Conservation

The 8th annual Johnson Creek Clean Up is on August 23 from 9am-12pm at Mill Park in Milwaukie. Hundreds of volunteer families from across the Portland-metro region attend this clean up extravaganza each year. This community-building event brings Johnson Creek neighbors and friends together to continue the on-going process of restoring Johnson Creek.

Please join the Environmental Education Association of Oregon's (EEAO) board of directors, partners and honored guest speakers at our third annual Summer Soiree!

Event details

When: Thursday, August 14th 6-9pm

Where: Leach Botanical Garden - 6704 SE 122nd Ave, Portland 97236

Guest Speaker: Gladys Ruiz, award winning leader, Portland Audubon's TALON Program

Music: Quartetto Con Cibo

Food: Mayahuel Catering tamale feast!

Silent Auction: Goods, services & treasures for all...

Join us and show your support for environmental education! Network with your colleagues and peers over a Widmer beer and hear about EEAO's recent Metro grant award to build a more inclusive regional network of conservation education providers and community partners working together to build a healthy, just and thriving local region.

Fun for all ages...tickets ($15-30) are limited and going fast! Get yours today at www.eeao.org.

Hope to see you in the garden on August 14th.

If you've always wanted to explore the Clackamas Watershed, but haven't been sure where to start, come on a CRBC hike this year!

Spend a day learning about geology, local flora and fauna, and the history of the Clackamas Watershed, while experiencing incredible scenery. This is a great opportunity to visit environments close to home, often pristine ones, that emphasize the natural beauty and biodiversity the Clackamas River Basin has to offer, leaving hikers with a greater sense of appreciation and motivation to protect these valuable resources.

Mark your calendars for these upcoming hikes:

* July 12th - Bull of the Woods Fire Tour

* August 16th - Mount Lowe and Rhododendron Ridge 

All tours are led by CRBC Board Member Bryon Boyce. See hike descriptions below for meeting locations. Bring plenty of water, a camera, bug spray, and a lunch. Be aware that temperatures in the upper watershed are cooler than in town so layer clothing for comfort and wear appropriate footwear. Hikes are free and participants will carpool. RSVP to attend by emailing Morgan Parks at MORGAN@CLACKAMASRIVER.ORG or calling 503-303-4372 x101. 

Next Hike - July 12th Bull of the Woods Fire Tour

Far-ranging views and wildflowers can be seen along the ridge-tops from Bull of the Woods (at 5523 ft.) and its lookout on this moderate to strenuous 10.5 mile hike. High mountain lakes will be visited as well. A car shuttle will exit at a second lower elevation trailhead. The route will involve substantially more downhill than uphill. Overall there will be 1075 feet elevation gain and 3375 feet loss.

This tour will be an excellent opportunity to visit wilderness areas of the Bull of the Woods Fire Complex of 2010 and the Mother Lode Fire of 2011. Learning about fire ecology and fire management in Western Oregon will be a focus of the outing. The fire left a mixture of damage types. Some were burned mostly by ground fire, leaving most of the tree canopy green. Other sections resulted in stand-replacing crown fires with large areas basically charcoal. In moderately and lightly burned areas, only deeply rooted herbaceous plants and shrubs have survived. Some recovery will be evident.

The plant zones we will pass through vary from high elevation forest to open rocky meadows and slopes to dense upper and mid-montane forest. The valleys of the fire area all drain to the Collowash River. Meet at the Clackamas River Ranger District -- 595 NW Industrial Way in Estacada, at 8:30 am. This is a full day hike. Due to the wilderness designation, the hike is limited to 12 participants.

The 2014 Rural Living Field Day is set for Saturday, August 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Howell Territorial Park on Sauvie Island.  To register, just visit the West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District website at www.wmswcd.org and click on "Events." The cost is only $15 per person or $20 for families.  Morning beverages and snacks will be served as well as a fully catered lunch! 

Rural Living Field Day is a fun event for rural landowners and this year the event is sponsored by West Multnomah, Tualatin and Columbia Soil & Water Conservation Districts and the Oregon Small Woodland Association.  Our partners include the Scappoose Bay Watershed Council, the Oregon Forest Resource Institute, the Skyline Ridge Neighborhood Association and the Sauvie Island Community Association. The event features speakers addressing a wide variety of issues that face rural homeowners, farmers, and land managers every day.  Topics include wildlife, forests, pollinators, invasive weeds, orchards, riparian restoration, crops and soil health, and manure composting. 

Speakers include:

Tonia Lordy, Home Orchard Society
Mike Cloughesy, Oregon Forest Resources Institute
Michael Ahr, West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District
Chas McCoy, Scappoose Bay Watershed Council
Roslyn Gray, Natural Resource Conservation Service
Chip Bubl, OSU Extension
Liz Ruther, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
Dean Moberg, Natural Resource Conservation Service
Megan Denton, Able Farms
Evan Gregoire, Boondockers Farm
Amy Love, Love Farm Organics

The location of the event will give participants the opportunity to visit a stream riparian area, a woodland stand, an orchard, a working organic farm and barn.  Folks will participate in some hands-on demonstrations and will be able to ask the experts about specific concerns during the break-out sessions.  Whether you're a seasoned landowner or just starting your own farm, this is the event for you!

Rural Living Field Day is also a great time for landowners to meet each other and share concerns and ideas about their properties and operations, and make valuable professional and personal contacts.

Agenda | Registration 

Please join us on June 19th for "Connecting Clark County" -- an Intertwine Alliance event that brings together Southwest Washington leaders and practitioners active in outdoor recreation, community development, and environmental work.

With this first regional Summit, we aim to:

• create a more unified vision and strategy for advancing successful environmental and parks initiatives;
• more fully engage the public and area elected officials; and
• build a stronger network of providers in the region.

In addition, we hope to more closely connect Clark County practitioners with the work occurring throughout the four-county Intertwine. 

The Intertwine Alliance is a bi-state coalition of 117 organizations, agencies and for-profit entities working to advance environmental conservation and public engagement issues.

We look forward to supporting this important effort to move a regional agenda north of the river forward. For more information, contact David Cohen, Program Manager.