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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
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Photo image: 2024 Robinhood Festival Parade | Photo image: 2024 Brews for the Birds | | |
UPCOMING EVENTS
Upcoming events
2025 Friends' Annual Membership Meeting - SAVE THE DATE
October 25, 2025 9:00 AM
Riparian Room 19255 SW Pacific HWY
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Presidents Perch
by Cheryl Hart
Friends President
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We have another very successful Brews for the Birds under our belts. I missed last year’s event but this year was so well organized and so much fun that I think we’ve got a great model going and it will just get better each year! Every year, people who have never heard of the refuge, the Friends, or even Langer’s are coaxed out to enjoy our festival and I think we can guarantee them a great time.
Thank you to our amazing Executive Director, Bonnie Anderson. She herds all the cats to ensure that this fundraiser is good fun for all of us, even those of us who were supposed to be helping to put it on. This family and pet friendly time to enjoy some good music and each other’s company helps to build community.
Thank you also to all our wonderful sponsors, especially Langer’s Family Entertainment. They are such great partners and support our Friends organization in so many ways each year, but Brews for the Birds just wouldn’t be possible without them. Thank you also to the Brewers and Ciderers (is that even a word?) who take part. While it supports the Friends, it also gives them a chance to introduce their beverages to our attendees.
We also appreciate the vendors who bring their hand-crafted items and how about the people and organizations who donated items for the silent auction? I was blown away by the items that were donated including a Yakama rack, a 55” Television, an Outdoor Grill, and an Electric Bike. What? You didn’t come and didn’t know about these fantastic donations? Better mark your calendar and be sure to be there next year. First weekend in August.
Please join us at 3:30 PM on Tuesday, August 26 for the dedication of “Sharon’s Bench” in our nature store in the Visitor Center. When Sharon Miller passed away earlier this year after volunteering in the store for 18 years and serving as volunteer store manager, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the store for over a dozen years, we knew we needed to do something special to recognize that service as well as her 15 years as secretary of our Friends Board. Visitor Services Ranger, Todd McKinney came up with the perfect idea of replacing the bench near the viewing window with a commissioned bench that would always remind us of her and “keep her in the store” where she devoted so much of her time and talent.
Many of you showed your appreciation of Sharon’s devotion by donating to this project. Now, thanks to Board Member, Phyllis Millan, who has a friend who does beautiful wood working, Sharon’s Bench is ready to be dedicated for the comfort of our visitors as they enjoy Nature’s Overlook Store and the view from the viewing window.
Thank you all for your efforts to support Tualatin River NWRC and our Friends group! See you at the refuge
Cheryl
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Focus on Friends
by Bonnie Anderson
Executive Director
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I would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the sponsors and volunteers who made "Brews for the Birds" such a fun and engaging community event.
A special thank you to Langer's Family Entertainment for once again hosting our festival and serving as our title sponsor.
This year, we were also fortunate to receive a grant from the Milgard Windows (Miter Foundation), which allowed us to partner with Meadowlark Creative. This local marketing team did an outstanding job of promoting the festival across various markets and providing professional images of the event. We are also grateful to have received a grant from the City of Sherwood to support "Brews for the Birds." ( See More Below)
| Bonnie and Bethany Announcing the Raffle Prize Winners | |
This month, I was asked to draft a letter of support for the City of Sherwood's Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) Restoration Grant application. The grant will aid in the restoration of the former leather tannery site, which is situated between two units of the refuge. Rock Creek, a vital waterway for the refuge, flows through this property before joining the Tualatin River.
Members that have accompanied me on Friends' Behind the Signs walks know, restoring Rock Creek is a significant priority for the refuge. A major challenge we face is the fragmented land ownership along the creek. We see this project as a crucial step toward the comprehensive, long-term restoration of the entire Rock Creek ecosystem.
In other news, the Friends organization has partnered with LAM Research on a pilot project to address invasive weeds in the seasonal wetland (1PNW) located in front of the Visitor Center. This initiative will test a new approach to invasive weed management. LAM Research has generously provided the initial funding of $35,000 for this project.
| Friends, USFWS and LAM out at 1PNW | |
See you on the Refuge!
Bonnie
| | | September is the end of our Friends Organization fiscal year. That means that it's almost time for our Annual Meeting which will be Saturday, October 25--details will come soon. Each year at the annual meeting, you, our members, elect the Board members who help to operate the Friends. If you are interested in serving on our Board or know someone who might be, please let us know. We are always excited to have new Board members who bring fresh ideas and leadership. | |
A Special Thank You to our Sponsors, Brew Providers, Vendors, Musicians and Volunteers!
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Friends of the Refuge New Habitat Restoration Specialist
Bethany Llewellyn (she/her)
Habitat Restoration Specialist
Friends of Tualatin River NWRC
Bethany_Llewellyn@fws.gov
(503) 320-5680
| Vegetation Surveys Document Change at Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge | | | | |
On a beautiful morning in the first week of August, a team of US Fish and Wildlife staff from the Tualatin River complex and around the region and several partner organizations convened at the Wapato Lake NWR. Our shared goal: completing three long days of vegetation monitoring throughout Wapato’s upland, wetland, and lake ecosystems.
Surveying plants in a shallow lake and wetland, complete with thick mud, wet willow thickets, and plenty of open water, makes for a fun challenge. The team visited around 20 survey locations over three days. We donned chest waders to traipse through the water, avoiding treacherous canals and navigating through thick mats of vegetation. The group shared knowledge, with backgrounds ranging from skilled botanists to plant newbies, and everyone learned at least one new species. At the end of each day spirits were high, as the team peeled off their waders and laughed about close calls in the mud.
Beyond a joyful excuse for public servants to escape the office, these surveys provide valuable data that will shape the management of Wapato Lake for decades to come. Wapato Lake was historically a shallow lake and wetland that filled and receded with the rise and fall of the Tualatin River. However, for the last century or so, the lake has been drained to be used for agriculture, primarily farming. In 2024, USFWS returned water to the lake as part of the process of restoring the wetland ecosystem it once offered.
To track how the changes to water management impact vegetation over time, Fish and Wildlife staff and a graduate student at OSU designed a protocol with a grid of survey points across the
property. Before water returned to the lake, the student tirelessly gathered preliminary data on the plants located in each plot. Now, a team annually visits a subset of the plots to document change over time, which will inform ongoing management.
It was amazing to see this water world returning to life, and particularly delightful to see Wapato plants growing on the lake once again! If you have the opportunity, I strongly recommend a visit to Wapato Lake, where you can observe the rich bird and plant life from the paved entrance trail and levee trail. Find more details about visiting, which is limited during hunting season and high water, on the refuge website
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Group picture:
Caption - The whole crew preps to head out surveying
Photo credit - Jennifer Herner-Thogmartin, USFWS
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Wapato plant pic:
Caption - A flowering Wapato plant
Photo credit - Rachel Maxey, USFWS
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Picture of Khem, Collin, and I in the water:
Caption - Team members use a high-accuracy GPS unit to set up a plot
Photo credit - Leana Goetze, USFWS
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Antler Perfume and Chagrined Strangers
Antler Perfume and Chagrined Strangers
By Rube S. Salmonberry
I had a wonderful day walking the Refuge, speaking with folks about the quiet marvels unfolding all around them—some obvious, some hidden in plain sight.
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At one point, I stopped beneath a low-hanging branch of an Oregon White Oak and noticed a tuft of lichen clinging to it like a secret waiting to be shared. I gently pulled it free, held it aloft, and with the full weight of my woodland heart, declared to a passing hiker:
“Antler Perfume!”
They stopped
Looked at me sideways like I’d just stepped out of the underbrush with twigs in my beard and a riddle in my mouth.
Without a word, they nodded politely and continued down the trail at a noticeably quicker pace.
That’s just the way I am.
I say what the land tells me to say.
And if the world isn’t ready for that kind of poetry… I pass it off with a grin and a bit of shagrin.
Because not everyone recognizes the scent of a buck's velvet dreams or the lichen-laced love songs of a Cottonwood grove.
But I do.
And I always will.
| A special Thank You to Ran ( or Rube) for sharing your delightful nature stories. We look forward to more adventures. | | | So many ways to support the Friends! | | |
1. Grab a Blue Bag from the Visitor Center
2. Fill it up with bottles & cans
3. Drop it off at your nearest donation center
Help us reach our 2025 goal of $2,500.00
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Our new Amazon Wishlist will take you right to a list of high-need items. Your purchase will support the Friends office, special events, public programs, and volunteer work parties. All items are shipped directly to the Friends office at the Refuge.
Thank you for your support!
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News From Our Conservation Partner at Clakamas Community College
We are excited to host a brand-new "Wildlife Wonders" live speaker series at the Environmental Learning Center this summer! The presentations will explore current and historical human-wildlife interactions provided by professionals
and experts in their fields.
Who: Anyone interested in the subject material!
When: Thursdays, July 17 - August 28
Time: Noon - 1 p.m. (PST)
Where: Environmental Learning Center Wetland
19600 Mollala Ave. Oregon City, OR
Cost: $10.00 suggested donation to cover costs
Register Today: Event Details
(Pre-registration is not required, but helpful for planning purposes.)
Each session is stand-alone, so sign up for the presentations that interest you! Just one or two - or all !
- August 21
- The Wonders of Bird Migration
- Speaker: Candace Larson, Biologist, Bird Alliance of Oregon
- ~It's August, and many birds have already launched on an incredible journey from their breeding grounds here in Oregon to wintering grounds further south. Join Candace as we explore the what, why, when and how of bird migration and what you can do to help our feathered neighbors on their migratory travels.
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- August 28
- Beneath the Waves: Petrographic and Geochemical Insights into Oregon's Underwater Volcanoes
- Speaker: AK Kotash, Geology Instructor, Clackamas Community College
- ~Discover the hidden world of mid-ocean ridge volcanism off the coast of Oregon through detailed petrographic and geochemical analyses of Axial Volcano. This underwater volcano, located about a mile below the ocean surface and 300 miles from the coast of Astoria Oregon, is expected to erupt sometime this year for the first time in 11 years. This talk explores how the mineralogy and chemical composition of volcanic rocks reveal the dynamic processes shaping the seafloor in the Pacific Northwest.
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Calling All Photographers
By Phyllis Millan
Let’s share the beauty of TRNWRC and other wild places through your pictures. Submit via email to:
FriendsPhoto@FriendsOfTualatinRefuge.org
Include your name, where the picture was taken, and any pertinent information.
Photo credit: Roger Williams
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Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex
19255 SW Pacific Hwy Sherwood, Oregon 97140
503.625.5944 x 15227
www.FriendsofTualatinRefuge.org
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