Category Archives: Topics

Native Plant Tour Visits Coyote Spencer Wetlands

Posted on by

Friday, May 25 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

Swampy wetlands cover much of the Coyote Spencer Wetlands property, which is also home to native camas, lomatium, and other iconic plants of the Willamette Valley. Photo by Tim Giraudier.

The extensive, intact wetland habitats of the Coyote Spencer Wetlands are home to an impressive variety of native plants. Learn more about them during our upcoming guided tour of the 161-acre property near Eugene.

Join the McKenzie River Trust and Native Plant Society of Oregon for a tour of native flora on the Coyote Spencer Wetlands. We’ll explore late-blooming wildflowers in the emergent wetlands and wet prairie fields, and the understories of the extensive oak and ash forests. As time allows, we’ll visit populations of several rare and sensitive plant that are present on this site, including Bradshaw’s lomatium and Oregon peavine. Located just 5 miles southwest of Hwy 126, upstream of Fern Ridge Reservoir, this protected property is a conservation jewel in Eugene’s backyard.

Register here for Native Plants of the Coyote Spencer Wetlands

Rockclimber Stanhope’s talk at Backcountry Gear benefits McKenzie River Trust

Posted on by

Backcountry Gear Presents: Will Stanhope

Friday, May 4th at Backcountry Gear

Doors: 6:30 pm Show: 8:00 pm
1855 W. 2nd Ave. Eugene
$10 general admission / $5 students

We’re excited – stoked, even – to announce that Backcountry Gear will be presenting a talk by renowned rockclimber Will Stanhope. A portion of proceeds from the event will benefit the McKenzie River Trust’s work to protect and care for the special landscapes that surround us right here in western Oregon. Please join us!

 

Thank you for supporting local land conservation!

Posted on by

Mountain Rose Herbs owners and employees volunteer on Green Island with Project Manager Chris Vogel. The support of donors and volunteers like you is critical to our work protecting and caring for special lands in western Oregon.

Thank you supporters!

With your support, we raised over $21,500 during the March Matching Gift Campaign offered by Mountain Rose Herbs!

We greatly appreciate your participation in the Matching Gift Campaign. We could not have met the match without you! This campaign helps to fund our operating budget. The critical dollars you gave during March allow our staff to get out the door to meet with local landowners and to write grant applications for the large grant dollars needed to protect and restore the unique landscapes that surround us.

We also want to offer a big THANK YOU to our loyal supporters at Mountain Rose Herbs for supporting our local land conservation work in so many ways and for investing in our community!

“Our cultural heritage would be amiss without the rapture and the delight that pure rivers provide and thankfully we have organizations like the McKenzie River Trust to protect this cultural heritage born of water, rock and fish.” – Shawn Donnille, owner and Vice President of Mountain Rose Herbs

Connect with the Land

Posted on by

Connect with the Land

Get outside! Our guided tours are a great way to learn about the natural world, meet our staff and Board members, and experience the McKenzie River Trust’s protected landscapes for yourself. Tours are guided by community experts in natural history, native plants, birds, and other areas of interest, along with McKenzie River Trust staff. Tours are free, and they’re open to friends old and new. Please join us by signing up today!

Upcoming Tours

Saturday, April 28, 1 – 4pm: Spring at Hollyer Prairie
Saturday, May 5, 10am – 2pm: Native Plants of the Lower McKenzie
Thursday, May 17, 8am – 11am: Birds of Green Island
Saturday, May 19, 9am – 12pm: Picturing Birds and Buds – Photo Tour of the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area

Tours are generally limited to 15 people, and they often fill quickly! If a tour is full, please contact Liz at 541-345-2799 or llawrence (at) mckenzieriver.org and we will gladly add you to the wait list.

For volunteer opportunities, community events, and other ways to get involved with the McKenzie River Trust, visit our Events page.

 

Picturing Birds and Buds: Photo Tour

Posted on by

Saturday, May 19th from 9am to 12pm

Grab your camera! This springtime tour of the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area‘s farm fields and floodplain forest offers something for photographers of all levels. From the birds overhead, to the flowers blooming at your feet, to pastoral farm fields and the flowing backwater channels of the McKenzie River, this 92-acre landscape will give you plenty to explore and enjoy. Your camera is welcome on any of our tours, but this one will provide a special chance to get the perfect shot. Your pictures will show a landscape at the intersection of conservation and farming. Continue reading →

Native Plants of the Lower McKenzie

Posted on by

Saturday, May 5 from 10am to 2pm

Join the McKenzie River Trust, Native Plant Society of Oregon and Lane County Parks to explore riparian forest and upland prairie plants on a tour of the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area and neighboring Vickery Park. We begin at the Berggren property, touring the farm fields and riparian area with an eye to habitat restoration. Pause for a BYO bag lunch by the McKenzie River, then continue on to the undeveloped and relatively pristine Vickery County Park next door. This riverside park of 80 acres covers a steep, rocky hillside. Diverse habitats include oak savanna and dense forest.

Register here for Native Plants of the Lower McKenzie

Spring at Hollyer Prairie

Posted on by

Saturday, April 28 from 1 to 4pm

The 59-acre Hollyer Prairie Conservation Easement includes many natural wonders: upland and wet prairie, oak savanna and woodland, riparian forest, and even a population of rare lupines!  Come on an afternoon exploration of the property with landowner Helen Hollyer and naturalists Peg Boulay and Bruce Newhouse to uncover some secrets of spring. We’ll look for flowers on the lupines, camas and lomatium in the wetlands, and migrating songbirds in the forest — as well as anything else that catches group interest. This is a unique opportunity to see a wide variety of habitats on private property on upper Camas Swale Creek.

Register here for Spring at Hollyer Prairie

Two Ways to Celebrate Earth Day

Posted on by

We have two great events happening on Earth Day weekend, and we hope you can join us!

Volunteer on Green Island

Saturday, April 21 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

We’re hosting volunteer groups at least once a month on Green Island this spring and summer, and one of our volunteer days happens to fall on Earth Day weekend! Get outside, and do something good for the earth. Help plant and care for native trees and shrubs on our largest protected property on the mainstem of the Willamette River just west of Coburg. Your advance RSVP is requested. Get more information and sign up here.

14th Annual Earth Day Celebration at EWEB’s Rivers Edge Plaza

Saturday, April 21 from 11am to 5pm

We’re once again joining the Earth Day celebration! Visit with MRT staff and Board members, check out maps of the places where we work, and pick up an MRT sticker, bookmark, and a copy of our latest newsletter when you visit our booth.

And join us at 3:20 pm on the main stage, when Oakshire Brewing will present MRT with a check for the proceeds from the sale of three special release Brewer’s Reserve Series Beers developed in 2011. These beers were created to celebrate the Eugene Water and Electric Board‘s centennial year of service providing the clean water that MRT protects and Oakshire uses as a key ingredient in their products. Proceeds from the sales of the beers benefit the Berggren Watershed Conservation Area.

Matching Gift Campaign Now Through March 31st

Posted on by

Matching Gift Campaign Now Through March 31st

Join us in celebrating our newest protected landscape with a gift today!

Thanks to you, the Coyote Spencer Wetlands, 161-acres of high functioning wetland habitat in the Long Tom Watershed, were protected on March 1, 2012. The land has long been identified as a conservation priority by the Rivers to Ridges Partnership.

 

Make a tax deductible gift to the McKenzie River Trust during the month of March, and our loyal supporters at Mountain Rose Herbs will match your donation dollar-for-dollar up to $5,000.

Shawn Donnille, co-owner and Vice President of Mountain Rose Herbs, volunteers with his staff on Green Island.

 

 

“For Mountain Rose Herbs, our decision to keep our business in Oregon depends on the quality of life offered by nearby clean rivers, wild salmon, diverse forest habitats, and unbridled wild areas. For this reason alone, we must thank the folks at the McKenzie River Trust for making Oregon a lovely place to live and work.”

-Shawn Donnille, co-owner and Vice President of Mountain Rose Herbs

Donate now through our secure online server.

During this campaign, any donation of $100 or more will receive our new MRT stainless steel travel mug!

Our newest protected landscape, the Coyote Spencer Wetlands, is a testament to your past gifts. Without generous donations from supporters like you and businesses like Mountain Rose Herbs, we would be unable to continue our local land conservation efforts. Help us meet this matching gift challenge by making a gift by March 31st.

Make a tax-deductible gift right now through our secure online server.

Or mail your donation – postmarked by March 31st – to:
1245 Pearl St
Eugene OR 97401

A huge THANK YOU to Shawn Donnille and Julie Bailey, the owners of Mountain Rose Herbs, for their ongoing commitment and dedication to local land conservation!