Just a few days left! Registration for the
Children, Nature and Schools Symposium closes this
Friday, March 10, at midnight.
Don't miss out on this chance to take our regional green schoolyards movement to the next level with your colleagues throughout The Intertwine.
The big event is Monday, March 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Oregon Zoo, and you can check out the agenda here. Portland Public Schools is offering professional development days and funds, and continuing education credits are available.
Please also join us the following day, Tuesday, March 14, for a Green School Tour of three eastside Portland sites from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost for the symposium is $50 general admission, $40 for Intertwine Alliance partners and school-district employees. The Green School Tour is $30. RSVP for one or both here. A big thank you to sponsors the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FamilyCare Health and Play & Park Structures. Questions? Email David Cohen at david@theintertwine.org.
Close-up on Clark County. Another kids-and-nature opportunity, this one specific to Southwest Washington, is the Clark County Youth & Nature Symposium o
n Saturday, March 18, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Clark College in Vancouver. Join us for conversation and learning about contributing to the health and well-being of students through their connection to the outdoors. The event is free. Please RSVP by Monday, March 13. Email David Cohen at david@theintertwine.org with any questions.
An international affair. The Intertwine Alliance is teaming up with The Nature of Cities blog, The Bullitt Foundation, Urban Greenspaces Institute and Portland State University for the
Nature of Cities Summit on
Wednesday, April 26, from 1 to 6 p.m. at Oregon Zoo. The event will feature a group of
24 green city luminaries from around the world for an afternoon of presentations and small group discussions, followed by a happy hour. Space is very limited; tickets range from $15 to $30, with
early-bird registration available through March 31. The summit is part of a three-day event, April 25-27, during which the international delegation will work with a group of local leaders to explore the potential for an international symposium on the “nature of cities” in 2018. Questions? Please email Lauren Gottfredson at
lauren@theintertwine.org.
New partners. The Intertwine Alliance is pleased to welcome three new partners to the coalition this month. The Tualatin River Watershed Council links land, water and people, bringing together all interests in the basin to promote and improve watershed health. The
Beech-Failing Alley Project aims to transform a North Portland alleyway from a place of flooding and neglect to a thriving, sustainable public space like other green alleys throughout the country. And
Create Plenty runs the High School Environmental Leadership Project (HELP), which equips high school students with the confidence and skills needed to become climate justice activists. We're so excited to collaborate with each of these visionary organizations.
A project with deep roots. We're also delighted to welcome the latest and greatest member of the Intertwine Project Network, the Leach Upper Garden Development. Leach Garden Friends, Portland Parks & Recreation, the Portland Development Commission, Metro and the East Portland Action Plan have teamed up to implement a 30-year vision of expanding Leach Botanical Garden, Portland and the region's Eastside treasure, to better serve the rapidly growing populations around it. Improvements at the garden will include an aerial tree walk into the midstory of the woodland slopes; botanical collection beds; and new accessible parking, pathways, and facilities. Structures for community education, events, gatherings and celebrations will also be included in the first phase of improvement. Interested in getting visibility and support for YOUR project? Joining the Intertwine Project Network is easy! Here's how.
Tell us what you love; tell us what you hate. As we hope you've heard by now, the much-anticipated Daycation mobile app is now available for free download in the iTunes store. Our big push right now is to find beta testers — folks willing to download and give the app a try, then fill out a feedback form with their impressions. Up for giving this new technology a try? Email Tara Wilkinson at tara@theintertwine.org. Please note that while Daycations are currently available only for iPhones, we'll release a mobile-optimized website of Daycations later this month and an Android version of the app in the coming year. Learn much more about the Daycation initiative, including how to submit your own urban nature excursion, or how to form a youth team for a friendly competition this spring and summer.
Go wild. The Oregon Zoo's new Education Center is now open! Located opposite the Amur tiger habitat and adjacent to the train station, the center serves as a regional hub, expanding the zoo’s conservation education programs through partnerships with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Wildlife Federation, Portland Audubon and others. The March 4 and 5 grand opening celebration included peeks at the Nature Exploration Station, where visitors can gaze at insects, spiders and millipedes in the new Insect Zoo, and the Conservation Lab showcasing the zoo’s species-recovery efforts with young western pond turtles. Stories about local “conservation heroes,” told through photos and comic books, show how small actions can make a big difference for wildlife. And an interactive park finder lets visitors locate natural areas near their homes, learn from naturalists how to identify wildlife tracks, and get pointers on how to attract pollinators to gardens.
Our partner blog is hoppin'. Lots of juicy stuff in
Outside Voice last month,
starting
with an update from the City of Portland's Lora Lillard on progress being made on the visionary
Green Loop. Urban Greenspaces Institute's Mike Houck wrote in support of Metro's vision for the new
Chehalem Ridge Nature Park in Forest Grove, while Pat Stark of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service offered
Daycation 101, including a video demoing the new mobile app.
Outside Voice showcases the ideas, opinions and projects of Alliance partners and friends. Please direct your ideas or submissions to blog editor Tara Wilkinson at tara@theintertwine.org. You can also sign up to receive blog posts by
email.
Other headlines from around The Intertwine:
It's not too late to register for the 2017 Oregon Active Transportation Summit hosted by The Street Trust on March 20-21 at the Oregon Zoo.
- The Portland Parks Replacement Bond that passed in November 2014 authorized up to $68 million in repairs to parks. The first phase is underway on more than 30 park-improvement projects citywide. Now it's time to decide how to spend the remaining $20 million. Give feedback on the proposed project list at a meeting with Commissioner Amanda Fritz on Monday, March 20, or Tuesday, March 21 -- or using this online form. Learn more here.
- Be sure to register for SOLVE IT for Earth Day, happening Saturday, April 22, to join thousands of local volunteers removing litter and invasive plants from illegal dumpsites, neighborhoods and natural areas. It's Oregon's largest Earth Day service event -- and part of the Intertwine Project Network.
Funding Opportunities
Go big. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources is soliciting
Landscape Scale Restoration Projects addressing priorities identified in
Washington’s Forest Action Plan and national themes of conserving working forests, protecting forests from threats, and/or enhancing public benefits from trees. Submit letters of interest for funding up to $240,000 by this
Friday, March 10.
Blaze trails. The
2017 Recreation Trails Program grant cycle is open, with letters of intent due
Friday, March 31. The national grants are administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for recreational trail-related projects such as hiking, running, bicycling, off-road motorcycling, and all-terrain vehicle riding. Yearly grants are awarded based on funds voted on by the U.S. Congress.
Partner powerfully. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board's
Capacity Building TA Grants, given through
OWEB’s Focused Investment Partnership program, are awards up to $150,000 supporting existing partnerships in building their capacities, and to generate new strategic action plans or enhance existing strategic action plans for OWEB's Focused Investment Priorities. To apply, a 30-minute OWEB consultation is required
between March 1 and April 30; the application deadline is Monday, June 12.
Mark your Calendar
Highlights of the month ahead. See the Intertwine calendar for more.
Happy trees, happy people. Calling all tree planters to the sixth annual
Rock Creek Partnership Watershed Wide Event this
Saturday, March 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Plant native trees and shrubs along Rock Creek in Happy Valley, while enjoying live music and breakfast snacks. Space is limited; please
pre-register.
Slough me. Ever wonder about that slow-moving channel of water running through Gresham, Fairview, and Northeast and North Portland?
Slough 101, a free hands-on workshop on
Saturday, March 18, from 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., will explore the unique character, challenges and opportunities of the Columbia Slough and its watershed. Suitable for adults and teens age 14 and older.
Pre-registration required.
Amateur plant scientist? Project BudBurst is a nationwide, citizen science effort designed to study plant responses to changes in climate. Hoyt Arboreturm is recruiting volunteers to monitor the timing of events in a plant's life history and report observations. On Thursday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to noon, learn about plant structures and phenology and choose a specific plant at the arboretum to monitor. To learn more or to sign up, please email volunteer@hotyarboretum.org or call 503- 823-1649.
