Spring is finally here!
Sauvie Island
Spring Soil Testing
It's time for a test! Spring is a great time to take a soil test. Whether it's for a farm, pasture or small garden, soil tests are the key to knowing what plants will need during the growing season. Fertilizing without a proper soil test can lead to over-application, under-production or both. Testing in the spring provides a roadmap for the rest of the season.
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Ivy Covered Trees on Sauvie Island
We are actively scouting for and helping landowners treat invasive English ivy on their Sauvie Island trees. We've already helped over 25 landowners tackle their ivy, including along 3/10 of a mile of the Gilbert River and on 150 Oregon white oak trees. If you have English ivy on the Island and need help, please contact kammy@wmswcd.org. Let's make Sauvie Island an ivy-free zone!
Juvenile Salmon at Risk
Much has been made of a salmon's journey from the ocean to headwater streams to spawn - and for good reason. However there is an equally amazing, and far less understood, story of their offspring heading back out to sea.
Until recently, conventional wisdom held that juvenile salmon, once hatched and ready, simply moved downstream as fast as possible until they reached the ocean. It turns out that depending on conditions and species, they make several stops and may take days to weeks longer than needed to reach the ocean.
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The "Spring Freshet"
A landowner on Sauvie Island once said, "We don't call them floods, we call them freshets." A freshet is a kind of flood, or high water event. Most commonly a freshet refers to an event that happens on a regular basis, usually every year. The typical catastrophic events that most people associate with the word "flood" are usually "flash" events caused by atypical weather patterns.
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Invasive Species
Weed Watchers 101
Help us look for some of the worst new invaders in the District! Please keep your eyes peeled for spurge laurel, garlic mustard, giant hogweed and pokeweed! To learn how to identify and report these high priority invaders - you can be an "official" Weed Watcher by attending one of three trainings coming up this May! It's an easy but important job as we do our best to keep track of noxious weeds. Click here to register for training.
Speaking of Weeds...spurge laurel threatens local natural areas
Originally from Europe, spurge laurel (Daphne laureola) has found its way into both yards and natural areas around the Pacific Northwest. When it's established, spurge laurel forms sprawling, dense stands that often overtake native plants. Oak and deciduous woodlands are especially vulnerable. Spurge laurel is also a direct threat to humans: All parts of the plant are poisonous and its toxic sap can cause skin irritation and dermatitis.
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Watch for the Birds when Weeding
Now that Spring is finally here, most of us can't wait to get started on outdoor projects. Before you head out with your mower or weed whacker, be sure not to disturb nesting baby birds, including the official state bird, the Western Meadowlark! The best way is to schedule major activities outside the primary nesting season (April 15-July 31) and also to conduct a thorough bird nest survey of your land to make sure there are no early or late nesters that fall outside this time period. Click here to learn weed removal methods and strategies so that you are not harming any of the over 200 bird species that spend all or part of their lives in Portland!
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Education & Outreach
Getting Rid of Pavement
A study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows that in areas with significant amounts of impervious surfaces, stormwater runoff can be as high as 55% of total precipitation, compared to the 10% created when there is natural groundcover (U.S. EPA Green Infrastructure Website Series, Site Planning and Design Considerations). Depave is a local non-profit that promotes green spaces by removing unnecessary pavement and directing stormwater runoff away from area streams and rivers. WMSWCD has funded two depaving projects through its FISH Grant program benefitting a community garden and a school community.
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Vote for Capitol Hill Elementary School
One of our depaving sites for 2011 is a finalist for a KaBOOM!, Let's Play and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group's playground equipment grant. KaBOOM! will award five projects each a $15,000 grant to build playgrounds for kids. Capitol Hill Elementary, located in southwest Portland, is one of 10 finalists for the grant. Visit www.kaboom.org to watch Capitol Hill's submission video and to vote for the project. You can vote once every 24 hours until May 10.
Grants Awarded
$22,000 Awarded for Conservation Projects-You Could be Next!
West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District (WMSWCD) has awarded a total of $21,883 for six conservation projects in west Multnomah County. The funds are available through the District's Financial Incentives for Sustainable Habitats, or FISH, program. Neighborhood by neighborhood, WMSWCD is changing the way residents look at their land and encouraging them to be better stewards. Taken as a whole, the projects weave together an entire ecosystem that is much healthier than it was before.
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Forestry
Walk in Your Woods
With temperatures finally starting to warm up this Spring, it's a great time to get out and walk your woodland. May is a great month to take an informal inventory of your property to see if any weeds have popped up in new locations, how your forest roads or trails are looking, and how your newly planted trees and shrubs are doing. Taking an inventory can help plan your summer-time woodland projects.
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Riparian Forests in Rock, Abbey and McCarthy Creek Watersheds
You can easily improve aesthetics, soil productivity, economic opportunities, safety and protection of your land with a native plant "buffer" along your creek. Buffers also improve water quality, biodiversity, and outdoor recreation. We can help you design a riparian forest buffer to meet your goals and help fund the project, too! Contact kammy@wmswcd.org.
Eroding Woodland Roads and Trails
The rainy winter months in western Oregon are tough on our local woodland roads and trails. Without proper drainage or surface woody materials, rainwater can easily wash road dirt into area streams harming fish. There have been entire books written about forest road maintenance, but here are a couple issues to think about:
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West Hills Woodland Night
On April 27th a crowd of West Hills woodland owners were pleased to hear about all the great restoration work that local groups are doing in the area. The West Hills Woodland Night at the Skyline Grange featured presentations from Elaine Stewart (Senior Natural Resources Scientist at Metro), Kendra Petersen-Morgan (Natural Resource Ecologist at Portland Parks and Recreation), Stephen Hatfield (Stewardship Director at Forest Park Conservancy) and Michael Ahr (Forest Conservationist at West Multnomah SWCD).
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Farming
Pollinator Plants
Pollinator populations, which include a wide variety of insects, such as butterflies, beetles, and bees, and some birds and bats, have severely dropped over the past few decades. Because these species are necessary for the reproduction of over 70% of the world's flowering plants, including two thirds of the world's edible and industrial crops, it is vital that efforts are made to conserve them. Disease, widespread pesticide use, loss of nesting habitat, and the loss of native plant food sources are the primary factors contributing to the decline. Farmers have used European honey bees to replace native pollinators, but Colony Collapse Disorder has significantly reduced honey bee populations as well.
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Vegetative Filter Strips for Farmland and Pastures
Vegetated buffers can trap sediment, slow concentrated water flow, keep soil productive and filter excess nutrients from farm fields and livestock manure. They can even protect shallow groundwater from pollution. Buffers also reduce erosion of your stream banks when grazing livestock have gotten too close. They can protect your fields from a neighbor's pesticides and can invite natural predators of crop and garden pests. They can sequester carbon, house pollinators, and allow farm equipment turning lanes that also provide ecological services. Buffers can be placed within or below fields, along countours and along waterways. For more information on how vegetated buffers can serve you, contact kammy@wmswcd.org.
Urban Programs
Backyard Habitat Certification Program
Do you live in the City and are interested in inviting wildlife to your backyard by getting rid of invasive weeds and planting native species? If so, we recommend you sign up for the Backyard Habitat Certification Program. You'll develop a plan for your urban area that will not only invite wildlife but also managing your stormwater runoff. The program also offers coupons and other goodies to help you enhance your backyard! The Backyard Habitat Certification Program is partially funded by WMSWCD. If you'd like to register or learn more about the program; click here.
Calendar of Events
Friday/Saturday, May 20-21, 2011
Weed Watchers Training
If you'd like to be a Weed Watcher and help us get rid of noxious and invasive weeds in Multnomah County...this is your chance! See the above article for all the directions!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Planting for Pollinators Tour
Join us as we tour several sites with pollinator plantings and hedgerows in close-in NW Portland, the upper West Hills and Sauvie Island. Each is different, but the aim is the same: encourage pollinating bees, butterflies and birds (and some bats!) to our flowers and crops by providing safe and diverse natural habitat.
Enjoy your spring blooms!
Dick Springer
WMSWCD District Manager
Spring 2011 eNewsletter
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