Our Winter Writers Series (2022-23) weaves stories of connection between people and place. From old log ponds and logging camps to kitchen windows that reveal a nation’s painful past, we are met with loss, connection, hope, and humor.
After a decade of habitat restoration and successful reconnection of the river to its historic floodplain, The Nature Conservancy has completed the transfer of the Willamette Confluence Preserve, a 1,305-acre natural area, to a local conservation organization, McKenzie River Trust.
From frogs to fish, beavers, and otters, our rivers are home to an incredible abundance of animals. Reconnecting our rivers to allow for water to slow and spread not only improves water quality and retention on the landscape but also provides important habitat for the beloved animals around us.
Working in collaboration with our partners, McKenzie River Trust protected Cape Foulweather in August 2022 as an interim landowner. We’ll hold the property until it can be transferred to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in the coming years.
In hopes of saving a species, Dr. Sarah Rockwell, a Research Biologist with the Klamath Bird Observatory, is set on finding out where west coast populations of Purple Martins overwinter.
Maintaining oak savanna and prairie habitats plays a key role in species conservation and ecological reinvigoration. In the Willamette Valley, less than 3% of oak savanna and less than 7% of oak woodlands remain.
Coastal habitat conservation is essential for helping tidal wetlands sequester blue carbon effectively. Smart investments in tidal wetland restoration today are critical for a stable climate future on Oregon’s central coast.
McKenzie River Trust works at the intersection of people and place. Across the conservation sector, our collective understanding of exactly what that means is deepening through the intentional probing of our history on the land and the impacts of settler colonialism on communities of non-European descent in the United States.
Adam and Kelly of Willow & Oak Farm and Barn Swallow Blossoms are currently in their first growing season at McKenzie River Trust’s Berggren Watershed Conservation Area, a property protected by MRT in 2010. This partnership between McKenzie River Trust and local farmers represents a unique cross-over between conservation efforts and sustainable agriculture.
As a result of recent wildfires across the West, significant portions of the Willamette and adjacent forests have burned. This disturbance offers a unique opportunity for land owners and managers to seed pollinator forbs into open areas caused by the burn.
From the headwaters of the McKenzie River to quiet spaces inside each of us, McKenzie River Trust members share their poems for the planet as a part of our winter writers series.
“Just as a snag in an old-growth forest continues to serve forest dwellers so will you continue to support those that depend upon you; the salmon, the elk, and others. Love doesn’t disappear with appearance.”