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.