Stewardship Season is Here!
Post by Rachel Walsh, Community Engagement and Volunteer Director
It’s that time of year again! The air is getting chilly, the rains are beginning…it’s planting season! All throughout fall and spring we’ll be gathering in small groups according to public health guidelines and planting our favorite native plants such as sword fern, Oregon grape, and red osier dogwood. We’re announcing our first four stewardship events that will take place this October through November, and we’ll be adding more for late winter and early spring, so stay tuned!
No Ivy Day is Back!
Every year, we celebrate No Ivy Day with Portland Parks & Recreation and conservation groups across the city! No Ivy Day is a day of environmental restoration and catharsis when we all spread out across Portland natural areas to pull, yank and slash that pesky invasive English ivy. This October 24th, we’re gathering in a group of no more than 25 volunteers to remove ivy from a long-term stewardship site on private land, ACME Storage.
For safety, this event is capped at 25 participants and you MUST register to attend here!
Stewardship Saturdays are Starting Again!
This year, our very first Stewardship Saturday of the season is November 7th at Woodland Elementary! For three years, students at Woodland Elementary have been stewarding a restoration site at their school, and with school out of session, the students’ trees need some care. We’ll be rootballing blackberry, mulching around trees, and planting native plants.
Our second Stewardship Saturday is November 14th and we’ll be returning to ACME Storage. Volunteers will clear the area of invasive ivy at No Ivy Day, so it will be ready for planting at this Stewardship Saturday. This riparian area has been stewarded by the Council for several years thanks to generous donations from ACME Storage and help from dozens of volunteers, and as a result the site is showing major improvements in habitat quality.
Our third Stewardship Saturday is on December 5th at one of our favorite Portland parks, Whitaker Ponds Nature Park. We’re excited to be adding some new native understory to this special place to go walking and birding, which also happens to be the location of our office. Please note that there is construction on NE 47th Ave, so we’ll send along details about park access closer to the event.
For safety, all of these events are capped at 25 participants, so register now!
Additionally, we are following public safety guidelines for COVID-19 at all of our events, so participants are required to wear face coverings throughout the event and stay 6 feet apart from others who are not in your household group at all times. For more information, read our safety protocols here. Thanks for helping us keep each other safe!
We’re excited to begin another stewardship season! Thanks for joining us to safely steward the Columbia Slough watershed!