Making Tracks

The Newsletter of the Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Joyfully Connecting our Community with the Wonder of the Refuge

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monthly Board Meeting via Zoom

February 22, 2022 6:30 PM
March 22, 2022 6:30 PM

Youth Art Contest Display

Month of February

219 NW 3rd Ave, Portland

President's Perch

by Cheryl Hart, Acting President

February is Black History Month. A time when we have an opportunity to learn about the role of African Americans in our nation’s history that was likely never taught to us in school. I hope everyone will try to become more aware of a broader and more accurate version of how America became what it is today. I also hope we all are making sure that everyone feels safe and welcome in nature, especially at our refuge.

February is also famous for Groundhog Day which has been particularly symbolic for me this year as we watched Punxsutawney Phil predict 6 more weeks of winter in Pennsylvania while Fil(bert) the Beaver predicted an early spring here in Oregon. At least one of them will be correct! Many of you will remember the 1993 Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day, when things kept repeating and every day was February 2nd. That is kind of the way I have felt these past few weeks.

The end of January, our Friends President, Tom Stibolt, resigned as President although he will continue to serve on the Board and as our webmaster. Thank you, Tom! As Vice President, I am now back in the role I left 7 years ago. The timing was good since I will be term-limiting off the National Wildlife Refuge Association Board in June and have been looking forward to having a little more time to be more involved with Friends work. We have a solid board with experience and energy to continue supporting our Friends organization. We are nothing if not resilient.

That resiliency is important as we learned the end of last month that Clackamas County Commissioners has granted a permit for a gravel quarry right next to the Rock Creek Unit of our refuge. Our Friends group joined in a successful lawsuit 10 or more years ago to fight against this quarry that will damage or destroy the hydrology of the only pristine unit of our refuge. But, like a hydra, we cut the head off then, but another has grown back. We are working closely with our refuge management to try, once again, to protect our refuge lands. Please see the article on Tonquin Quarry in this newsletter to find out how you can help.

In addition to these unfortunate things, a lot of exciting things are taking place on the refuge. Friends received another Grant from One Tree Planted that will enable us to continue restoration on the two permanent wetlands in front of the Visitor Center. Be on the lookout for volunteer planting opportunities.

We are also delighted that, despite the pandemic and refuge buildings being closed, we successfully partnered with Oregon Chinese Coalition on an nature art contest. The entries and a little publicity for the refuge and our Friends group are displayed in Portland’s Chinatown and we received some nice publicity from KOIN TV

Thank you for continuing your support of the refuge and our Friends group. We appreciate everything that you do!

-Cheryl Hart

Photos from Rock Creek Unit

CALL TO ACTIOIN- TONQUIN QUARRY

Despite our efforts a decade ago, Clackamas County Commissioners have granted a permit to Tonquin Holdings to construct a rock quarry adjacent to the Rock Creek unit of our refuge. This is an historically and geologically valuable unit of the refuge, the hydrology of which will be damaged or destroyed by the construction of the quarry with no possibility for mitigation. Please read the full letter that Friends sent to Senators Wyden and Merkley and Representatives Schrader and Bonamici We are working closely with Refuge leadership and have been joined in our efforts by National Wildlife Refuge Association. We need you to help us in our advocacy efforts. Please contact our Senators and Representatives and help support our efforts to protect our refuge

Friends Receive $44,000 grant

The Friends of the Refuge were awarded a $44,000 grant from One Tree Planted (OTP} help with planting efforts in the two permanent wetlands on the main unit of Tualatin River NWR. This is similar to the grant we received last year from OTP. The Friends have partnered with Ash Creek Forest Management again to plant an assortment of natives that include Piper Willows, Pacific Willows, Sitka Willows, Spirea, Snowberry, Ninebark and more. Planting will begin shortly and we are proud to contribute to the continuing restoration efforts on our Refuge.

Welcome Rotary Club of Sherwood.

The Friends of TRNWRC are very excited to have as our newest Organizational affiliated member, the Rotary Club of Sherwood. For those of you not familiar with Rotary, their strategic vision aligns well with the Friends of TRNWRC. They believe in a shared commitment to take action on our world’s issues including: Promote peace; fight disease; provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; save mothers and children; support education; grow local economies and protect the environment. Their members have already taken part in several habitat restoration plantings and plan on participating in many more. They have been great neighbors and support our efforts to become even more connected with the City of Sherwood. We are looking forward to many joint ventures in the future. If you belong to a civic or philanthropic organization, please contact us about becoming a Friends Member.

Habitat and Restoration Update

Our amphibian egg mass surveys have begun! Each year, we survey our wetland units for four different species of egg masses during the months of February and March: Northern red-legged frogs, pacific chorus frogs, long-toed salamanders, and Northwestern salamanders. I am particularly excited to see what we will find along the newly restored Chicken Creek channel and floodplain this year. I would like to give a special thank you to a new survey volunteer, Brenden Thomas, who is studying wildlife and fisheries sciences at Oregon State University. He has signed up for just about every survey that we are conducting this season.

I am very excited to work alongside Ash Creek Forestry Management to fulfill the One Tree Planted Grant that we were awarded earlier this month. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing trees growing, plants thriving, and habitats buzzing with activity as the landscape continues to change here at the Refuge.

This past Saturday, February 12th, we held a planting in our 1P wetland area that included Sherwood Rotary members and Sherwood Highschool Students. We planted out an area of roughly 36,000 sq ft with Geyer Willow, Rose Spirea, Swamp Rose, Red Osier Dogwood, Common Snowberry, and Pacific Ninebark. Thank you to our volunteers who participated in this very rewarding project!

Wildlife Sightings

Friends Hold First Annual Youth Art Contest with the Oregon Chinese Coalition.

"The Wonder of Nature"

This year's theme was "The Wonder of Nature" and 43 students entered the first annual Friends of the Refuge Youth Art Contest with the Oregon Chinese Coalition. Art work was divided into four judging groups; K-3rd, 4th-6th, 7th-9th and 10th-12th. Ribbons and prizes were awarded to each First, Second and Third Place and Honorable Mention winner for each group. Representatives from the Friends, USFWS and the local art community judged each entry against a rubric. The judges were then asked to select their over all favorite piece for the Best in Show Award.

A window display of the 16 winning pieces is currently displayed at 219 NW 3rd Ave in the Chinatown section of Portland. We invite you to visit the display that will be up until the end of February. The Friends plan to display the art work in the Visitor Center sometime after we reopen to the public.

Best In Show Congratulations!

I was inspired by Oregon's water-abundant landscapes and wildlife, especially birds. Common local birds such as mallard ducks, red-breasted nuthatches, and Anna's hummingbirds are included in the painting. During quarantine, I couldn't go far outside so I developed an interest in observing birds from my backyard. This painting is a manifestation of my relationship with local nature. -Jenny Chin, Freshman

Acrylic painting on canvas panel

Jenny received a $500 scholarship from the OCC and an assortment of nature books from the Friends.

Kindergarten- 3rd Grade 1st Place

My inspiration is human beings live in harmony with nature, nature brings me happiness , because our family loves to go to wildlife refuge nature parks when we have time, we love spend a whole day to explore and make lots of observation over there. Telescope is the most important equipment that we must to bring together, we can use it to easily watch the animal's activity, such as grey heron, turtle, frog, duck, deer, birds, and squirrel in the park, so I draw them all in my paper, and I also recorded some ladybug, ants, snail, dragonfly, butterfly, trees, grasses and mushroom. Lake is the important part for those area, it helps nature with a good ecological balance. Human is the member of the nature, we are grateful for the happiness that nature brings to us, we also respect and treat well to our natural environment so that we can continue to coexist well. （This is the translation above in Chinese): 我的灵感是人类与自然和谐相处，大自然带给我的快乐，因为我们一家人喜欢有时间就去野生动物保护区自然公园，我们喜欢花一整天的时间在那里探索并进行很多观察。望远镜是我们需要带上的最重要的设备，我们很容易用它来观察动物的活动，例如在公园里找到灰鹭、乌龟、青蛙、鸭子、鹿、鸟和松鼠，所以我把它们画在了我的纸上，我还记录了一些瓢虫、蚂蚁、蜗牛、蜻蜓、蝴蝶、树、草和蘑菇。湖泊是这些地区的重要组成部分，它有助于大自然保持良好的生态平衡。人类是大自然的一员，我们在感恩大自然带给我们的幸福，也尊重和善待我们的自然环境，让我们继续和睦共处

-Flora Chen Kindergarten

Multi color, paint, water color, pastel and crayon

4th-6th grade 1st Place

I wanted to place the deer is in front of Mt. Hood as I think it really represents the habitat of the deer and how it lives. I love seeing the deer is in the summer season with the summer flowers blooming in forests all over Mt. Hood. I think it shows all the nature and wildlife that lives here in Oregon, but also the beauty of what grows here in the summer.

-Alana Fischer 6th grade

Water colors, colored pencils and markers

7th-9th Grade 1st Place

There’s a park next to my house, Mill Pond, that I walk around several times a month. Recently, a few of my friends and I gathered there to celebrate Halloween. While we were walking around the lake, I saw a tiny pink-and-green hummingbird fluttering over the entrance to a nature trail. Although I couldn’t capture an image of the bird in action, I took pictures of the trail entrance (a set of rickety wooden steps). These pictures would become the inspiration for the background of my painting. Sometimes, we forget that the beauty of nature is easily within our reach if we stop to look; I drew the hummingbird as a reminder that all kinds of wonderful creatures live at a simple park. I chose to incorporate my younger self extending a hand toward the hummingbird to represent a child’s wonder at something so small.- Sophia You 9th Grade

Acrylic Paint

10th-12th Grade 1st Place

During quarantine, I faced a lot of stress and burnout as I overloaded myself with work as a distraction from the world around me. It was when I decided to go on daily nature walks with my family that I was able to gradually bring myself back to reality. We would go out on trails and sketch whatever we saw. From monarch butterflies to red columbines to wapato plants, I grew my love for the native Oregon flora and fauna and in return, my creativity reignited. I emerged from my shell and began painting again, as represented in the pink brushstrokes, and I'm forever thankful for that. - Erika Leung 10th grade

Acrylic paint and colored pencil on paper, 9" x 12".

Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex

19255 SW Pacific Hwy Sherwood, Oregon 97140

503.625.5944 x 15227

www.FriendsofTualatinRefuge.org