Adaptation and flexibility; the ingredients of success..
and this year has required more than a just little of both from all of us.
When pandemic measures first began here in March, even with so many unknowns, few of us expected to find ourselves in the ongoing challenges and devastations for the rest of 2020.
On top of the pandemic, our region was hit hard with the worst wildfires in local history, in which many of our friends, family and neighbors lost so much. Our watershed was only mildly impacted in comparison to the McKenzie and South Santiam watersheds neighboring us, whose communities and landscapes are forever changed.
We feel extremely fortunate to have been able to make the necessary adaptions and responses to the shifting developments of this year, without reducing our levels of service.
Our Watershed Education staff acted swiftly in response to the cancellation of school programs, converting the Urban Ecology and Outdoor School Programs into online formats with materials, videos and resources for all students to access. One of the biggest successes of the year for Education was the award of two very generous donations through the Oregon Community Foundation, and a grant from the Mid-Valley STEM CTE Hub, to create 700 Watershed Discovery Kits containing supplies to conduct at-home environmental science research, with videos and written materials that coincide with their school’s curriculum.
The Restoration Program made history with the implementation and completion of one of our biggest ever projects; Bowers Rock State Park Restoration. This project has been in the works for over ten years. Thanks to the excellent partners and contractors that worked with us, we were able to complete on-schedule a gravel pit connection and the removal/replacement of 4 undersized culverts. The project involved creating an inlet channel and outlet channel connecting the 40 acre gravel pit at Bowers to the Willamette Mainstem, improving access, habitat, and conditions for migrating, and spawning salmonids and other wildlife.
