October 2021 Contents

Applications are being accepted until Sunday, October 31.

 

The Westside Watershed Resource Center (WWRC) is looking for someone to lead our spring season of Stormwater Stars workshops, and provide technical assistance to Westside Portland residents with stormwater-related questions and challenges. You can view the job description, and instructions on how to apply, online here. You can learn more about the Stormwater Stars program at stormwaterstars.org.

We're excited to add a new member to our team! Those with questions about the job are welcome to email manager@westsidewatersheds.org.

Stormwater Stars workshops bring neighbors together to learn and share ideas about creating rain friendly landscapes and habitats (photo courtesy of Lorena O'Neill).

This activity is part of an ongoing project reduce stormwater pollution and enhance wildlife habitat along the creek. Sign up online or by emailing manager@westsidewatersheds.org.
    

The 2021 Eena (Beaver) Festival provided an opportunity to learn about Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this year's festival. Thank you to the volunteers, presenters and sponsors that made the event a positive experience for so many. A big shout out to Laura Campos for all her incredible work to organize the festival!

One of the highlights of the festival was a presentation by Dr. Samantha Chisholm Hatfield, a Tribal Liaison and Research Assistant at the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University, discussing Traditional Ecological Knowledge and what we can learn from the beaver and Indigenous Ways of Knowing about how to care for the natural world that we are all a part of. You can view a recording of this presentation here.  

Ed Edmo shares a traditional story about the beaver at the 2021 Eena Festival (photo courtesy of Marita Ingalsbe).  

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Sparrowhawk Native Plant Sale on October 1 and 2.

 

The sale took place at St Luke’s Lutheran Church, and was hosted in partnership with WWRC and Neighborhood House.

Over 375 customers placed orders at the sale, picking up 8,800 native plants! Twenty-four volunteers were essential in making the sale a reality, helping to sort, organize, and label plants, provide customer service, keep all supplies clean and organized, and facilitate a smooth check in and check out process. We are very grateful for the abundance of volunteer support that helped make this event a reality!

Best of all, the sale raised over $3,700 to support Neighborhood House education programs for underserved youth. All of these funds will go directly to support the Neighborhood House Connect Program, which provides additional academic and social/emotional support to 2nd-5th grade students in SW Portland. 

Be sure to follow along with Sparrowhawk Native Plants to keep up to date on future sales and opportunities to volunteer. Additional sales will be hosted in spring of 2022, and we are hopeful that WWRC will be a partner at future events to bring more access to native plants to the SW and NW Portland community!

Thousands of native plants found new homes at the Sparrowhawk native plant sale (photo courtesy of Neighborhood House).