Vital Nature

Photo credit: Michael Barton

As 2013 looms on the horizon, we at the Friends are moved to look back over our organization’s history, to pause and reflect on the challenges and opportunities that face those of us involved in the environmental movement.

Buzzwords like climate change, species loss, ecosystem collapse, and threats to biodiversity, inspire both fear and hope. Ultimately, these terms underscore the need for unified, proactive effort among the public to preserve, conserve, protect, and sustain what remains of our planet’s wild spaces, our park lands, our backyards, and our green meeting spaces.

The Friends of Tryon Creek has proven that we have the mettle and the drive to take the necessary action. Our history – which is now our legacy – is living proof.

The Friends’ mission – to preserve and protect the land we love for future generations – is holding strong and serves as a reminder in this day and age that a united citizenry can achieve great things.  

Since its inception, the Friends have provided field trip opportunities for children to experience Tryon Creek’s forested acres in an experiential, personal way (the Friends has been providing day camp experiences for nearly as long, with the program’s founding in 1976). Over the years, program offerings have expanded to include environmental education and stewardship opportunities for people of all ages.

In 2013 and beyond, the Friends will continue to provide opportunities for people of all ages and of all backgrounds to connect with the natural world, to engage them in the wondrous experience of hearing birdsong in the forest and the whispering of the trees and the murmur of the creek. That connection with the earth is essential for the preservation of our planet and our species.

Teen volunteer champions ivy pull project at Tryon Creek

Maddie Tritico pulling ivy for her Girl Scout Gold Award

Submitted by Maddie Tritico:

 

I have been a park goer at Tryon Creek State Natural Area for as long as I have been a Girl Scout. This year I am a senior in high school and want to achieve my Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award you can receive in Girl Scouts. To earn this award you have to create a long-term sustainable project that helps your community and helps you grow as a person and as a leader. For my Gold Award I created a monthly Saturday program at Tryon Creek where volunteers may come and help pull ivy.

Ivy pull volunteers at Tryon Creek

Ivy is a highly invasive species that has a very negative effect on trees. It keeps water from reaching the trees; can put so much weight on the trees that it causes them to snap; acts as host to a bacteria called Leaf Scorch; and prevents sunlight form getting to plants on the ground, such as the Trillium. Tryon Creek State Natural Area is no exception to this invasive ivy.

 

Taking a break to have some fun...

The Friends of Tryon Creek host "Stewardship  Saturdays" every week and "Stewardship Fridays" ever other week.  The purpose of these events is to involve volunteers in the effort to help pull ivy. Sadly this isn't enough. If you can, please come and help the trees. This planet does not belong to one person, it belongs to everyone and it is our job to help take care of it.

 

Maddie and her hardworking group of volunteers

Tree Planting to honor long time Tryon Creek volunteers

Friends' Executive Director David Cohen and OPRD's Park Manager John Mullen honor Linda Nash, who volunteered at Tryon Creek for six years

On Thursday, November 29th, the Friends of Tryon Creek and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department honored three long-time volunteers - Linda Nash (six years of service), Sandra Hoover (ten years of service), and Pete Browning (twenty years of service) - by planting trees to show our gratitude.

John and David honor Sandra Hoover, who volunteered at Tryon Creek for ten years

The Tree Planting event was the brainchild of Friends' Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator Sarah Kreisman who felt that these volunteers, now retired from service at Tryon Creek State Natural Area, should be recognized for their outstanding dedication and support over the years. "I can't think of a better way to honor these volunteers' extensive commitment to Tryon Creek than by planting a beautiful Western Red Cedar in the forest," says Kreisman. "These trees will live on in representation of their service for as long as this park exists."

Volunteer Pete Browning, who volunteered at Tryon Creek for 20 years, with wife Barb

The Friends of Tryon Creek thank Linda, Sandra and Pete for their incredible efforts over the years. We appreciate their hard work and loyalty and wish them well in their future endeavors.

Eagle Scout project benefits Tryon Creek State Natural Area

Construction preparations begin for Mitch Bernards' Eagle Scout project at Tryon Creek

Mitch Bernards has helped as an assistant counselor for the Friends of Tryon Creek day camps the last 3 summers.  He chose Tryon Creek State Park as the site for his Eagle Scout project: 16 steps on a slippery slope of the Lewis and Clark Trail, about 70 yards west of the paved pathway.  Here are notes from his father and a few photos from beginning to end. 

Building forms for the 16 steps...

The forms were made on a prior weekend with volunteers from Mitch’s Boy Scout troop. He finished installing the steps this weekend with troop volunteers and friends.

Step forms ready to go!

After measuring the site twice; with his grandfather and with his buddy Brian, Mitch built 12 full size steps. The 13^th was full width but the sides were shorter. Fourteen, 15 and 16 were narrower with the shorter sides.

Supply transportation begins...

Mitch looked pretty nervous and took time with the level and tape measure before scratching a pattern in the dirt and declaring where to dig.

Step construction progresses...



Carrying step forms to the park site...

Well – the 13^th step just happened to fit up to a root with its shorter sides. The measurement was for the rise. The step spacing adjusts as you go to match the grade and the run takes care of itself.

Carrying gravel to fill the step forms...

The next two needed to be trimmed to fit but he planned on that and we brought the tools. The insides of the steps were filled with gravel.

Eagle Scout project complete!

Mitch and his Construction Crew

 The park ranger, Dan Quigley was pretty complimentary. He asked who the project engineer was and Mitch proudly accepted the honors.

(Story submitted by Lanette Bernards)

A Walk Down Memory Lane at Tryon Creek

Steve Barton at Tryon Creek State Natural Area, November 2012

In 1966, when Steve Barton was in the 8^th grade, his family moved from Portland Heights to Lake Oswego’s SW Stampher Road, near the confluence of Tryon Creek and the Willamette River. Barton likens his experience growing up along Tryon Creek to that of young Huckleberry Finn: shortly after moving into the house on Stampher Road he became the proud owner of an old wooden rowboat and spent whole days exploring the creek while his parents were at work. A neighbor boy taught Barton how to tie flies and a budding fly fisherman was born. Fishing became a common theme of his expeditions as Barton caught salmon, steelhead, carp and suckers, and once nearly caught a huge sturgeon. He also came across Tryon Creek’s resident lamprey (one of which tried to wrap itself around his arm on their first encounter!).

Steve Barton loved spending time in the wild. Back in the ‘60’s there was no evidence that an urban population was just a few miles down the road from Tryon Creek: the forest was dense and the well maintained trails that wend through the park today were nowhere to be found.

Barton’s early kinship with nature inspired a lifelong ethic of stewardship in him. To this day he lives in a house whose backyard faces the forest, and owls and deer are common visitors. Barton has imparted that same stewardship ethic – a reverence for nature and desire to protect and preserve it – in his children, both grown.

The Friends thank Steve Barton for sharing his wonderful childhood story and the impression Tryon Creek and the forest made upon him.

Congratulations to Michael Barton, "Why I Love Tryon Creek State Natural Area" video contest winner

Michael Barton, with son Patrick, accepts award from Friends' Executive Director David Cohen

In August 2012 the Friends of Tryon Creek kicked off their first-ever video contest on the theme, “Why I Love Tryon Creek State Natural Area”. Entries were accepted through October 31^st and the Friends were struck by the fact that each entry, regardless of its content, captured the beauty, tranquility, inspiration and joy that one experiences in the forest at Tryon Creek.

Michael Barton, a regular park visitor who recently welcomed his new daughter into the world, won the contest, and on November 14^th he received congratulations from the Friends' Executive Director David Cohen. Cohen also presented Barton with a prize package valued at $370 featuring items from contest sponsors Columbia Sportswear, REI, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, and Voodoo Doughnut, as well as a copy of “Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine”.  

The Friends appreciate the efforts of all who submitted entries and wish them luck next year.

                             "Let Me Show You", Michael Barton's winning video contest entry

As the trees give up their leaves, give youself the gift of a nature walk

Today has been the first chilly day we’ve had in the Portland area in quite some time. The air is brisk, the sky clear, and the leaves falling from Tryon Creek’s trees are every imaginable shade of yellow, orange, red, and brown. They litter the ground, swirl and twirl in the creek’s water as they make their slow journey to the Willamette River, and provide a mosaic underfoot that reminds one just how verdant, how living, the natural world is, even at the time of year when plants and animals prepare to sleep for the winter.

As leaves and other fall foliage biodegrade throughout the park, nutrients and habitat for insects, worms and other park critters is created. The forest is its own perfect recycling center and is both complex and simple in its form and function.

As the “season of giving” draws near, it is our sincere hope that everyone takes time from the rigors of modern life to take a walk in the nearest park or wild space. Witnessing the changing of the seasons before our very eyes; breathing in fresh, clean air; and experiencing the calming effect that one enjoys when communing with nature… these are timeless gifts that each one of us should give ourselves.

Water World

In the mornings I run along the forested part of Terwilliger in southwest Portland. About twice a year, people wearing haz-mat suits spray herbicide in the park to kill invasive plants. Within a day or two of the spraying session the sidewalk is littered with the corpses of small animals such as moles and mice.

I have noticed this phenomenon over the last few years but it wasn’t until a recent run that it occurred to me that, in the same area where the sprayers were required to wear protective gear, including face masks, I was clad only in shorts and a t-shirt.

If the chemicals being used are harmful enough to warrant protective clothing and kill rodents, what does this mean for the health of our water supply?

We in the Pacific Northwest enjoy unusually temperate and mild weather, and in a typical year we experience months of rain. As that rain falls on land it seeps into groundwater carrying whatever particulates it comes in contact with along with it.

The likelihood of herbicidal residue being carried to our water supply through the watershed is high.

As I contemplated the mortality rate of rodents I also felt a rush of gratitude for organizations like the Friends of Tryon Creek, who I work for, that strive to do something to combat the problem of water quality degradation.

Piles of ivy pulled by Friends' volunteers

The Friends’ environmental education and stewardship programs are intended to connect people to the natural world by engaging them with hands-on opportunities to explore our relationship to the planet. Surely “We are all connected”, seeing as how we are just as much a part of nature as the tree that blossoms in the spring, the bird that flies south for the winter, and the mole that seeks cover along Terwilliger Boulevard. To truly appreciate that fact means understanding that our actions impact the world around us in an immediate sense, and those same actions can affect us down the road.

I circle back to the issue of water quality. Spraying herbicide impedes weed encroachment – while adding toxic chemicals to our ground water. That reality inspires the Friends to explore ways to keep our watershed healthy, such as inviting volunteers to pull ivy in the park every Saturday (elbow grease is a great alternative to chemicals!) and bringing the Backyard Habitat Certification Program to Lake Oswego. The BHCP gives property owners the tools to provide habitat for wildlife, reduce water usage and the need for chemical applications, and use native plants to reduce the amount of pollution in runoff to waterways and streams.

Tryon Creek in early Summer

With guidance from organizations like the Friends, significant action to improve the health and quality of our environment is within reach. Visit www.tryonfriends.org to learn more.

Community makes National Public Lands Day a smashing success at Tryon Creek

Lewis and Clark students and community members mug for the camera before hitting the trail to pull ivy

Saturday, September 29th, was National Public Lands Day. It is the largest volunteer event of its kind in the country, as thousands of volunteers show their support of public lands by participating in stewardship activities from coast to coast. The Friends of Tryon Creek were pleased to host just such an event at Tryon Creek State Natural Area. Volunteers rolled their sleeves up and got their hands dirty pulling ivy in the park from 9 a.m. to noon.

REI's Gayle Hoybook distributes free tees to volunteers.

REI was a great supporter of the event. In addition to providing stewardship volunteers with awesome free t-shirts, they served snacks and beverages (to keep their strength up. Those ivy pulls are a lot of work!). The Friends' tip our hats to REI and their strong support for the Friends' environmental stewardship and conservation programs.

3rd & 4th grade Girl Scouts lend a hand doing stewardship at Tryon Creek

Volunteers big and small lent a hand at the event, including Girl Scouts from Troop# 45660 who attend Arco Iris Spanish Immersion Charter School in Beaverton. Their troop leader, Regan Schutz, noted that her group "had a lovely time, and our guide was amazing.  The girls were really interested in learning more about why English Ivy is so destructive to our forests, and they absolutely put their best glove forward when we got down to pulling!  It's amazing how empowering it is to actually get down and work--easy to forget what it's like to be 8 and 9 years old.  Working together for something bigger than themselves, I really felt a shift that day in our (relatively new) troop!" Way to go, Girl Scouts!

The National Public Lands Day stewardship effort at Tryon Creek was very successful. "We had a fantastic turnout of volunteers", says Sarah Kreisman, Volunteer Coordinator for the Friends of Tryon Creek. "It is so wonderful to see how much our community values their public lands."

Thanks Volunteers! We couldn't do it without you!

A Brief History of Tryon Creek

Over the summer Casey Currey-Wilson, a Portland area high school student, offered to make a video for the Friends to help get the word out about our organization and our mission: to connect people to the natural world and cultivate a lifelong relationship with nature.

Currey-Wilson's first project was a sample video for use in our video contest, "Why I Love Tryon Creek State Natural Area". It does a wonderful job of capturing the joy and inspiration that people experience when they visit the park. Every time we watch it we are reminded of how important it is for children, families, adults - all of us - to spend time outdoors.

Currey-Wilson's latest contribution to the Friends' video archive is this engaging clip on the history of Tryon Creek State Natural Area and the Friends' relationship to it. We tip our hats to this budding videographer and appreciate his interest and support of the park and our organization!

Behind the scenes with the Friends and Wildlife with Jeremy

The season finale of Comcast SportsNet's Wildlife with Jeremy show featured the Friends of Tryon Creek in July 2012. The episode featured Jeremy geocaching in and around Portland, including the site of the very first geocache, "Original Stash" near Mt. Hood. After each geocache Jeremy checked in with the Friends and shared our mission - to connect people to the natural world and inspire an ethic of environmental stewardship in all - through interviews with Friends' staff, as well as youth campers and their parents.

Interview with a young "Nature Enthusiast"

Preparing to lead Friends' day campers to a big surprise...

Wildlife production team prepares the gear for the give-away to the Friends

Camping equipment field-day!

Jeremy presents the gear to Friends' Education Director Matthew Collins, and to these excited kiddos

At the end of the show, Jeremy presented new camping gear from Next Adventure to the Friends for use in our youth camp programs. Jeremy also presented gear to these lucky - and very surprised! - day campers. They were thrilled! Thanks Jeremy!

Celebrating our Fantastic Volunteers

 

The Friends of Tryon Creek LOVE our fantastic volunteers (we couldn't do what we do without them)! On Sunday, July 29th, we showered them with love and affection - and food! In the early evening volunteers gathered at the Jackson Shelter in the park to be wined and dined by the Friends' staff and board at the annual Volunteer Appreciation BBQ...

Matthew Collins, the Friends' Education Director, and Linda Koser, the Friends' Field Trip Coordinator, on barbecue duty

 Friends' staff, board and volunteers spent the evening socializing, enjoying the barbecue and...

Dynamic duo "Curls and Scruff"

 ...listening and dancing to live music from local favorites Curls and Scruff!

 

As the evening drew to a close Linda Koser shared a real treat for dessert: Voodoo doughnuts!

Volunteers Patty...

...and Keith...

...and Heather and Scott are excited about those doughnuts!

We think it is physically impossible NOT to smile when one is about to enjoy a doughnut!

When you mix in the other highlights of the evening - great company, fun conversation, tasty food, lively music and dancing - well, the end result is joy and pure gratitude for coming together and celebrating the Friends' community. We are grateful for the opportunity to express our appreciation for the hundreds of volunteers whose dedication and hard work throughout the year allows our organization to accomplish all that it does. Thank You for all you do!

The Friends of Tryon Creek's Owl Citizen Science Project

 

From November 2011 through February 2012 Matthew Collins, the Friends’ Education Director, led nineteen participants on seven outings at Tryon Creek. Their mission? To locate and study the owls that call Tryon Creek home.

Collins conceived of the Owl Citizen Science Project as a way to provide people with a chance to learn about scientific monitoring techniques, interact with the park at night, impart intimate knowledge of resident and visiting owls, and inspire a stronger sense of connection to the natural world in general and Tryon Creek in particular.

A typical outing would begin around 6 p.m., when the park started to get dark. Project participants would divide into small groups that would hike to stations along the trails until 8 p.m. As groups reached their different stations they would begin by waiting in silence and then they would proceed to make owl calls starting with the most diminutive, the reason being that if you call the large owls first the smaller ones are very unlikely to respond out of fear. When a team heard an owl call back, the group was careful not to prolong engagement to prevent the owl from being disturbed.

Observing owls and being in the park at night was extremely positive for project participants:

“It was a great experience to learn more about owls. I didn’t realize that there were so many in such a small area! It was exciting to be in the park at night with my group of three or four people, and waiting in the silence was amazing.” – Diane Quivey

“I learned something about owls in general and particularly those in my neighborhood. We live about a half mile from the park and ever since moving here in the late ‘90’s, I've heard owls in the middle of the night. I heard one again a couple nights ago about 2 a.m. It turns out they're screech and barred owls. And, lo and behold, I can tell them apart now!” – Jeff Wiseman

“Although I have hiked in the park countless times I have never done it at night. I wanted to see what it was like…in the safety of a group who knows what they’re doing. For amateurs like me, this was a whole new experience.” – Stephen Goodrich

The Owl Citizen Science Project will return to Tryon Creek this fall with a kick-off event planned for October. Those interested in participating can visit www.tryonfriends.org for more information.

Introducing Tuomas Forsberg, Friends of Tryon Creek's Summer Intern

 

Tuomas Forsberg interning for the Friends of Tryon Creek, Summer 2012

Five weeks ago Tuomas Forsberg and his wife Anna landed at PDX International Airport. Their mission? Experience life in the United States and improve their English-speaking skills.

Tuomas hails from Helsinki, Finland and on this, his flagship journey to Portland, he is spending the summer volunteering as an intern with the Friends of Tryon Creek. He completed his degree on structural engineering and is now working on a Masters of Finance. Environmental studies are new to him but he is adapting quickly, as his internship requires him to spend twenty hours a week doing jobs as varied as stewardship and trail maintenance in the park to acting as a counselor for kids in the Friends’ Adventure Camps and providing childcare at the end of the camp day.

When asked about his connection to nature, Tuomas replies that he has a close relationship to the land, as do Finns in general. He explained that Finland became an independent republic in 1917 and because it is a young country that didn’t experience a great deal of growth until the 1950’s, people maintained their agrarian roots. In the past, the economy was heavily dependent on timber, as Finland has large tracts of forest land. Tuomas enjoys spending time camping, hiking, backpacking, fishing, and unwinding at his family’s summer lake house (Finland has 80,000 lakes!).

Tuomas wanted to come to the Pacific Northwest because of its reputation as a beautiful, pleasant place to live. He is enjoying his time here and says that he “is having a lot of fun. It’s half vacation and half work”. He has been exploring our region, heading north to Seattle and south to Crater Lake. When he is done interning with the Friends, Tuomas and Anna will travel to California where they will spend time in San Diego and Los Angeles, as well as visit the Grand Canyon before returning to Finland via Las Vegas.

The Friends of Tryon Creek are so pleased that Tuomas is spending his summer with us! We wish him well and appreciate his service.  

"Thanks. Please bring us back!"

Cascade Academy student finds a friend

In May the Friends of Tryon Creek welcomed students from Beaverton's Cascade Academy to the park. The students participated in an Environmental Education and Stewardship pilot program that included instruction on Ethnobotany and Forest Ecology. 

Preparing for Tryon Creek trail maintenance

In addition to learning about the environment students also focused on trail maintenance and plant propagation...

Cascade Academy students working hard on the trail

Twelve Cascade Academy students and a few adults potted 450 native trees in less than two hours, an achievement that is testament to their dedication and teamwork.  Carl Axelsen, a Friends volunteer who worked closely with the students, noted the heartfelt request made by a student as they left the park: "Thanks. Please bring us back!" Happily, the Cascade Academy hopes to expand the program when school starts again in the fall. The Friends of Tryon Creek look forward to working with these young people in the future and applaud their past efforts. 

   

To learn more about Cascade Academy please visit: http://www.nwresd.k12.or.us/Schools/CascadeAcademy.html