Bringing Nature Back in Oregon
Tualatin Riverkeepers is helping communities to get down and dirty with
their hands to restore their watershed. Restoration of the watershed, in
this case, is just the beginning.
“This is not only good for water quality, fish and wildlife habitat,
it is good for the economic vitality of our community,” says County
Commissioner Dick Schouten who cites a local economic study that touts
environmental quality as a key factor attracting high tech employees to
the Tualatin River Watershed. This claim appears to be well founded as
the Tualatin River is in the heart of Oregon’s silicon forest.
Establishing strategic partnerships has been critical to the success of the Tualatin program. The cornerstone is a partnership with the metropolitan regional government (Metro) Parks and Greenspaces Program that leverages significant funding, community involvement and volunteer support.
In 1995, a regional greenspace acquisition bond measure was passed in the greater Portland region. These funds were used to purchase 8,000 acres, largely along stream corridors. But the bond did not include funds to restore and maintain these sites. Seizing on this opportunity, the Tualatin Riverkeepers entered a partnership with Ash Creek Forest Management, an emerging small business specializing in restoration of natural areas. Together, they developed restoration plans, put together funding packages, wrote grants to support community involvements and began work on three sites.
Their work has had a remarkable ripple effect in the community. Contract work for portions of the restoration project has generated local jobs in the rural community. The project’s need for native plants helped foster the formation of a native plant nursery, Scholls Valley Nursery. Centro Cultural, a local Latino service organization, became involved as a training opportunity leading to jobs in the nursery and landscaping industry. Tualatin Riverkeepers, working with nearby schools and community groups, is building a service learning program to instill an interest in natural sciences and lifelong stewardship.
“The Tualatin Riverkeepers have not only stepped up in a major way to restore some very important sites in their watershed, they have developed a restoration prototype that we hope to replicate in other parts of the region,” says Jim Desmond, Director of Metro Parks and Greenspaces Program.
Maria Felix Vazquez, a student of the Adelante Mujeres (Forward Moving Women) organization participated in the Restoration Education program of the Tualatin Riverkeepers. She wants her two year old son, Fernando, to learn respect for the natural environment. “I want my little boy to see how wonderful it is to be able to plant a tree and see it grow,” Maria says.
Tualatin Riverkeepers