Hello Everyone,
Earth Month flew by in a blur, with events every weekend, including two on Earth Day itself. We had over 100 people celebrating Earth Day with the CSWC crew!
In addition to our events, we participated in Earth Day Oregon and worked with THREE incredible business partners. Earth Engineers fiscally sponsored us; Worn Path gave us a percentage of sales made on the Earth Day and is selling a special water bottle to benefit us; and Level Beer made a special beer, Slough Slayer, and all proceeds from that beer will be donated to CSWC! Last I heard that beer is still on tap at all their locations, if you have not had one yet, and you are a beer drinker, I highly recommend it! For all of you who made it out on Earth Day and celebrated with us or one of our partner organizations, thank you!
Moving on to things coming up – we have events most Thursdays and Saturdays (some days with more than one event) in May. Of everything going on, I want to highlight May 20th and invite all of you to attend our Annual Slough Celebration! This community event is a celebration of all things Columbia Slough and the anniversary of CSWC becoming a nonprofit. It will be held at Whitaker Ponds and free to the public – there is so much planned for that day, I cannot fit it here so check out our website and RSVP today!
Lastly, a quick update on my pledge to paddle all of the Slough and explore the natural areas by the end of summer. Just last week I participated in a clean up at St. John’s Prairie and was able to paddle a small but beautiful piece of the Slough. During that time, not only did we remove a large pile of trash, but we also spied – 2 adult bald eagles and one juvenile, an osprey and 3 great blue herons! I have several paddles and a couple natural outings planned for this upcoming month – so more to share in our June Newsletter!
I hope to see you at the Slough Celebration! Please come up, introduce yourself and let me know your favorite area of the watershed!
Be well,
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Heather
Heather King
Executive Director
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Slough Celebration
Saturday, May 20th, 2-6 PM
At Whitaker Ponds
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Join us for our annual celebration of the watershed, the community and 21 years of our Columbia Slough Watershed Council!
This year's event will include fun for the whole family! Join us for a day of paddling, birding, educational activities, and building turtle habitat. We'll be joined this year by Koi Fusion who will be passing out free food, as well as Level Beer, gluten-free brewer Moonshrimp Brewing, Happy Mountain Kombucha, Wyld CBD and Swire Coca-Cola with free drinks!
Don't forget to bring your cash or card to participate in this year's raffle! We're giving away thousands of dollars worth of prizes including Thorns tickets, a canoe, a wine lovers package, a self care package, outdoor gear, gift cards to some amazing restaurants in the watershed and more!
Stay through the end of the event as we will be announcing this year's Henrietta Award winner, and hearing some words from our Executive Director.
RSVP recommended, but not required.
We'll see you there!
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Do you have a strong commitment to protecting the Columbia Slough Watershed?
Become a member of the CSWC Board and help make decisions that drive our organization's mission! We are currently recruiting for all positions on the board.
Visit our website to find out more about the application process!
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Do you have interest in advising our Board and helping make decisions with a specific committee?
We currently have three board committees that are currently recruiting, and anyone is welcome to join!
Committees currently recruiting :
- Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI)
- Development
- Land-Use
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Our friends at Level Beer have created a beer to benefit the Slough! Visit any Level Beer location and purchase our collaboration beer, the Slough Slayer Ale - all profits from this beer will benefit CSWC!
This beer is the perfect summer ale: Light bread and caramel malt flavors balanced by moderate bitterness and pleasant floral and citrus hop flavors and aromas.
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May Speaker Event -
Lost City, Living Memories: Vanport Through the Voices of Its Residents with Ed Washington
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Thursday, May 25th, 5:30-7:30PM at the Historic Alberta House
5131 Northeast 23rd Avenue, Portland OR 97211
This educational speaker event will feature Mr. Washinton, who lived in Vanport during the 1948 floods and will be speaking about his experience as a Vanport resident. There will also be a free screening of short oral history documentaries from Vanport Mosaic's living archive, including the largest collection of memories of life in the "Miracle City," the day of the flood, and its aftermath.
Events are free and open to whoever is curious, so come learn with us! Spots are limited so please register on our website.
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On May 18th, Ryan Gilpin and Thomas Meinzen will spend all day looking for as many bird species as they can find by bicycle in the Columbia Slough watershed. They're hoping to find over 100 bird species by pedal power!
To make this extra fun, I'd like to invite you to pledge an amount for each bird species we find in one day in the watershed (or a flat amount). All pledged donations are fully tax-deductible and will go directly to the Columbia Slough Watershed Council to support habitat restoration, conservation, and the Council's free bird walk program, which helps introduce more people to birding, especially from underserved communities in north Portland.
With your pledge, you can also submit a guess at how many bird species we will find, and the person who guesses closest to the actual number will win a prize!
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Join Our Multilingual Paddle Team! |
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Do you speak Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian or Zomi?
Stipends are available for all events requesting specific language support.
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Spanish Paddle Team Training with CSWC and Vive NW
Sunday, June 4 from 9AM - 2PM at Whitaker Ponds
The training will be held primarily in English, however support in Spanish will be available throughout the day.
Please register by the end of day June 2.
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Sunday, June 25 from 9AM - 2PM
In person training is required for those who did not attend an in person training in 2022, and optional for those who would like a refresher.
Registration link coming soon!
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Please reach out to Amanda or Kenny if you have any questions!
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Wisdom of the Elders workforce development crew will help us implement non-contributing species (invasive) management at the site. This Native American led organization records, preserves, and shares oral history, culture, language, and traditional ecological knowledge.
Wisdoms’ workforce crew are a valued and long time partner of the Council, using traditional ecological knowledge to restore urban wildlife habitat, such as at Wilkes Creek Natural Area.
A huge thanks to Wisdom of the Elders's for their partnership!
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May is a big month for the Council - our annual Slough Celebration is taking place as well as many other events! Register and find out more information about CSWC events on our website.
Saturday, May 6th, 9:30AM-12PM
Join facilitator and educator, Jo Linden, and Columbia Slough Watershed Council, for a free guided 2.5-hour nature connection and mindfulness exploration walk.
Thursday, May 11th, 10AM-1PM
Join the Columbia Slough Watershed Council for a cleanup event beginning at NE Alderwood & NE Glassplant Rd. Participants can bring their own boat, or borrow a seat in one of ours. This event is best suited for those 18 and older.
Saturday, May 13th, 8:45AM-1PM
Join Columbia Slough Watershed Council and the Portland Water Bureau for a free 17 mile bike ride through Portland's Columbia South Shore Well Field! This moderately paced, mostly flat bike ride will be making frequent stops to break up the ride and offer opportunities for conversation about groundwater.
Saturday, May 13th, 2PM-4:30PM
Join Irene Bailey from Temenos Rising, for a free guided 2.5-hour forest bathing walk. Forest bathing is an immersive nature experiences offering the chance to break away from the stress of daily life and to find healing and nourishment.
Saturday, May 20th, 2PM-6PM
Join us for a family-friendly afternoon of celebration, community and adventure that will include paddling, birding, stewardship, outdoor education, free food and drink, music, a raffle, and more!
Thursday, May 25th, 6PM-8PM
This educational speaker event will feature Mr. Washinton, who lived in Vanport during the 1948 floods and is also Metro Council's first Black councilor. He will be speaking about his experience as a resident of Vanport.
Saturday, June 3rd, 10AM-12:30PM
Join the Columbia Slough Watershed Council for a Pride celebration at Smith & Bybee Wetlands Natural Area. This paddling event is for queer people and allies of all ages.
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