Posts by WMSWCD Admin
A Day in the Life of a Field Conservation Intern
By Martina Avendano, Field Conservation Intern With the feeling of a good day completed at work, an episode of my favorite podcast on, and the comforts of air conditioning on a warm spring day in April, I was happy to start making my way home! Not long after merging onto the stop-and-go traffic of I-84,…
Read MoreHomes for Portland’s native bees
The emergence of native nesting bees are a welcome sign of spring in the Northwest. There are upwards of 100 species of native bees just in the Portland area, yet many are largely unknown compared to the non-native honey bee. Most native bees are smaller, solitary – and therefore not aggressive and not a threat…
Read MoreMeet our 2021 Field Conservation Interns!
Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Martina Avendano moved to the Portland metro area at the age of four and has greatly enjoyed growing up in Oregon. She graduated from Warner Pacific University where she studied biology and developed her love for field work. While at Warner Pacific, she worked as an undergraduate field assistant helping to…
Read MoreWe’re hiring two field conservation interns
Thank you to everyone who applied for this year’s internship positions! We had a huge response of over 160 applications. The application period is now closed and applicants may refer to the hiring schedule they received in their confirmation email. We are hiring two adult (18+ years old) temporary, part-time Conservation Interns for spring through…
Read MoreBe ready to evacuate during wildfire
Many of the woodland owners in the Tualatin Mountains have deep roots in Oregon. We’re sure many of you have close family and friends who have been greatly impacted by our recent wildfires. It’s warmed our hearts to hear stories of people on the hill taking in friends as well as livestock owned by loved…
Read MoreA community approach to native bee research in Portland
If you were to guess how many species of native bees there are in Portland, how many would that be? And where do these bees prefer to nest? Local emerging entomologist, Stefanie Steele, a Master’s student at Portland State University (PSU) studying native bees in the Portland area, is working to answer those questions. At…
Read MoreMonitoring Understory Seeding Project Plots
By Hannah Spencer, West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Field Conservationist Intern One of the first projects I worked on as a new intern with West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District (WMSWCD) was the Understory Seeding Project headed by staff conservationists Laura Taylor and Michael Ahr, and I was absolutely ecstatic at the…
Read MoreYou can create reptile habitat in your small forest
Photo by Pat Welle, Western painted turtle Article by Michael Ahr, Forest Conservationist, West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District Woodland owners are increasingly being encouraged to build brush piles for wildlife. At West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, we often discuss their importance for an array of wildlife. Mammals can live in the…
Read MoreSturgeon Lake Restoration Project update, June 2020
By Scott Gall, Rural Conservationist It has been over a year since the completion of construction on the Sturgeon Lake Restoration Project. After a decade of partnership building, planning, fundraising, and engineering, and just over four months of construction over the summer and fall of 2018, led by Columbia River Estuary Study Task Force (CREST),…
Read MoreUpdate on restoration of Lower McCarthy Creek wetland and oak habitat
By Kammy Kern-Korot, Senior Conservationist McCarthy Creek flows from NW Skyline Boulevard to Multnomah Channel across from Sauvie Island. This creek is unique to the area in that it is considered essential salmonid habitat, especially for coho and Chinook salmon. At the bottom of the watershed is 121 acres of privately owned land – most…
Read MoreMy First Garlic Mustard Season (during quarantine)
By Cole Carr, GIS & Field Conservation Intern A global pandemic hits, putting the world in quarantine. The streets of Portland are at a standstill, minus the occasional bicyclist. What does that mean for a soon-to-be college graduate? Three months of doom, doing homework, staring longingly out the window? There’s no time for that, not…
Read MoreGearing up for Garlic mustard
Conservation staff are getting ready for this season’s invasive weed field work. Garlic mustard is at the top of our list again this year for special attention. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is an aggressive invasive species in the Pacific Northwest. Originally introduced in North America for culinary uses, it has escaped cultivation to become a…
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