Finn Rock Landing Reopens on the McKenzie River
McKenzie River recreationists are celebrating the re-opening of the Finn Rock Landing on the McKenzie River. One of the more popular launches for the McKenzie River’s whitewater opportunities, the Finn Rock Landing serves thousands of visitors annually. The improved landing, slated to reopen on Saturday, June 15th, was designed based on community feedback in partnership with Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architects. Work was completed by Delta Sand and Gravel Company and included creating defined parking spaces, pedestrian safety routes, places to gather out of traffic, and installing bird-friendly lighting.
Balancing Nature’s Needs and Our Need for Nature
Can you love something you’ve never seen? As a changing climate increases the need and opportunity for land and water conservation, an ongoing tension continues to grow between setting aside space for wildlife to be wild and providing recreational access to land. People and land need each other, but how can we interact with nature in a way that is additive to clean water, habitat abundance, and thriving communities? That is an ongoing question McKenzie River Trust wrestles with as we work to care for land and water in western Oregon.
Birding By Ear – Songs of Spring with Charlie Quinn
In 1995, I was volunteering at The Nature Conservancy as a bird researcher and hike leader, just before getting my first paid job as a field trip coordinator that fall. My first volunteer project in Oregon was working on the production of a birding by ear guide. This guide was created to teach high school students how to aurally identify birds in bird surveys for the Audubon Society of Portland’s Green City Data Program. Now, nearly thirty years later, this guide as been transferred from cassette to cd, cd to mp3, and is now matched with photos of each species to continue sharing my love of birding.
Lessons from a Beaver on International Beaver Day
Beavers have important lessons to teach us about how to care for the living rivers in our backyard. As we celebrate the start of the 54th annual Earth Month, we also celebrate one of our area’s most incredible caretakers of land and water, the North American Beaver.
On This Land 2024
Our Winter Writers Series weaves stories of connection between people and place. From logging camps to Wild and Scenic Rivers, the frontlines of climate activism, and off-grid retreats into the wilderness, we are met with grief, connection, hope, and humor.
Submit Your Story – On This Land 2024
Celebrate your connection to place through our annual winter writers series. On This Land is an annual event showcasing local poets and authors. 2024 submissions are due by Sunday, February 11th for consideration for our public reading on Sunday, March 3rd.
On This Land 2023
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.
Conserving Cherished Places on Oregon’s Coast
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.
Researchers Track Purple Martins Migratory Path
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.
Tidal Wetlands Critical for Climate Resiliency on the Oregon Coast
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.