Summer 2021 Friends Newsletter | |
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News from the Friends Board
We’re back! Actually we never left but our newsletter editor did. Debbie Maynard, our newsletter editor, has decided to pack it all in and move to Italy with her husband!! So, we have been regrouping and checking out all our options for an exciting –new newsletter. Thanks for bearing with us as we get our act together.
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Introducing our New Board Members | |
 | Lisa Kerr joined the board in January 2021, she was elected as Vice President in June. Lisa has a degree in Environmental and Systematic Biology and taught high school science for 26 years. She was instrumental in starting the Environmental Science program at her school of 3,000 students and has inspired 100’s of students to go into the field to continue to educate others about the importance of protecting the planet. During her tenure she began many schoolwide and community-based programs focusing on involving her students in sustainability and stewardship activities. Her belief that education in the outdoors is of utmost importance to develop the sense of connection, led her to create annual field studies in Yosemite National Park, where she would immerse students in field science. She was known as the Environmental pillar of her community and was recognized by the California State Assembly for her work. Upon her retirement, she, and her husband of 39 years, moved up to Corvallis and bought a home. She joined the Friends board to continue to work with a group of dedicated people to maintain sensitive habitats within the Willamette Valley. | |  |
 | Jennifer Butler joined the board last fall. Jennifer was born and raised in the Willamette Valley and has been a biology educator and stockroom manager at Willamette University for the last twenty years. During that time, she led groups of students on natural history hikes through Baskett Slough and coordinated a science outreach program. She has research experience in conservation genetics of rare plant populations, pollination biology and restoration ecology. After finishing her M.S. in Ecology at UCONN, she volunteered and worked as a park naturalist and in native plant restoration through the Student Conservation Association and at Olympic National Park. She loves hiking, camping, and wildlife watching, especially in the Pacific Northwest. She recently completed an MBA, with the goal of supporting her background in biology education and plant ecology with skills in leadership, management and finance, allowing her to contribute her strengths more effectively to organizations with missions she is passionate about, such as the Friends. | | |
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Stay Tuned: Snag Boat Bend Video
Friends of WVNWRC would like to announce an upcoming video about Snag Boat Bend Refuge. Refuge staff, the Willamette River Keepers, and Long Tom Watershed Council will present an overview of the Snag Boat Refuge location and habitat, as well as the challenges for maintaining health of the water quality and restoration work. A focus of invasive species control and treatment, and ID the plants that are a threat to helping the watershed basin recover. And a final discussion about the overall restoration efforts taking place now and how it helps the Snag Boat Refuge area. Stay tuned for the video release.
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News from 2020
- We started out 2020 with a fun and educational outreach presentation about the local Roosevelt elk herd and our elk survey project, attracting nearly 100 interested attendees.
- When we had to put our monthly outreach events on hold because of Covid-19, we shifted to producing Trail videos of hiking opportunities on our local refuges. Links to the videos are available on our website!
- We completed the installation of interactive environmental education stations on the Woodpecker Loop Trail at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge, heralding the beginning of habitat education programs on our local refuges.
- We upgraded our computers for key Board of Directors members to grow our communication and management capacity.
- We helped to buy custom made oak tables for the new Ankeny Hill Nature Center (AHNC).
- We also helped to purchase a water treatment system for the AHNC.
- We helped to fund the invasive species control and restoration of Cabell Marsh, a popular wintering spot for migrating waterfowl.
- We funded a biologist to study nesting success of the threatened streaked horned lark across the refuge complex.
- We supported the funding of a new roof for the historic Cheadle barn, and other priority projects on the refuges.
- We received our first disbursements from our amazing new OCF endowment fund (see the fall 2020 newsletter for more information).
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Success….at least for these trees and shrubs that survived the 2020 summer heat at the new planting at Snag Boat Bend Unit of the W.L. Finley NWR | |
Update on Planting at Snag Boat Bend Unit of W.L. Finley NWR
Partnership with Biology Program
This 341-acre unit in Linn County near Peoria, is being restored back to a woodland riparian corridor along the Willamette River in partnership with the Long Tom Watershed Council (LTWC). Over the course of four days, 120,000 trees and shrubs were planted on 78 acres. Well, after a long, dry summer in 2020, we are happy to see that most of the 12 varieties of trees and shrubs planted have survived, including Pacific ninebark, Oregon live oak, Oregon grape, and big leaf maple. One species did not do well, but you can find some Willamette Valley ponderosa pine that made it. If you want to see this restoration, venture past the gate to the west and walk out in the field to the south. You too can find a ponderosa pine that survived the summer.
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Farewell to Board President Dave Landkamer
by Diane Young
I first met Dave Landkamer at the Friend’s annual picnic at William L Finley National Wildlife Refuge. His tales of travel and adventure delighted us all while sitting at the picnic table on that warm autumn day in 2015. We were both elected to the Board that day and so our joint adventures began. After much pestering by board staff, Dave became our Interim Board President in the autumn of 2016. Only for a year, he said! Little did he know that he would remain our president till the spring of 2021. That was one long year, Dave! A strong vision for the future of our Friends Board has been lost when Dave handed in his resignation this Spring. We will all miss Dave’s sense of adventure and his ability to look just beyond the surface to see the big picture. Hopefully we will get Dave to share some of his adventures and great world view in the future. Good friends are hard to come by, but we all made a friend for life with Dave. Enjoy your freedom! Travel Well, Eat Good Food, and Be Merry and Bright. The world is yours to see.
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The Elk Bugle
Stories from elk spotters in the field, looking back at Winter 2020- 2021
by Dave Landkamer
Four hundred years ago, more than 10 million elk roamed the continent, from Georgia to Alaska, and Vermont to California. Of six subspecies in North America at that time, two have been driven to extinction. Our local subspecies, Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), are the largest of all, with males reaching up to 1300 pounds in prime habitat. They, too, were also nearly extinct by the early 1900s, but intervention by conservationists, like Teddy Roosevelt after whom they are named, saved them from disappearing altogether.
Now about 1 million elk remain on this continent, mostly in the west; about ten percent of the original population that once lived here. I am grateful that elk still roam the wild spaces, and that we are fortunate to have a local population of Roosevelts living in our valley and on our National Wildlife Refuges. For your best opportunity to see these impressive local residents, I recommend visiting the Prairie Overlook at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge near dawn or dusk.
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Matt Withee
It is with a heavy heart that we report the loss of one of our family members here on the Complex. Matt Withee, the Heavy Equipment Operator at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge passed away in October 2020. Matt was well known and beloved for his wonderful smile and cheerful presence that affected all of those who had the privilege of working with him.
Matt became part of the FWS family in 2001 as an Equipment Operator at William L. Finley NWR in Corvallis and he happily transferred to Ankeny in 2007. Having grown up in Jefferson, Matt was back home. Matt enjoyed working with his fellow employees, particularly when he was outside running heavy equipment, farming, or interacting with the visiting public.
No matter what he was doing, he always did it with humor, dedication, and perseverance. Matt leaves a legacy at these Refuges where he helped build numerous wetlands, restored rare prairie habitats, helped recover threatened species, and many other accomplishments. Matt leaves behind a wife and two boys and will be missed by all.
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Friends 2021 Calendar:
A Fun and Beneficial Project
For the second year in a row, the Friends produced and printed a calendar that ended up being quite a showpiece of beautiful photographs from our National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The theme of the calendar this year was “The Faces of the Refuges”, and it featured an assortment of the faces of birds and animals that have been observed at one of our three refuges. I hope all of you had a chance to buy one when they were available, before they were all gone!.
In addition to providing beautiful, functional calendar that reminds us of the intrinsic beauty of wildlife at our local refuges throughout the year, the project had many additional benefits. It helped our organization to connect with the community of skilled wildlife photographers in our midst, and to share their skills and photographs with our members and supporters who truly appreciate their craft. We heartily thank all of the contributing photographers for their submissions for the calendar, including Karen Herzig, Kimberely Stephens, Barbara DiMattio, Neal Heyano, Jasmine Graves, Mike Stanley, John Coffey, Chris Quinn, and Larry Clark.
The calendar also attracted the unexpected attention of members of the broader conservation community, leading to new Friends memberships, donations, and recognition of the values and benefits of our local National Wildlife Refuges. It helped us to achieve our mission of fostering awareness and appreciation of our wildlife refuges and refuge system.
Finally, the calendars generated a profit from sales, which has gone back into our bank account to fund future conservation-related projects. All of these benefits combine to result in a successful project.
The project team of Debbie & Bruce Maynard, and Azizah Mohd, did a terrific job of leading this successful project to its happy outcomes, and we are grateful to them for their excellent work!
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