family friendly

Drop in for our regular Saturday 'freelance' work parties to become a steward of our beloved natural area: Forest Park! Volunteer Freelancers will take a short hike to one of our various sites and work off-trail removing English ivy. This is a DIRTY job so come prepared in grubby, long-sleeved clothing and boots. We'll provide gloves, tools and snacks.Volunteers will meet at the Lower Macleay field house located at 2960 NW Upshur St. Activities include: Invasive Plant Removal.

Register online here: http://solveoregon.org/get-involved/events/first-saturday-no-ivy-league-...

Volunteer for Trails on National Trails Day! Washington Trails Association (WTA) and the Mount St. Helens Institute joined forces to construct this newest trail on the Monument. Now its time to do some maintenance and restoration work.

The Volcano View Trail begins at the popular Ape Cave and in a mile pops out at the upper trailhead parking area next to a great view of the south side of the Volcano.

Come lend a hand restoring native vegetation around the viewing platform and doing annual trail maintenance. No experience necessary!

Registration required: Info and RSVP Link

The annual Ross Island Regatta, the culminating event in Great Blue Heron Week, is an opportunity to enjoy a morning on the Willamette River, paddling through the slow-no wake zone on the Holgate Channel and Ross Island lagoon, around Ross Island and back to Willamette Park. 

We will be looking at the bald eagle nest and the heron nesting colony on Ross Island, listening for birds and looking for river otter along the route. 

Meet no later than 9 a.m. at Willamette Park Boat Ramp to unload your canoe or kayak and get into the water by launch time at 9:30.

This trip is family-friendly. There will be a safety boat along, and the trip is for beginning and experienced paddlers.

Leaders include: Mike Houck, Urban Greenpaces Institute; Emily Roth, Portland Parks & Recreation; Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland.

Celebrate the 30th annual Great Blue Heron Week and join bird expert Rick Balazs to view the Owl Woods heron colony. Thirty to fifty pairs of herons nest in this stand of Douglas fir trees on the east edge of Jackson Bottom. Rick has spent hundreds of hours monitoring the birds over the years and knows the behaviors and antics of nesting herons very well. Meet at the Education Center at 10 am. Be prepared for a two mile (round-trip) leisurely walk over mostly flat terrain. Dress for the weather, the trails may be muddy. Bring binoculars. A variety of other birds including bald eagles, osprey and songbirds may be seen. Free. A donation of $2 / person to the Education Center is welcomed. Group size limited to 15, registration required.

10 -- Adult

Jackson Bottom Wetlands Education Center

Rick Balazs

50949    Sat          5/28    10 am -- 1 pm

50951    Sat          6/11    10 am -- 1 pm

Free. Pre-registration required.

Ma Olsen ran a small grocery store in downtown Linnton for much of the first half of the twentieth century. During the Depression she forgave bills, feeding folks in need. Her store was bulldozed in the early 60s, along with most of the buildings lining St Helens Road in Linnton, to widen the highway from two lanes to four. Not long after this Nora "Ma" Olsen, while crossing the highway, was hit, and killed by a car. A plaque, bench, and a Benson Bubbler were placed where the back of her store had been, and that swath of hill was named Ma Olsen's Garden. Forty-five years after her death, the steep hillside that was her Garden was overgrown with ivy, blackberry, and a tangle of fallen trees. We removed the thick green shroud that covered the garden and planted hundreds of native shrubs and flowers of over fifty species. Most of the five block long, seventy-five foot wide sliver of land, of which the Garden is the southern tip, remained buried under invasives. Why not extend the project north, since Linnton as "hanging garden" was the goal to begin with? So we roll along, the past two winters extending the garden another block, planting as we go. It's gnarly work, with established ivy, blackberry, vinca and laurel on rocky, steep, uneven slopes. Uncovering old stone walls, terraces, mundane and weird trash heaps, and poison oak keeps the work interesting, sometimes too much so. We're incubating plans for an tongue-in-cheek sculpture/Dr. Seuss garden in this section. We should be able to polish off the remaining weeds this winter, but we need an infusion of help and laughter. Activities include: Invasive Plant Removal.

Register online here: http://solveoregon.org/get-involved/events/ma-olsens-garden-extension-may