Bitterroot National Forest by providing the best scientific information during the precedent-setting negotiation regarding salvage logging in the forest. The public's right to appeal projects of this kind was also preserved. 
• PRC also commissioned a landmark study that concluded that even the best salmon hatcheries are unlikely to aid in the recovery of Oregon coastal coho populations. The study underscores PRC's long-held conviction that healthy salmon populations depend primarily on the protection and restoration of freshwater habitat, not their concrete pools and artificial fish runs.