Gehring up for 2025: NFS Welcomes Charles Gehr!

Native Fish Society is proud to announce that Charles Gehr will serve as our full-time Southern Oregon Coordinator starting in January 2025. This role is essential for building and sustaining the grassroots community in Southern Oregon needed to revive abundant wild fish, free-flowing rivers, and thriving local communities.

Charles brings his personal experience as a committed and effective longtime volunteer River Steward for the Rogue River. He’s been involved in several successful conservation campaigns, he has deep and diverse community relationships, and loves Southern Oregon’s remarkable salmon-studded rivers. Additionally, Charles has been recognized as our River Steward of the Year! We’re simply thrilled to have this opportunity with Charles to continue the important conservation efforts underway in Southern Oregon - including the removal of barriers like Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua.

Charles possesses a deep understanding of what it means to be a volunteer River Steward and how to leverage the voices and actions of volunteers to make a positive impact for fish. For example, Charles was involved in the years-long effort to curtail instream gold mining from essential salmon habitats in Oregon. In that campaign, Charles highlighted the economic impact on the outdoor recreational and fishing communities in his position as a business owner.

Currently, Charles is organizing community support to reduce the harm to key native fish habitats from commercial jet boat operations in the upper Rogue River. We’re eager to see what Native Fish accomplishes next with Charles in this key role and are so grateful he’s joining our staff!