Making Tracks

The Newsletter of the Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Joyfully Connecting our Community with the Wonder of the Refuge

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monthly Board Meeting via Zoom

March 22, 2022 6:30 PM
April 26, 2022 6:30 PM

President's Perch

by Cheryl Hart, President

There is a feeling of spring in the air. Daylight Savings time has added an hour of daylight at the end of the day making a little extra time for folks who are working or in school to visit the refuge. Although it may have felt like a long winter to many of us, our service staff and Friends have been busy on several big projects at the refuge.

One is the rerouting of Chicken Creek to a more natural meandering creek as it crosses the refuge. More about this next month as we prepare for the Grand Opening of the Seasonal Trail on May 1.

We also anxiously await the reopening of the Visitor Center and our Friends Nature’s Overlook store.

Many new improvements have been made at the new Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge. We are all looking forward to that refuge being opened to the public and engaging with the communities near Wapato Lake in refuge and Friends activities.

The Friends Board is preparing for a full day retreat. Thank you to Bonnie Anderson, Michael Boreing, Tom Hartz, and Phyllis Millan for planning this event. An opportunity to reboot and reenergize our organization.

But the most exciting thing that is happening this week is a visit to our refuge by new Director of Fish and Wildlife Service, Martha Williams. The Director was sworn in last week and almost immediately headed for our Region 1 to visit northwest refuges and hatcheries. It is such an honor to have the Director visit us to learn more about the work we are all doing here. Our new Project Leader, Rebecca Gomez Chuck is making sure that the importance of the Friends and our partnership here at Tualatin River NWR is front and center during the Director’s visit.

We are continuing to advocate against the building of a quarry next to the Rock Creek unit of the refuge. Please see the update in this newsletter from Board Member Alan Christensen who is leading the team working on that issue.

As we look forward to a little less restriction on our activities and hope that Covid is truly lessening its hold on the world, our refuge is reawakening and awaiting your return to a full schedule of activities in the very near future.

I’ll see you at the refuge!

-Cheryl Hart

Martha Williams Sworn in as Director of U.S. FWS

“It’s an incredible honor to serve the American people as Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service at a time when the challenges and opportunities to maintain healthy ecosystems and wildlife have never been greater. I look forward to continuing my life’s work of collaborating with local communities and stakeholders to tackle conservation efforts and the tough wildlife and resource management issues facing the country,” said Director Williams.

Welcome

Martha Williams visiting Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge on March 18

Martha Williams, the newly appointed Director of USFWS will be visiting the TRNWR this week. Director Williams will be touring the Chicken Creek restoration project on the main unit and will be hearing about the TREE (Tualatin River Environmental Education) program at Greenway Elementary School in Beaverton. Friends Board Members Cheryl Hart and Bonnie Anderson have been asked to join the visit to discuss the role our Friends group plays in helping these programs happen. The Friends are instrumental in leveraging community connections to support the Refuge.

Tonquin Quarry Update

USFWS Files Appeal vs. Oregon Department of State Lands

By Alan Christensen, FOR Board Member

In January Friends were notified that the Oregon Department of State Lands had approved a proposal to develop a quarry immediately adjacent to the refuge boundary in the Rock Unit. This proposal had been dormant for several years but has reappeared with some changes to the mitigation plan and through a window in time created by the Trump administration. Friends have been on record opposing the project since at least 2012.

The proposal, located on 35 acres, is to develop an aggregate quarry by digging a nearly 250-foot-deep hole and excavating over 6 million cubic yards of material. The area lies in the upper reaches of Rock Creek which winds down through the Tualatin Refuge and flows into the Tualatin River. Rock Creek water feeds the Onion Flats area on the east side of Highway 99W.

Generally, an activity like this would require a Corps of Engineers Section 404 permit which deals with activities that affect wetlands/water. The former administration weakened the oversight of Section 404 and the Corps was not a player in this current proposal for which a Section 404 permit is not required (dated March 2019).

Friends have written to our elected National and State officials whose jurisdiction covers this area and objected to the development. Friends also issued a news release calling attention to this proposal and publicly objecting to the proposal.

More significantly, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has appealed the decision by the Oregon Department of State Lands and has requested a hearing. The appeal outlines the damage that would result to the existing wetlands in the development of a quarry and raises questions about the proposed mitigation plan. (Read More Below)

Habitat and Restoration Update By Carly Hirschmann

We have several rounds of surveys wrapping up at the Refuge in the next few weeks! Waterfowl Survey season is coming to a close. Some highlights from this year included large groups of Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, and Canvasbacks out at Wapato Lake. More Northern Shovelers were seen than any other species. Our amphibian egg mass survey season is also coming to an end. We have had a remarkable group of dedicated volunteers this year, and have been lucking out with some amazing weather to help us spot those egg masses glistening in the water! Last weekend, we held our last planting in the 1P wetland area. This whole section has been filled in with woody shrubs and trees by volunteers over the last few months! I am looking forward to planning the next Second Saturday work party, where we will be moving on to new plant species in a different ar of the Refuge. We have also designated some experimental pollinator plots in the Oak Savanah area, so if you're walking on the trail and see pink flagging, know that we are currently seeding these with wildflowers, and there will be signage in that area coming soon. Species in these plots will include Oregon Sunshine, Golden Paintbrush, Field Checker-mallow, Clarkia, and native grasses.

Behind the Sign Tour

Are you a curren Eagle, Falcon, Goose, Heron, Owl, or Mallard member of the Friends? If so, you are invited to a Behind the Sign tour of the Chicken Creek restoration project on April 9th. from 9-11 AM. Spots are limited and they will be filled in the order they are received. This invitation allows for up to 2 spots on the tour. Please RSVP to Bonnie by March 24th. Indicate number of spots needed. As always, dress for the weather and the terrain. This tour will take place rain or shine,

Continuing Education For Environmental Professionals

Field Identification of Fish in the Willamette Valley

This hands-on workshop is designed to improve the ability of field staff to identify local species of fish, and to use the resulting data for assessment of waterway health. Participants will learn to identify species commonly encountered in this region, practice using various sampling gear and techniques, and determine best approaches to analyzing the data. Day two of class will be spent in the field collecting and identifying fish in a local waterway.

· Lecture

Thursday, April 28, 2022

8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Environmental Learning Center, Lakeside Hall, Clackamas Community College

· Field Practicum

Friday, April 29, 2022

8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Location: TBD

· Rain Date: May 2 (8 a.m. – 4 p.m.)

Instructor: John Cox, Salmon & Trout Enhancement Program (STEP) Biologist,

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in Clackamas

Instructor: Kevin Stertz, Assistant District Fish Biologist,

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in Clackamas

Professional Credit: 1.35 CEU or 13.5 PDH

Certificate of Completion will be provided.

For detailed information and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/field-identification-of-fish-in-the-willamette-valley-tickets-275230500837

Questions? Please email Renee Harber at: rharber@clackamas.edu

Tonquin Quarry Update Continued

The area of the proposal contains important wetlands and has unique geological/hydrologic features that are a result of the historic Missoula floods that washed down the Columbia River and backed up into the Willamette Valley. The wetlands are perched on basaltic rocks which have a mantle of soil and clay. There are several hydrologic layers involved in such a deep hole and historic hydrologic patterns and flows would be affected. The mitigation proposal includes unproven plans to create a pond from which water would be pumped at levels and times that mimic known historical patterns. The quarry activity would last 20 years with the mechanization, noise and activity that would accompany the digging and removal of 6 million yards of material and the associated surface disturbance.

Another major question is the proposed filling of the hole after the aggregate is removed. Replacing 6 million yards of material with other suitable material would not replicate the original conditions nor duplicate the surface and underground hydrologic conditions.

This proposal is a long term impact to existing wetlands with a questionable mitigation plan located virtually in the edge of a National Wildlife Refuge that is tasked with the management and long term protection of wetlands and associated wildlife.

Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex

19255 SW Pacific Hwy Sherwood, Oregon 97140

503.625.5944 x 15227

www.FriendsofTualatinRefuge.org