New Reflection Point dedicated to legend of conservation, Jon Roush

A few months later Roush had a decision to make.

“Within a few months, they (TNC) offered me a job. I went home and thought about it and I finally called Reed College and said, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t be back. I’m going to be working for The Nature Conservancy,’” said Roush. “So that’s how I got from teaching medieval literature to saving beautiful places.”

He returned to Portland to work in the field office before he was chosen to be the Chief Operating Officer for TNC. Roush also served on the board of governors, including two terms as chairman. From 1993-1996, Roush was the president of the Wilderness Society where he led efforts to pass the California Desert Protection Act. The 1994 act was signed by President Bill Clinton and created the well known Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks, as well as the Mojave National Preserve. Starting in 2006, Roush was on the board of directors for the WRC for 15 years. He oversaw projects like the formation of the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary on Klamath River and Cottonwood Canyon State Park on the John Day River in 2008.

Fourteen years later, the Oregon State Parks Department honored Roush with Reflection Point, but they are also celebrating a milestone of their own. This year marks the State Parks’ 100th birthday and the centennial of Oregon’s first established park, the Sarah Helmick State Park near Monmouth, Ore.

State Parks’ director Lisa Sumption was in attendance and thanked Roush and the WRC for their dedication to protecting Oregon’s wildlands.

“You can’t really do this without having a partner that has that kind of ability to get out there,” said Sumption. “It’s a gift to the State Park itself, and it would never have happened without them (the WRC).”

The Oregon State Parks invested $5 million on infrastructure at Cottonwood Canyon State Park. Upon arrival, visitors are transported back to a time with primitive farm tools and machinery on display. It is the ranch theme that makes district manager Steve Memminger choose Cottonwood Canyon as his favorite park.

“It’s one of the few parks that’s built on a theme. If you go around here, you’ll see that common thing. The farming and ranching that lives on,” said Memminger who manages parks in and around central Oregon.

As you continue driving you will find the Experience Center, cabins and a campground with sites positioned along the John Day.

President of the WRC, Sue Doroff, was also there to thank Roush and reflect on Cottonwood Canyon and the John Day River. Until she got a call from a fly fisherman, Doroff had no idea the John Day River even existed.

“And I’m like ‘John Day River?’ Let me pull out a map and see where that is,” said Doroff.

But the second she stepped onto the “beat up” and “rundown” ranch she could see untapped potential in the 16,000 acres of land.

“I looked at the land and it’s like someone designed it as a River Conservation Project,” said Doroff.

In collaboration with Oregon State Parks and funds from the Oregon Lottery, the two groups bought the land and turned a sleepy ranch into one of the premier ecosystems west of the Rocky Mountain Range. The John Day River is the longest undammed river on this side of the Rockies. Different species of fish and big horn sheep were re-established, thanks to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Doroff reiterates that none of this would have been possible without Roush and his fervor for conservation. She explained the name of Reflection Point comes from the serene views down the Cottonwood Canyon and John Day River. Basalt rocks — a definitive stone of the John Day River — are etched with words and short phrases that will hopefully invoke thoughts of appreciation and respect for our states rivers and valleys.