Intertwine May 2013 Newsletter
Dear Friends,

Weaving a bike through car-free streets on Mother's Day Sunday Parkways. Bird-watching with the Audubon Society of Portland and Friends of Tryon Creek State Park. Paddling with Willamette Riverkeeper and Columbia Slough Watershed Council. We like that new bloom in your cheeks, friend. The Intertwine in May becomes you!

May call-out: The Intertwine Alliance is growing, and we love nothing more than shouting your good work with the world. Remember: sharing is what The Intertwine is for! Let us know when you celebrate that milestone, write that fact sheet, or take that amazing photo. Email Ramona
 
Alliance Updates

89 is prime. May brought The Alliance six new partners, all indivisibly fine! To the Northwest Biocarbon Initiative, Friends of Terwilliger, Friends of Gateway Green, Sauvie Island Center, the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, and Portland Garden Club -- welcome! Next stop: prime number 97!
 
Partnering local... June 13 marks The Alliance's Annual Partners Meeting, this year hosted at KEEN Footwear HQ. With so many partners to fete this year, and limited space, those with invitations in hand should RSVP asap to Irene. We'll start with the year's highlights, proceed to 2013-14 board elections, and wrap up with the fun part.
Intertwine News

...and going global... On June 5th, World Environment Day (WED) Portland joins the planet-wide party with the Rose Parade's special interactive area: the RoZone Rally. Among the festivities at Waterfront Park, check out the costumes at the Procession of the Species -- where kids step into the felt paws and padded claws representing our  world-class biodiversity.
 
...one success story at a time. From Earth Day on April 22nd through the RoZone rally, The Intertwine Alliance's 45 Days of Success series is sharing your successes with WED organizer the United Nations Environment Programme. Read the story about your stories here, on UNEP's website.
 
Feeding two birds with one scone. For WED Portland's swansong, the City's June 6th Innovation Celebration will end on two notes: one praising your successes in sustainability; the other calling on our elected officials to raise the bar by leading the three challenges that conclude our 2013 Common Ground Report. Guess who's set to sign our green dotted line?

Just Peachies. We'll be like kids in a candy shop on June 18th -- if by "candy" we mean delicious knowledge, with "shop" being the 2013 Intertwine Conservation Education Summit at the Oregon Zoo. This year's summit unlocks the sweet power of learning with nearly a dozen presenters, from Let Us Build Cully Park! to the Forest Park Conservancy to MESD Outdoor School. Register here today! 


Partner Updates

Jewell of an announcement. On Thursday, May 23, many Intertwine Alliance partners -- from Clean Water Services to Johnson Creek Watershed Council -- were present as Dept. of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced that $4.2 million will fund 22 conservation projects this year across the western U.S.

 Great Blue Heron WeekWhoop, whoop! From May 30th through June 9th, the Urban Greenspaces Institute, the Audubon Society of Portland, and other Alliance partners host The Intertwine's 27th Annual Great Blue Heron Week. Take the Vanport Flood Tour, crane your neck for the Herons of Rock Creek Greenway, or join us at Jackson Bottom.


A Measure of Success. On May 21st, we voted YES to trees and trails, and NO to noxious plants. With the passage of Metro's Natureal Areas Levy, 16,000 acres of public land  will receive much-needed care, with many Alliance partners eligible for grants -- $750,000 a year -- to help with stewardship efforts. A fine day to be a citizen of The Intertwine!

Tanner Springs ParkHe's hydro-logical! In a new post for The Nature of Cities blog, The Intertwine's resident birdman Mike Houck sets his quill to the subject of urban Portland's "attachment to small scraps of wetland" -- from Tanner Springs to "postage stamp refuge" Heron Pointe!