image: Hight water upstream of Newberg (Travis Williams). |
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Hello Friends -
Well what a ride, but we made it to 2021! While the last few days have been full of disgraceful, stupid, and ill-conceived actions by rioters in Washington, DC and elsewhere, I think we can all move forward into 2021 and work toward better days. That applies to our personal lives, and for our mission here at WR. Frankly, the river provides an amazing respite for peace, progress, and connection.
I want to thank all of you who supported us during the year. Your year-end donations showed great commitment to our work, as have the individual, foundation, and sponsorships throughout 2020.
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One of my neighbors, a WR member who lives on the Willamette and who I recently met, said, “I get stuff from a lot of non-profits, but what I always notice is that WR just gets stuff done, and you let us know what is going on!” Well, we do try, and I think it shows, from our on-the-ground work investigation of polluters, habitat restoration, legal work on a range of issues, water trail work and more - we are all motivated to work hard for our river and communities! |
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Looking ahead to longer days filled with more light, WR is celebrating its 25th year throughout 2021. Over the course of the year we will be providing ways to celebrate, and we plan to have some very solid progress for the river to celebrate as well, on a variety of issues.
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Stay safe, and be smart riding this thing out. I hope to see you soon on the water at a distance, at one of our distanced cleanups, online at a hearing, and in time together in closer proximity. Thanks again for all of your support! |
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Travis
Travis Williams
Riverkeeper & Executive Director
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image: A view of the proposed Flatland Timber sale lands in the McKenzie Watershed (Travis Williams). |
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Here's some of what our legal team has been working on. We'll be sure to keep you posted as these actions evolve.
Legislation
Willamette Riverkeeper has been working with different groups to prepare for the upcoming legislative session, at the state and federal levels. We have assisted in drafting proposed laws, particularly regarding chemicals and waste in our water systems.
Litigation
In late 2020, Willamette Riverkeeper filed several lawsuits in federal court to protect the river.
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We sued the Department of Homeland Security under the National Environmental Policy Act, seeking an order that DHS disclose the chemicals in the munitions used for months at the protest in downtown Portland, many of which are rated to have aquatic toxicity, and their potential effects.
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- We filed suit against the City of Albany for some long-standing Clean Water Act sewer and stormwater system concerns.
Public Participation
Since the Fall, Willamette Riverkeeper has joined forces with several diverse environmental and public health groups to submit comments on the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s statewide municipal stormwater permit, industrial stormwater permit, and construction stormwater permit schemes. Additionally, Willamette Riverkeeper has joined forces with Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild, and the Great Old Broads for Wilderness to push back on Oregon Department of Forestry’s proposal to significantly salvage log the Santiam State Forest after the wildfires this fall.
As always, we welcome you to attend public hearings (virtually) and to submit comments on any of these issues we are engaging in! Please contact us to discuss where, when, and how you can plug in to help the river.
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The Art of Planting Season |
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image: This backchannel at GAWA is running a full speed! |
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The rain is pounding down outside, and the Willamette River gauge at Salem is reading over 20 feet for the second time this winter; that equates to a whopping 85,000 cubic feet per second. The lazy flows of summer have now given way to a significant torrent. At Willamette Mission State Park water starts to flow over the road to Mission Lake at 11.5 feet, the Wheatland Ferry closes at 15.5 feet, and at 18.5 most of the park is inaccessible, with water flowing over the Ferry Trailhead bridge.
At the Gail Achterman Wildlife Area (GAWA) upstream of Salem, formerly “Hayden Island”, almost the whole area becomes an island once again when the river reaches 11 feet and current rushes through the back channel. Yet this is fairly normal for the Willamette River during winter. This is what healthy floodplain forests do: flood. And keeping healthy floodplain ecosystems intact is why Willamette Riverkeeper and our partners are investing significantly in these areas.
All this would not be a concern except winter is planting season. Young native trees and shrubs like to be planted when dormant, waking up in spring to a new area with plenty of water for their roots to become established before the dry days of summer.
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Between these two restoration sites we plan to plant 84,000 trees and shrubs this winter, and it is a collaborative affair, one where timing and gaining access is more of an art than a science. Tori, with Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s “Collective Grow” program emails to let the many Willamette Valley non-profit partners know that the young plants are being pulled from various participating nurseries, and will soon be on their way to the cooler at the Adelman Peony Gardens where they will await pickup. Rosario, our contractor, calls to solidify planting plans, trying to figure out a window in his schedule that aligns with access to Willamette Mission State Park and the Gail Achterman Wildlife Area.
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And while double-checking funding spreadsheets, refining planting maps to ensure that each species of plant finds the appropriate spot, and communicating with our partners at OPRD and ODFW, still the rain comes down...! |
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image: Volunteer and WR member, Jean-Luc, fishes out debris from a flooded camp on the Mary's River. |
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Our River Guardians program continued to blossom through 2020, despite Covid restrictions, engaging over 200 individual volunteers Willamette-basin wide, generating over a 1,000 volunteer service hours in surveying, monitoring and clearing hundreds of yards of trash of the river – for reference, that’s about 22,000 lbs. and 67 standard pick-up truckloads of garbage! |
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image: BEFORE- an abandoned camp at risk of washing into the Mary's River in Corvallis.
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Unfortunately, Covid restrictions have amplified an even greater need for community support to address the growing issues of sanitation and abandoned debris, along with the removal of riparian vegetation and exchanging habit for human residence, repurposing trees and native shrubs as “security fencing” and removing soil to make way for sleeping platforms. We’ve also seen an increase in wildfires due to illegal campfires in city parks and natural areas. In many cases, the recreation experience has eroded due to safety and sanitation concerns. A lack of restrooms, eventually removed or locked up due to vandalism and unauthorized use, has resulted in biohazards such as needles, feces, and used toilet paper left behind without a proper receptacle for disposal. |
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image: AFTER- our River Guardian "QuaranTEAM" heroes cleaned up the site!
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Meanwhile, the river is filling with an increase in winter precipitation, and campers that remain in the floodplain are in danger of losing their possessions, and in some cases, their lives. This debris is captured in current and carried downstream for future deposit elsewhere, or buried under the sediment, requiring a lot more effort and resource to remove.
Will we be able to resume safe access for recreational enjoyment once the water has receded? Can we revive our urban riparian areas for healthy habitat and clean water? We believe, the answer is, YES! Our program coordinators are connecting the dots to organizations that share our concern to provide people with safe and sanitary shelter – out of the floodplain – and together with Willamette Riverkeeper, your efforts will help us foster a stronger culture of stewardship and collaboration across the entire Willamette Valley.
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image: image: Volunteers Flip and Jon with the massive pile of trash they removed from the floodplain!
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Through your participation in programs like River Guardians, and your continued engagement as WR members and donors, we are making a difference! Please consider joining our volunteer teams in your community. Currently, we are coordinating small cleanup efforts as “QuaranTeams” where individuals and households can work together to clean up specific segments of the river. Alternatively, join us for a Trashy Tuesday or Thursday, when our "larger small group" efforts can resume as per Covid guidelines, as well as safe river travel and trash removal by watercraft. We also work with volunteers to advocate as a voice for our river through public testimony and leadership engagement.
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image: A 2019 River Discovery adventure to Willamette Falls on a chilly fall morning. |
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What’s on the horizon for our River Discovery Program? We plan to host on-the-water paddle trips in small groups as soon as it is deemed safe to do so! Until then, stay tuned for a listing of our Water Trail Webinars which are in the works for this winter and spring.
As for events like Paddle Oregon and our Pinot Paddle, we are hopeful that we will be able to coordinate overnight adventures later this summer and fall, in compliance with whatever the recommended covid-safety guidelines will be. We promise to keep you informed as our plans take shape! Thanks for your interest!
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THANKS AGAIN For Choosing Us! |
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On behalf of WR, I want to thank everyone who donated to our end-of-the-year campaigns. Whether you gave through Give!Guide, mailed in a donation, or gave online - THANK YOU for choosing to support Willamette Riverkeeper!
This year we had not one but two matching challenges from our amazing partners at Fortis Construction and Wyld Canna. Both challenges were met, helping us bring in an additional $16,000 at our year-end. On top of that, we not only met but exceeded our Give!Guide goals. I write "goals" because our original goal was set at what we raised in 2019 - $28,500. It was clear by mid-December that goal was going to be met, and so it was raised to $40,000 - lofty but, I thought, reachable. Well, we not only met it - we EXCEEDED it by more than $6,000, add to that our Wyld match and through Give!Guide we raised over $56,000 in 2020. This was all possible because of you - THANK YOU!
There is much to do in 2021 and I, for one, am looking forward to sunny days on the river. I hope to see you out there soon. Until then, be well.
Heather King
Deputy Director
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It is only fitting that the first sponsor highlight of 2021 is Wyld Canna. Wyld came on as a new partner in November of 2020. In October they participated in our Great Willamette Clean-up, bringing a group of employees to Dahl Beach for a safe and distanced clean-up, and in December offered Give!Guide donors an incentive of CBD seltzers and challenged us to raise $10,000 through a Give!Guide match! We are excited to partner with them throughout 2021 and beyond.
Based in Portland, Wyld is the second-largest cannabis edible company in the country and Oregon’s top-selling edible brand. They create products infused with “real-fruit ingredients and flavors that embody the true Pacific Northwest culture.” As a company, they have a strong commitment to preserving the land we so proudly call home. They believe “it’s essential that we participate in service projects as a team to ensure a robust, sustainable natural environment for future generations.”
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