Evening on Paddle Oregon 2011... intriguing, isn't it? by Kelly Otto

We are still wrapping up from what we feel was our most triumphant and meaningful Paddle Oregon experience to date. This year we concentrated on connecting people to the river not only through the lens of paddling, but by engaging with communities, businesses, and organizations along the way. 

Some highlights: hosting the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde's Canoe Family who paddled impressive, traditional canoes and offered an exhilarating, interactive cultural program, partnering with the City of Albany Visitors Association to offer historic downtown Albany trolley car tours with designated stopping points at areas of interest, camping at Chatoe Rogue's historic Aluvial Hop Farm & Brewery while enjoying fascinating tours of the farm and fresh, delicious brews, Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center's live river raptor presentation, a "Star Party" hosted by local astronomy club Night Sky 45, living history volunteers from the Historic Friends of Champoeg fiddling us into camp and educating participants on the significant history of the area, live musical performances by Flat Rock String Band and the Byron Lord & Johnny Powell Duo, valley based wine tastings by Anne Amie and Chehalem, talent shows and river queens, all in addition to massage, yoga, and Reflexology. As usual, the company and food was exceptional, the days were hot, and thankfully the headwind was minimal (since the millage was not)!

THANK YOU to our outstanding 2011 paddlers and volunteers! We simply could not have this much fun without out you, nor could we gather the support needed to protect and restore our river and continue our work.

Please send us your trip photos! Our photo contest extends through September when we will post our trip slideshow. Winners will receive a KEEN shoe card with a value of $150. Send images to kate@willametteriverkeeper.org or mail your disk to Willamette Riverkeeper, 1515 SE Water Ave #102 Portland, OR 97214.  

We look forward to the late fall when we will share our NEW documentary film produced by Tom Frisch. Until then, we invite you to continue to participate in our events and volunteer opportunities!

Join Willamette Riverkeeper as we support our friends at the River Network as they feature the anticipated premier of the classic river-novel-turned film, The River Why.    

Set on the banks of a wild river (and filmed extensively in Oregon), The River Why is the story of 20 year old Gus Orviston, the Mozart of flyfishing, who leaves his big city home in rebellion from his family to live in a secluded cabin. Instead of finding fishing bliss, his desolation drives him on a reluctant quest for self-discovery- which was only possible because he had access to a healthy river!

When: Friday, September 9th, showtime @ 7pm 

Where: Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. Portland

The River Why is a part of the Active Cinema movement, inspiring audiences to get involved and take care of the rivers and lands the film so beautifully highlights. The evening will also serve as the official kick-off leading up to the 13th annual National River Rally, which River Network and Waterkeeper Alliance will jointly bring to Portland for the first time May 4-7, 2012. River Rally is the largest gathering of river and watershed conservation leaders in the nation; Bobby Kennedy, Jr. and Alexandra Cousteau will be among the Keynote speakers.

Actors William Hurt, and Zach Gilford (Gus/Friday Night Lights), along with producer Kristi Denton Cohen, will be on hand before the screening and for a post-film Q&A.

Tickets $20-- Includes admission to the film, complimentary raffle ticket and donation to support healthy rivers.

Limited seating. Purchase your tickets online today!

Down the River Cleanup on the Clackamas: Sunday, 9/11

On Sunday, September 11th our friends at We Love Clean Rivers, in partnership with the Clackamas River Basin Council will host the 9th Annual Down the River Clean Up on Oregon's Clackamas River!

The annual Down the River Clean Up is an on-the-river, 15-mile cleanup made possible by a rich network of river recreationalists, outdoor companies, environmental organizations, government entities, local community leaders, and hopefully you!

If you have ever fallen in love with the Clackamas or any river, you are invited to participate in this spectacular day of organized chaos where 300+ river-lovers jump in their rafts, kayaks, canoes, and drift boats, uniting to scour the banks and river bottom from Barton Park to Clackamette Park where the Clackamas meets the Willamette River.

The Clackamas River is home to old-growth forests, bird species, steelhead, and is one of the last remaining wild salmon runs in the lower Columbia basin. While the river provides healthy habitat for wildlife, it also supplies the Portland metropolitan area with fresh drinking water. Due to the bounty, beauty and close proximity to urban areas, the Clackamas River has become known for attracting recreationalists of all kinds, including kayakers, rafters, tubers, anglers, and more. The high-use of the river and its nearness to cities, unfortunately, brings in pollutants and unwarranted litter.

So, get wet, make new friends, race your neighboring Pod to extract the biggest, weirdest, or funniest (after all, there will be awards for this sort of thing) piece of rusted-dilapidated-detritus you've ever seen and help restore the Clackamas back to its pristine state! We will thank you. The salmon will thank you. And did I mention that this event is also a whole lotta fun?

See the official event website for details and registration information. Volunteers paddling their own kayaks, canoes, etc must have whitewater paddling experience, be proficient at navigating up to class II rapids, and have an appropriate craft for these conditions with adequate floatation. If you do not have this experience or an appropriate whitewater boat of your own-- don't worry, you may register to ride in an even raft. 

Following the cleanup volunteers will be treated to a BBQ and live music by The Pickups, Volifonix, & The Pink Widowers, silent auction, & awards ceremony.

New this year, learn how you can turn this into a rewarding weekend of volun-tourism in Oregon's scenic Clackamas County! Combine sightseeing, adventure and philanthropy in one memorable weekend.

photo: Volunteers get to work on the Clackamas Cleanup in 2010, by Kate Ross 

This month we have a UNIQUE Willamette River experience in store for you!

Join us we enjoy an EXCLUSIVE guided hiking tour of the Willamette Confluence Project, formerly know as the Wildish Lands. Led by Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah, this is The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) newest Eugene/Springfield area acquisition. The 1,270-acre property borders Buford Park and includes over six miles of Willamette riverfront.

Located where the Middle and Coast forks of the Willamette River join, east of Eugene, TNC describes this area as "an ecological crossroad where water and wildlife come together in tremendous diversity."

The Willamette Confluence, courtesy of TNC.

Why It's Important:  

The area features extensive habitats that are increasingly endangered in the Willamette Valley, including floodplain forest, wetlands, upland oak woodlands and native prairie. The property's diverse habitats are home to blue wildrye, Siberian springbeauty, Saskatoon serviceberry, incense cedar and more. Aditioanlly, more than 30 native fish and wildlife species considered at risk live here including Chinook salmon, northern red-legged frog, vesper sparrow and western meadowlark, Oregon's state bird.

The Nature Conservancy acquired the property from the Wildish family in 2010. With partners, scientists are developing strategies to reconnect the river to its historic floodplain, control invasive species, restore oak and prairie habitats, implement controlled burns, and accommodate public access compatible with habitat restoration. Restoration is expected to take the better part of a decade. Eventually the property will be turned over to public ownership.

When: Saturday, 9/17 meet @ 11am for a bagel brunch provided by Willamette Riverkeeper.

Where: Meet at the Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah's Native Plant Nursery (see directions below.)

The tour takes 3 to 4 hours and covers about 3 miles. Most of the walking is easy. We follow a gravel road that parallels the Middle Fork of the Willamette. Dress accordingly.

Space is limited! CONTACT kate@willametteriverkeeper.org or 503-223-6418 to register. Carpools are encouraged!

DIRECTIONS TO BUFORD PARK*

*We are told Google maps will lead you astray, so please follow the directions below! The one key thing is to remember to turn LEFT after crossing the bridge over the Coast Fork into Buford Park. Don't go to the Arboretum!!  

From the north on I-5, heading south 

Take the 30th avenue (LCC) exit. At the first stoplight, stay to the right, heading south on the road paralleling the freeway, approximately 3/4 mile to another stoplight. Turn L and cross over I-5. Turn L again at the blinking red light. Take the first R just past the gas station onto Franklin Blvd. (Hwy 99). Go under the railroad bridge. Take the next left onto Seavey Loop Road. Continue east about 2 miles. Cross bridge over the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, entering Howard Buford Recreation Area (a Lane County Park.) For the native plant nursery and North Trailhead, turn L and proceed a 1/4 mile to a gravel parking area. Walk or drive past the big yellow gate to the nursery.

From the west through Eugene

Follow 30th avenue east past Lane Community College and cross over I-5. Turn L at the blinking red light. Take the first R just past the gas station onto Franklin Blvd. (Hwy 99). Go under the railroad bridge. Take the next left onto Seavey Loop Road. Continue east about 1.5 miles. Cross bridge over the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, entering Howard Buford Recreation Area (a Lane County Park.) For the native plant nursery and north trailhead, turn L and proceed a 1/4 mile to a gravel parking area. Walk (or drive) past the big yellow gate to the nursery.

From the south on I-5, heading north

Exit at 30th avenue, continue straight at the blinking red light. Turn R just past the gas station onto Franklin Blvd. (Hwy 99. Go under the railroad bridge. Take the next left onto Seavey Loop Road. Continue east about 1.5 miles. Cross bridge over the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, entering Howard Buford Recreation Area (a Lane County Park.)  For the native plant nursery and north trailhead, turn L and proceed a 1/4 mile to a gravel parking area. Walk or drive past the big yellow gate to the nursery.

Volunteers Needed: New Seasons Benefit BBQ- October 1st & 2nd 

The Willamette NEEDS YOU!  

What: 3rd Annual GREAT WILLAMETTE CLEANUP

When: October 8th (in most river cities) & 9th (in Eugene), from 9am to 12:30pm    

Where: at various sites along the mainstem Willamette River*

Join Willamette Riverkeeper and your river community for the 3rd Annual Great Willamette Cleanup! Help clean up trash from 187 miles of the Willamette River at various sites in the Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem and Portland areas. Select sites will have canoes or kayaks available for registered volunteers, while other locations will rely on volunteers with their own paddle craft. While this is primarily a paddling based effort, some sites will focus on land-based trash removal by foot or by bike. All volunteers will receive the limited edition Great Willamette River Cleanup t-shirt. Portland and Eugene will host volunteer appreciation celebrations immediately following the cleanup.   

Join us to explore and celebrate one of the Willamette River system's chief headwaters, Waldo Lake!

This lake is very unique due to its pristine essence, interesting history, bordering wilderness area, and the face that it supplies water to the North Fork of the Middle Fork Willamette River.

WR would like you to join us for a couple of days to paddle portions of the lake, learn about its history, management of the surrounding forest, and its environmental story. We will have a speaker from the Center for Lakes and Reservoirs, and likely a representative from the US Forest Service. We will also discuss the recent non-motorized designation for the lake.

Where: Waldo Lake, Islet Campground ($18.00 nightly fee).

When: October 14-16 (arrive Friday afternoon, leave Sunday morning)

What to Bring: This is a self supported trip, so you should bring whatever you need to camp in what could be cool to cold conditions at night, in addition to your own food (stove etc.), your canoe or kayak and related paddling gear.

What WR provides: WR will provide paddle leadership, interpretation and speakers, pop up tents in the case of precipitate, a good campfire and more.

Trips: We plan a half day trip on Saturday, late morning to mid afternoon, and on Sunday morning for those who are game.

The point of this trip is to hopefully catch the last few nice days of fall at Waldo (and the last weekend the camp is open), learn about the lake, have some fun, and swap stories around the campfire in one of our "home base" camp sites at night.

For more information, contact Travis (travis@willametteriverkeeper.org) or Kate (kate@willametteriverkeeper.org).

photo: Waldo Lake by Travis Williams. 

We would like to extend a special thank you to NW Natural for selecting Willamette Riverkeeper as one of the four non-profit organizations that received a portion of $25,000 in NW Natural's paperless billing campaign. NW Natural customers had the opportunity to vote for their favorite environmental non-profit when they signed up for paperless billing and Willamette Riverkeeper came in first place earning 29.7% of 2,502 votes and a generous donation of $7,425!

This lovely Barred Owl visited us on Paddle Oregon with our friends from the Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, by Kelly Otto

NW Natural signed up over 3,000 new paperless billing customers during the month-and-a-half long campaign. Total votes cast for participating non-profits were 2,502 and were as follows:
 
Willamette Riverkeeper: 29.7% ($7,425)
Wetlands Conservancy: 27.4% ($6,850)
1000 Friends of Oregon: 21.4% ($5,350)
NW Earth Institute: 21.3% ($5,325)

"This is just fantastic and is a great example of a local company supporting local non-profits like ours that make a difference in our community," said Travis Williams, Riverkeeper & Executive Director.

Thanks to everyone who voted for Willamette Riverkeeper during this campaign and special thanks to NW Natural for their generosity and dedication to restoring and preserving Oregon's natural places!

Water Quality Volunteers may be surprised to learn of the new dress code our Water Quality Program Coordinator Julia DeGagne is now strictly enforcing... :)

Pictured from left to right is Julia, and long time E. coli monitoring and monthly monitoring volunteers Linda Folkestad and Bob Brewer.

THANK YOU for your service, and for demonstrating that great minds think alike!