The introduction provides a general description of the watershed in terms of its natural and human-made features, ownership and current land uses, and the communities within the watershed. Information in sections 1.2 and 1.3 was compiled from the Oregon Watershed Assessment Manual (Watershed Professionals Network, 1999), the Lower South Umpqua Watershed Analysis (USDI Bureau of Land Management, 2000), the Myrtle Creek Watershed Analysis (Draft) (USDI Bureau of Land Management, 2002) and the Middle South Umpqua Watershed Analysis (USDI Bureau of Land Management, 1999). Additional information is from the following sources’ databases: The Oregon Climate Service, the US Census Bureau, and the Douglas County Assessor.The South Umpqua River Watershed assessment has two goals: 1) To describe the past, present, and potential future conditions that affect water quality and fish habitat within the South Umpqua River Watershed; and 2) To provide a research-based action plan that suggests voluntary activities to improve fish habitat and water quality within the watershed. The South Umpqua River Watershed is 141,575 acres. The City of Canyonville is the only incorporated city within the watershed; other population centers are Days Creek and Milo. The most common land use in the South Umpqua River Watershed is forestry, with 89% of the land base used for public or private forestry. Agriculture constitutes 9% of the land use, and mostly occurs in and around the South Umpqua River and Days Creek floodplains. Land ownership is primarily private (55%).