Bank donates to Upper Deschutes Watershed Council

First Interstate Bank, a leading provider of financial services and proponent of healthy, accessible communities for all individuals is giving back to the community with a donation of $1,650 to the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council.

The UDWC will use the generous donation from the First Interstate Bank’s Leadership Grant Program to coordinate hands-on stewardship opportunities for Central Oregon students through our environmental education program, The Upstream Project.

“First Interstate Bank has been a great supporter of our organization.” Said UDWC Interim Executive Director, Kolleen Miller. “Through their volunteerism and their financial support, they are helping to educate the next generation of watershed stewards.”

Since 1996, the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council has worked to protect and restore the Upper Deschutes River through collaborative projects in habitat restoration, watershed education, and long-term monitoring.

The Watershed Council works with approximately 2,000 students across Central Oregon schools every year. Through streamside learning activities in science, art, writing and music,

The Upstream Project helps students develop an informed sense of place for our local rivers and streams. Connecting students to the natural world in active and meaningful ways allows students to develop a sense of civic responsibility as they learn the importance of stewardship in their home watershed.

“One action can create a chain reaction and, soon, hopefully everyone will want to take care of the place I am blessed to call home,” says an Upstream Project student from Sisters High School.