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A bi-monthly round-up of news about the Willamette and Columbia
March 29, 2013
Image: Broadway Bridge by reidab on flickr.
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Events, Trips, and Other River Happenings
Friends of Baltimore Woods Plant Sale. March 30, St. Johns Plaza, 10 am - 4 pm.
Brownbag: Citizen-science shows urban streams can sustain threatened native freshwater mussel populations. April 5, 12:15 to 1:00 pm. Metro, 600 NE Grand Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97232, room 37. Speaker: Celeste Mazzacano, Aquatic Program, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium First Friday Brown Bag Series.
 Great Nautical Art Show. Opens April 7 aboard the Steamer PORTLAND. Artists ... will showcase some of their work exclusively at the 2nd annual Great Nautical Art Show, Sunday, April 7 to Friday, May 3. Opening reception: on the PORTLAND Steamer, April 7, 1pm - 4pm--an opportunity to meet and talk with the exhibiting artists. The PORTLAND is located on the Willamette River near the foot of SW Pine and Naito. A second reception will take place the following Sunday, April 14, 1pm - 4pm, at the Oregon Society of Artists' gallery at 2185 SW Park Place. The shows at both locations will run until Friday, May 3, 2013. Artists interested in submitting nautical pieces to the show can find out more information by emailing programs@oregonmaritimemuseum.org by April 5, 2013." Oregon Maritime Museum (Artwork by Joe Howard: "PORTLAND at the Dock")
SOLVE-IT. April 20th. Presented by Portland General Electric, SOLVE is a celebration of Earth Day where volunteers dig in to take care of our parks, neighborhoods and waterways.
Broadway Bridge's 100th Birthday Party! "Celebrating 100 Years of Connecting Communities and Cultures" April 21st, 1-5pm, The Game restaurant, located in the Rose Quarter. $5 suggested donation at door for individuals, $10 per family (all donations benefit PDX Bridge Festival's August 10th celebration). PDX Bridge Festival will hold a series of events through May 22nd celebrating the 100th birthday of the Broadway Bridge. These events will be held at various locations throughout the city, on various dates. Also, on August 10, the Broadway Bridge will be blanketed with love and its very own custom blankets with a very Portland project, Bridge-for-Blankets.
Tryon Creek Watershed Council Watershed Wide Event. April 27th; Kickoff & breakfast 8:30-9:00 am at Riverdale Highschool Parking lot on Terwilliger Blvd in SW Portland. At 9AM, volunteers will depart for 10 restoration sites to remove invasive plants and plant native trees and shrubs. More info at:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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New Willamette Water Trail website! It's Your River. Albany Democrat-Herald, March 28
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Follow Luna the Lamprey's return voyage from the ocean!
Related video: Why Pacific Lamprey Matter to Columbia Basin Tribes. Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, November 2012
 | | Why Pacific Lamprey Matter to Columbia Basin Tribes |
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Northwest Power Conservation Council seeks input on fish and wildlife program. " [In 1980] Congress charged the Council with developing, and periodically amending, a fish and wildlife program for the Columbia River Basin to protect, mitigate and enhance fish and wildlife affected by the development and operation of hydroelectric facilities, while assuring the Pacific Northwest an adequate, efficient, economical, and reliable power supply. The Council adopted the current version of the program in 2009, which [includes] subbasin plans for nearly 60 tributaries and mainstem reaches ... the Council [is required] to call for recommendations to amend the program at least every five years prior to its review of the power plan." Northwest Power Conservation Council
This month's Love Your River challenge: The Water-Energy Connection. "Moving, heating and treating the water we use everyday takes a lot of energy. ... Saving energy and water is becoming more and more crucial as our rivers begin to feel the impacts of climate change .... You can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, slow climate change, and help protect our rivers by saving water and energy....Pledge to do your part by calculating your carbon footprint, saving on water heating, or fixing a leak. Take this challenge, and you'll be entered in the current prize drawing." Oregon Environmental Council
Portland To Host World Environment Day! The United Nations Environment Programme has chosen Portland to host this year's World Environment Day on June 5. The celebration will include numerous events starting on Earth Day on April 22, and it will be part of other World Environment Day events in more than 120 countries across the globe. To learn more, or even better to add your own "WED" activity to the community calendar, click here!
Willamette River Camp. June 24th - 28th. "If your perspective camper is entering 6th, 7th, or 8th grade this summer, then consider joining us for a week of adventure and fun on the lower reaches of Oregon's newest National Water Trail by canoe. ...." Willamette Riverkeeper (Image: WRK)
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Before and After: Western Seminary. "The Tabor to the River Program uses green infrastructure to manage both public and private stormwater runoff at the source." City Green Blog, March 20
Climate factors into Columbia River Treaty talks-U.S., Canada will decide whether to extend, change treaty. The Columbian, March 17
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 | | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |
Salmon in the Classroom comes to Boise-Eliot-Humboldt Elementary School. "This innovative cross-curricular program involves students in raising salmon from egg to fry stage in their classroom. ... For the first time, students in the Portland Public School system will have the opportunity to engage with Salmon in the Classroom. Thanks to the support of our partners in the Black Parent Initiative, Oregon Youth Development Council, and Portland Public Schools, USFWS is able to bring this program to the students at Boise-Eliot-Humboldt Elementary School in Northeast Portland. ... Salmon in the Classroom is designed to meet the new standards of education of our schools and ties environmental education objectives to the Grade Level Expectations in all subject areas." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Field Notes Entry, January 4
Understanding Urban Nature. "As the eager students waited for their fish to grow, USFWS fish biologists visited the school teaching lessons on everything from watersheds, to fish dissection. The fish dissection portion was a particularly big hit among the students - what could be more exciting than the icky, stinky insides of a fish?" Faces of Nature blogspot, March 7
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 Salmon are coming back to Westmoreland Park. "Now it's time for the next phase of the [Crystal Springs] project, which involves replacing the culvert under SE Tacoma Street and restoring wetland habitat in Westmoreland Park, where Crystal Springs Creek currently flows into a large, shallow pond. Construction will start this summer, and will result in improved habitat and cooler, cleaner water in Crystal Springs, as well as other improvements to the park." City Green Blog, March 26 (Image: Corps of Engineers)
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Smelt run brings onlookers to Sandy River. "An enormous school of smelt is passing through the area for the first time in a decade. The parade stretched 20 miles, marching from the salt waters of the Pacific Ocean to the Sandy and Columbia Rivers to start a new generation." KATU.com, March 24 (KATU video). Ed. note: How it was in times past-Smelt Fishing in the Sandy River 1947 by Mike S. on YouTube:
 | | Smelt Fishing Sandy River 1974 ( no sound ) |
Blue Heron effort ready to take flight in Oregon City. "When Blue Heron Paper Co. two years ago announced that it was shutting its doors, it was as though a power cord had been pulled on the Oregon City property. ... Nearby, the Northwest's largest waterfall continues to provide a steady roar. Oregon City staffers hope to follow suit. Last week, the city launched an effort called the Willamette Falls Legacy Project - a 16-month effort to identify new uses for the 23-acre industrial site, and barriers to redevelopment. The city has issued a request for proposals from consulting teams interested in contributing to site planning and marketing, which will be no small feat." DJCOregon.com, March 15 (subscription may be required to view entire article)
Construction on Salem's Minto Island Bridge could start in 2014. "It began just over a half-century ago with a gift to the city of not quite 25 acres. That 1956 donation marked the beginning stages of Wallace Marine Park, and over the decades, Salem's total parkland along the Willamette River has grown to more than 1,000 acres. Today city planners are preparing to celebrate a capstone of this green-space growth as the homestretch drive kicks in for the Minto Island Bridge." StatesmanJournal.com, March 28 [Ed. note: the bridge is part of "a long-standing community vision of connecting three major urban parks, and more than twenty miles of trails via two pedestrian bridges over the Willamette River."]
Rockin' road trips-Willamette River parks. "Salem's backyard gems". "In a nutshell: Bike, hike or wonder along a string a of historic Willamette River area parks from north of Keizer to West Salem." StatesmanJournal.com, March 23 (see p. 4 of article)
 | | ryanjzeigler on flickr |
Spot along Willamette about more than fish. "These guys put the "social" in Social
Security Hole...on the Polk County side of the Willamette River about two miles north of Independence...the traditional rough math still holds: When the fish counts spike at Willamette Falls at Oregon City, figure seven to nine days for the fish to get to Marx-Strange, give or take and depending on flows and water temperatures. And on Friday, 52 summer-run steelhead and 192 winter steelhead went over the ladder, oh, and one lone spring Chinook." StatesmanJournal.com, March 20
Downtown Independence and Riverview Park a weekend spot to relax. StatesmanJournal.com, March 23
Nudists fear loss of beach access in Lane County. "To the dismay of nudists and others, Lane County plans to sell 63-acre parcel on the Willamette River that the groups use to get to a bathing beach. The nonprofit Friends of Buford Park & Mount Pisgah is seeking nearly $500,000 in grants to buy and secure the land, including putting up fences." StatesmanJournal.com, March 22
River restoration proposed. The Army Corps of Engineers' $45 million plan would create backwater habitat along the Willamette River. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is tentatively proposing to spend more than $45 million in public and private money on floodplain restoration work at the meeting point of the coast and middle forks of the Willamette River, just south of Eugene-Springfield. But should it embrace the project formally, the federal agency could face great difficulty getting the money from Congress." Register-Guard, March 25
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| Fun / Of Note |
What Are Columbia River Sea Lions Doing In Chicago? "About 50 sea lions have been removed from the river to protect salmon and steelhead since 2008, but some of them were spared from death. The Shedd Aquarium has adopted three of the sea lions that were slated to be killed. Eight other sea lions on death row were taken in by SeaWorld and three went to Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas." OPB Ecotrope, March 21
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 | | EPA |
EPA proposes $305M cleanup for Washington's Duwamish. "The Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday released a $305 million draft cleanup plan for Seattle's lower Duwamish River, a price tag on the lower end of what some local business owners had feared." Puget Sound Business Journal, February 27
Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund plan open for public comment. KPLU.org, March 11
For more information, visit EPA's Duwamish site.
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Gorgeous Columbia Basin Map. "Developed for the exhibit River of Memory ,The Everlasting Columbia 2006-2008 by the King County GIS Center. Copyright 2006 Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, Wenatchee, Washington." as found on TYWKIWDBI blog, February 26
It's Not Just Overflow-Everyday Leaks From Sewer Systems Lead to Alarming Amounts of Sewage in Our Waterways. The Atlantic Cities, March 18
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To view past River News Digests, click here.
NOTE: River News Digest is a compilation of interesting items and announcements relating to rivers-with a focus on better understanding, enjoying, and caring for our local rivers, while touching on items from around the country and the world. Please note much of the information is from sources other than the City of Portland [like news media, non-profit organizations, and other government agencies]. The Rivers Office lists these items for information purposes only and is not responsible for their content.
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