Eric Hartstein has resigned his position as coordinator of the South Santiam Watershed Council to go to work for the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board as senior policy coordinator.
“OWEB is one of the primary funders of the South Santiam Watershed Council, a lot of the projects the Watershed Council does,” said Hartstein, of Corvallis, who joined the SSWC in 2005.
“I started as an Americorps intern in fall 2004,” Harstein said. “And then I became coordinator of the Watershed Council in April 2005. I guess it’s a natural progression.”
His new job is one of the few he would consider that would take him out of the South Santiam, he said. He loved working with the “wonderful” landowners, boards and community inside the watershed.
“It was a really tough decision, especially one I had to make very quickly,” Hartstein said. He remains available to the staff to help on the day-to-day things, such as where to find this folder or that.
His new job came up quickly, he said. He started working for OWEB, based in Salem, on Jan. 5.
Right now, he has two main responsibilities. First is tracking legislation and working with the legislative director and deputy director talking about the work OWEB does. He meets with legislative staff and informs legislators about the state agency.
He also will do some grant management in the Klamath Basin.
Hartstein is proud of the work the SSWC has done, and he thinks some of the greatest projects are obvious.
Those include fish passage projects in Ames Creek and placing wood in Canyon Creek and the Soda Fork if the South Santiam River to help develop better spawning habitat. He has been involved in numerous riparian improvement projects throughout the watershed.
But “it’s really all about the people,” Hartstein said. “None of the work that happened could’ve happened without the landowners.”
He said the partnership with the Sweet Home Ranger District, whose facility his office was located in, was “fabulous. I can’t give enough accolades.”
He also points to Cascade Timber Consulting, “a great bunch of people,” he said. “It’s easy to work with them.”
That also applies to the small woodland owners and agriculture sector, kind, knowledgeable people who are enthusiastic about watershed restoration, Hartstein said.
“I have really fond, fond memories, thoughts of Sweet Home and the council,” he said.