Making Tracks

The Newsletter of the Friends of the National Wildlife Refuge Complex Joyfully Connecting our Community with the Wonder of the Refuge

Welcome to the New format for the GRAND OPENING of Friends newsletter WAPATO LAKE As we look forward to reopening, we believe it is time for a fresh take on the NATIONAL WILDLIFE newsletter. One new feature is the REFUGE PLANNING ability for you to watch videos with just a The much anticipated Grand Opening of click We will be happy to hear your Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge in feedback and what you'd like to see in Gaston, , is in the planning stages. the newsletter going forward. The Friends are a sponsor again of the 2021 Wapato Showdown on Aug 28th.We will host UPCOMING EVENTS an informational booth with the Refuge about Monthly Board Meeting (Zoom) Wapato Lake NWR. The Friends plan to have July 27, 2021 6:30 PM membership, donation and volunteer information available. Merchandise from our Monthly Board Meeting Nature's Overlook Store will also be available Aug 24, 2021 6:30 PM for purchase. Come out and stop by our 2021 Friends' Annual Membership booth.- We'd love to see you! Meeting September 25, 2021 9:00 AM

From the President's Perch- Michelle Miller

Greetings Friends! As I write this note to you, many of the restrictions of Covid-19 are being lifted in Oregon and it is a chance to start thinking more hopefully about what the “new normal” is going to be like. It also is a chance to reflect on this past exceptionally long year. Our Board of Directors have continued to meet via Zoom and managed to keep busy behind the scenes working on a multitude of projects to get our house in order and improve how we function as an organization. I want to take this opportunity to thank our Board members who worked on these projects during a really challenging time! Highlights include: two excellent Virtual Bird Festivals formed an ongoing partnership with Greenway Elementary School with educational environmental supplies, mini BirdFest, summer camp and virtual visits. secured grants and relief funds to keep us operational secured grants to continue supporting the restoration efforts at both Refuges IT improvements to the website and newsletter training Board members on becoming a more inclusive organization creation of an online platform to sell items from the Friends Store and provide curbside pickup And much more- I do not have space to list everything but rest assured moss did not grow under our feet. Looking forward to seeing our Friends back on the Refuge, Save the date for our annual membership meeting on September 25th. Watch for your invitation. Not a Friend? We welcome you to join and be a part of supporting wildlife and wild places! Michelle

FEATURED ARTICLE "Creatures of Chicken Creek find new Home"

FISH RELOCATION

When you are moving a whole creek, you have to ensure the smooth transition of the creatures who live there. Several species had to be moved for work on the Chicken Creek restoration. Watch this fascinating video on this project.

News From the Board Irene Vlach, Secretary

As we are inaugurating an updated format for our newsletter, we are introducing what will become a regular feature of each issue: news from the board. Our newsletter highlights our achievements and successes, but most members don’t know how we get there. Hence, going forward we will keep you abreast of salient conversations at the board level. The board spent the pandemic reorganizing the functioning of the organization, creating, reviving and populating committees. Have you been curious about the workings of the board and toying with the idea of engaging with the organization on a deeper level without making the commitment to join the board? The Friends of Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex manage the organization and its programs by the means of the committees listed below. If you are interested in joining as we transition from the pandemic behind-the scenes work to opening outward to the community, please contact us for more information. Recently, we took a deep dive into the Friends' Committee structure and evaluated what tasks each committee would do. We are a working Board, which means we stay active and engaged! Our Friends' President Michelle Miller says" The time I have spent on the Board has made me feel that I have a more meaningful voice, purpose and impact on the mission of the Friends and the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge". We need Friends members to step forward and help get this important work done and share your unique perspective. Some committees meet monthly while others meet less often depending on topic. Please consider this opportunity to support the Friends. The committees accepting new members are: • Membership • Special Events • Finance –looking for a treasurer- in- training Committees that we are currently forming include • Fundraising, Marketing and Outreach • Photo Society We are also looking for Friends' volunteers to work in our Nature's Overlook Store and the Visitor Center as we re-open to the public. Please contact Bonnie Anderson at [email protected] Subject Line FOR Committee Information and let us know your interest and she will set you up with the right committee or contact.

Watch Purple Martins enjoy homes provided by the Friends Upcoming Opportunities N​ ew Visitors We have two invasive plant removal Purple Martin Houses opportunities coming up in July! Contact Carly to Volunteer We spotted the Refuge visitors that we have th long awaited this month! Purple Martins have July 10 – Invasive Plant Removal – 9:00am found the nest boxes we put up for them in the -- 12:00 middle of the wetland. This large, bluish-purple July 24th – Invasive Plant Removal – 9:00am swallow has a very distinct and beautiful call, -- 12:00 and they are also very chatty. I heard their calls Come out to the TRNW Refuge and help us well before I could identify them through give our native plant species a fighting binoculars. We did not have high expectations chance to grow up big and strong! that they would find our site within the first st year, so this is very exciting news! As of now, July 31 – Wapato Lake Cleanup – 9:00am – they have been seen multiple times on the nest 12:00 boxes but have not begun to use them. We will Help us take out the trash at beautiful continue to monitor the boxes for nesting Wapato Lake National Wildlife Refuge! activity and provide updates via social media. *All volunteers will need to read and agree to our COVID – 19 Job Hazard Analysis and review their volunteer forms to participate.

Steph Littlebird Fogel was our featured artist for the 25th Tualatin River Bird Festival. Watch her presentation of This IS Kalapuyan Land

Protecting Culture Heritage!

A Refuge Rescue Mission by Carly HIrschmann On the first of June, 2021, staff from the Xerces Society, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Service’s Columbia River Fisheries Program met with the Refuge biology team to salvage Western pearlshell mussels in the former Chicken Creek ditch. We flagged out our transects to survey, then broke into teams where our designated “mussel spotters” (pictured below) zipped up their dry suits, strapped on their snorkels, and got to work searching. These snorkelers combed the ditch, where the mussels can be very difficult to spot since they look almost exactly like the rock embedded in the sediment. Using a technique called “piggybacking”, several teams of searchers would survey the same stretch of ditch to ensure that no mussels were left behind. I followed behind with a net to collect the mussels that were kept underwater until they could be transferred to a cooler. We encountered many crayfish, clams, and a few lamprey throughout the process. This salvage, tagging, and relocation of 114 freshwater mussels was a successful step forward in their local conservation. Staff from Metro assisted in their relocation to an upstream portion of Chicken Creek which they manage.

Friends of the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex 19255 SW Pacific Hwy Sherwood, Oregon 97140 503.625.5944 x 15227 www.FriendsofTualatinRefuge.org

Friends of Tualatin River NWRC | 19255 SW Pacific Highway, Sherwood, OR 97140 5036255944 x15227

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