Summer 2022 Friends Newsletter | |
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Board Meeting at Finley Headquarters, May 2022.
Pictured L to R: Steve Suckow, Jill Scofield, Diane Young, Dianna Fisher, Sharon Gracen, Amy Leischman, Jeanne Taylor, Jennifer Butler. Photo by Board President Lisa Kerr
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Message from the Secretary Diane Young
Ankeny Hill Nature Center Upland Prairie
The Friends of WVNWRC and USFWS are on top of our game! Sound-forward thinking by USFWS and great membership contributions from The Friends have contributed to a dynamic and beautiful restoration of upland prairie at Ankeny Hill Nature Center (AHNC). This 25-acre blooming site which hosts Ankeny Hill Nature Center and the upland prairie will delight your senses and tantalize your visual experience. The time is NOW to check in and enjoy this blooming upland prairie.
OSU’s Dept. of Integrative Biology and College of Science presented “3 billion Missing Birds: Where have they gone and What can you do” on Tuesday May 24 . The greatest loss of birds fell into the Grassland (Prairies) category. Other categories mentioned are: Coasts, Arid lands, Eastern Forests, Artic Tundra, Western Forests, Boreal Forests. Since 1970 Grassland birds (almost 40%) have experienced a huge loss due to Habitat loss/land conversion, pesticides/pollution, collisions with buildings, cats/predators, harvesting. The full 67-page report can be found in birds.cornell.edu.
It was such a sad and upsetting report, yet solace was found when I attended some of The Migratory Birds events at AHNC. I was so happy and relieved to be part of the solution when I saw that beautiful - blooming upland prairie and heard the grassland birds chattering away. I knew we were on to something magnificent. That my membership did matter and that the grassland birds were thanking me that day. The refuge land in front of AHNC is a result of restoration efforts to achieve an upland prairie. After years of site preparations, the former grass field was planted with a prairie seed mix that included 25 native wildflower and native bunchgrasses. USFWS will continue to manage the prairie with prescribed fires, weed control and mowing to maintain the prairie plant community. If you wish to help with maintaining this wonderful prairie and surrounding area all you have to do is contact Pat and Bobbie Allaire at volunteer@ankenyhillnaturecenter.org. They will set you up.
And yet! Better and bigger plans are in the works. Graham Evans-Peters, Refuge Manager of Ankeny and Baskett Slough had some very exciting news to share. Graham said that South of the 25-acre AHNC upland prairie site, an additional 15 acres that is currently in farm fields for geese will be restored joining a 7- acre site restored in 2015. This 15-acre unit will be taken out of farming this fall after harvest. It will then be sprayed a few times over two years as part of the site prep to kill weeds and the grass crop. USFWS will then plant native prairie plants in the fall of 2024. These entire 22 acres is called Ankeny Hill Prairie. Plus! this project is already funded by an OWEB grant that Institute for Applied Ecology is sponsoring. More native prairies in Western Oregon and more habitat for our grassland birds. The collective consciousness of like-minded advocates is rejoicing in this great news. Something positive and good!
So, members and volunteers, please always remember that your contributions and memberships matter to us and of course THE BIRDS! Our Western Meadowlarks, Western Bluebirds, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrows and all their feathered friends THANK YOU for looking out for them. Together, we do good work, please give yourself a pat on the back, raise a drink and salute yourself and Be Happy!
AHNC Prairie photos by Jill Scofield
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THE WILD GOOSE STORE IS OPEN! | |
What a busy month May was for the WGNS - the first month back after 2 years being closed. Our first day open was Friday, May 6, and the store welcomed 78 visitors that first weekend. The total for the month of May was 380 people visiting. Sales were very good, too, so the store will again be able to contribute funds toward refuge projects. We are so grateful to all our new and returning customers!
Visitors came into the store wearing smiles and telling us how glad they were that the store was open again. It was so nice to be missed. All of us volunteers missed our times at the store, too - it is so much more that “just a job”. In fact, most of the former volunteers have returned and have jumped right in energetically to make the month a success. In addition, 3 new volunteers have joined our ranks this spring. A big THANK YOU to everyone for their help. Because of it, the transition from closed to open was accomplished smoothly.
Please come in and see us at the WGNS. We would enjoy visiting with you.
Our hours are the same as before: We are open all year on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 10 AM - 4 PM.
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Welcome our new board member! | |
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Sharon Gracen is our new Outreach Coordinator!
Sharon retired last year from 20+ years as an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church. She was actively involved with the environmental ministries of the EC long before she was ordained. Wherever Sharon served, she introduced or furthered the philosophy of stewardship of creation. Prior to that, Sharon was an art consultant, community theater performer and costumer, and a full-time mom.
Sharon is a graduate of Indiana University and received her Masters of Divinity from Seabury Western Theological Seminary in 2000. Since ordination, she has served in Bloomfield Hills, MI; Paris, France; Laguna Niguel (Orange County), CA, and most recently Branford, CT.
Sharon is married and has two grown children and two grandsons. Their black lab Juno is a rescue who adopted them in 2013. Sharon looks forward to connecting with a like-minded, environmentally committed community. The proximity to the wildlife refuges is a gift and helping out the organization dedicated to their success is a proper way to express gratitude.
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Plants of our Refuges
Golden Paintbrush
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Pictures and article by Ecologist Ed Cope
Members of the genus Castilleja, colloquially known as “paintbrushes”, are among the most beloved wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest. However, they can be very challenging to identify. Eager amateurs are routinely overwhelmed by both the number of species as well as the subtleties that separate them. Of course, this is a problem that plagues the experts too. American botanist Harold William Rickett once joked “the genus Castilleja is one of those that make botanists wish they had embraced some easy branch of science such as theoretical physics.” The reality is that paintbrushes often defy easy classification. Many species are of hybrid origin, and – even more bizarrely – may possess variable numbers of chromosomes. It can be hard to say where one species ends and another begins! Taxonomists are still untangling the relationships that unite all these organisms under the paintbrush umbrella. All this is to say, it’s not always easy (or even possible) to know which paintbrush you’re looking at. There have been 44 species recorded in Oregon (49 if you count varietal forms); only the most dedicated botanist would be expected to know them all.
But, if you’re traveling through the Willamette Valley, there’s one paintbrush in particular that
anyone could identify: Castilleja levisecta, the golden paintbrush. Golden paintbrush certainly lives up to its name. Its inflorescence is so vividly, vibrantly yellow that it is virtually impossible to confuse with any other species. Where it grows in abundance, it gives the impression of sunbeams draped across the prairie. These spectacular displays have become a common, and much anticipated, event for springtime visitors to the valley’s National Wildlife Refuges. But this has not always been the case. Landscape conversion had at one time completely eradicated the species from Oregon, with the last verified sighting in 1938. Luckily, dedicated reintroduction efforts have helped this remarkable plant rebound at multiple preserves across its historic range, much to the delight of wildflower enthusiasts.
To other prairie plants, however, the return of golden paintbrush may have held more horror
than delight. Castilleja levisecta, like all other members of its genus, is a parasite. Technically they’re hemiparasites: plants capable of photosynthesizing, but which also may steal nutrients from their neighbors. But a part time thief is still a thief, and their hosts do not give up their resources easily. Castilleja must grow special root-like structures called haustoria, which penetrate the tissues of their hosts to syphon off water and nutrients. It’s a bit grisly, but preserving these sorts of relationships is vital to the stewardship of dynamic ecosystems. Consider, for example, how parasitism impacts the movement of nutrients through an ecosystem. Paintbrushes are generally short-lived species that may grow and die within a two or three-year period. When they attach to a long-lived host, they appropriate nutrients that may otherwise have been locked up in perennial roots and shoots for decades. This can
dramatically increase the rate at which those nutrients cycle through the ecosystem! This accelerated turnover of biomass supports the grazers, decomposers, detritivores, and other assorted critters who struggle to digest tough, perennial plant tissues. The whole composition of an ecological community can shift in the presence of parasites. Those dense stands of golden paintbrush, so agreeable to our eye, are bringing riotous change to the world beneath the soil.
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Seeking New Board Members! | |
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The Friends Board of Directors strives to maintain an inclusive and dynamic board. The time commitment averages 3-6 hours/month, with a 3-year term.
Social Media Specialist: Updating of Webpage, Facebook and other social media platforms.
Membership Specialist: Help membership coordinator: Participate in researching member management options and ways to connect & grow our membership.
We extend our invitation to you as active users of WVNWRC.
If you are interested in joining our board, please contact
Diane Young at secretary.friends@gmail.com for a board member application packet. We hope you consider this opportunity to help us maintain our mission statement.
Friends Mission Statement
Promoting the conservation of the natural resources of the refuge complex. Fostering awareness and appreciation of the complex through educational and recreational opportunities. Participating in activities that help the complex achieve its goals.
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Volunteers Help at Snag Boat Bend | |
May 5th. On a wet soggy day Willamette River Keepers, Friends of WVNWC, WV Refuge Staff, and The Long Tom River Council met at Snag Boat Bend for a trash clean up. There were also a few local volunteers and 5 Corvallis High School students working on a river pollution project to help with the clean up. We filled the back of a pick up truck with bags and bags of trash from the Willamette River left by high water. We were all soaked to the bone and covered in mud, but we made new friends and had a great time doing something worthwhile for the refuge as well as learn some of the history about Snag Boat Bend. | |
2022 Project Updates--Your Membership Matters! | |
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Benches for the Ankeny Hill Nature Center
Featuring shrew, Wapato and songbird cutouts!
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New Ways to Support the Friends and your Refuges | |
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We are Friends of the Willamette Valleynational Wildlife Refuge Complex
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Contribute through Bottle Drop
You can donate funds from your BottleDrop account balance to Friends of the WVNWRC account by logging into your account.
Log into your Bottle Drop account. Click Donate and search for Friends of the WVNWRC. Choose the amount from your balance that you would like to donate and Click on Donate Now!
If you don't yet have an account you can create one: BottleDrop
We are : Friends of the WVNWRC
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Friends 2023 Calendar
Your photos wanted!
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Contribute photos to the 2023 calendar by submitting them to
friendswvphotos@gmail.com
DEADLINE: July 31, 2022
We are especially interested in photos that capture the seasons of the refuges.
In 2021, the Friends produced and printed a calendar that was a showpiece of beautiful photographs from our National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The theme of the calendar was “The Faces of the Refuges'”
In addition to providing beautiful, functional calendar that reminds us of the intrinsic beauty of wildlife at our local refuges throughout the year, the project helped our organization connect with the community of skilled wildlife photographers in our midst, and to share their skills and photographs with our members and supporters who truly appreciate their craft.
The calendar also increased recognition of the values and benefits of our local National Wildlife Refuges. It helped us to achieve our mission of fostering awareness and appreciation of our wildlife refuges and refuge system.
Profits from the 2023 calendar will fund future conservation-related projects.
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