Our Big Backyard: Summer 2019 Jun 2019 PDF Open
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Summer 2019 Our Big Backyard Destination Guide inside Best of summer Parks and nature staff share their favorite summer destinations. Page 6 2 What do you think? 3 Holistic health in nature 11 Diversifying construction trades Share your thoughts on Sista Sistah event offers total New partnerships recruit young parks and nature content health and wellness experience people to construction careers oregonmetro.gov TABLE OF CONTENTS Parks and nature news 2 Parks and nature news Field guide 5 Cover story 6 Get involved 9 Tools for living 10 Regional roundup 11 Share your nature 12 Share your thoughts on Metro’s parks and nature content If you picnic at Blue Lake or take your kids to the Photography by Joshua Manus Oregon Zoo, enjoy symphonies at the Schnitz or auto shows at the convention center, put out your trash or We want to hear from you. The survey is being conducted by DHM drive your car – we’ve already crossed paths. Research to ensure that your feedback is Metro periodically reviews its parks and secure and anonymous. So, hello. We’re Metro – nice to meet you. nature content to ensure we’re providing In a metropolitan area as big as Portland, we can do a stories and information that are compelling Participants who complete the survey will lot of things better together. Join us to help the region and useful. The review will include a wide be given the option to enter their name and prepare for a happy, healthy future. range of print and digital content, including contact information at the end to be entered in Our Big Backyard magazine, Metro News a drawing for one of three $100 Visa gift cards. Metro Council President stories, social media posts and more. Your name will not be connected with your Lynn Peterson answers and will not be shared with Metro. As part of the review, community members Metro Councilors in greater Portland are invited to share their Shirley Craddick, District 1 Christine Lewis, District 2 thoughts in an online survey available through Craig Dirksen, District 3 July 19. Your opinion will help shape the way Weigh in by July 19: we communicate in the future and help us Juan Carlos González, District 4 dhmresearch.com/metrosurvey Sam Chase, District 5 provide more relevant stories, information, Bob Stacey, District 6 social media and other content. Auditor Brian Evans Parks and nature bond measure This November, voters across the greater Portland area will be asked whether to renew a proposed $475 million parks and nature bond measure that, if passed, would address water quality, fish and wildlife habitat and access to nature. After gathering input from partners and community members, the Metro Council decided in June to send the proposal to the If you have a disability and need accommodations, call ballot. If the bond passes, property owners would continue to pay a property tax of $0.19 per 503-220-2781, or call Metro’s TDD line at 503-797-1804. $1,000 of assessed value – about $4 per month for a home assessed at $250,000. If the bond If you require a sign language interpreter, call at least 48 hours in advance. Activities marked with this measure does not pass, the property tax rate for Metro’s parks and nature bond program symbol are wheelchair accessible: would drop to $0 per $1,000 of assessed value by 2026 and the proposed projects would not be completed. Bus and MAX information 503-238-RIDE (7433) or trimet.org Read more: oregonmetro.gov/parksandnaturebond Stay in touch with news, stories and things to do. oregonmetro.gov/parksandnaturenews facebook.com/oregonmetro twitter.com/oregonmetro instagram.com/oregonmetro Sign up for the print edition of the quarterly magazine, change your address or save paper Pets policy Like what To protect plants, wildlife and people, Metro does not by switching to a digital subscription. allow pets at most regional parks and natural areas. you see? Email [email protected] Pets can damage sensitive habitat and threaten wildlife or call 503-797-1545. the region has worked to protect. In natural areas where pets are not allowed, people see more wildlife and get closer to it. Seeing-eye dogs or other service animals are allowed. Please bring cleanup materials. On the cover: The best place to find woodpeckers is in the mixed oak-conifer woodlands of Graham Oaks Nature Park. Listen for the drumming pattern as they peck on dead trees or watch for their unique flying pattern of three wing flaps followed with gliding. Woodpeckers will move on tree trunks in an upright position with their special (zygodactyl) feet and specialized stiffened tail feathers to use as a prop as they hammer on the tree. This red- breasted sapsucker is known for making a neat line of small holes in a dead tree. The woodpecker returns after the holes fill with sap and then eats the sap and any insects caught in it. –Bonnie Shoffner, volunteer coordinator Printed on recycled-content paper. 100 percent post-consumer waste. 19003 Photo by Cory Eldridge Parks and nature news Sista Sistah to highlight health and nature in holistic healing event Story and photography by Cristle Jose Blue Lake Summer Fun Days Story by Cristle Jose Photography by Elayna Yussen School’s out for the summer. Enjoy activities with your children by taking them to Blue Lake Regional Park for Summer Fun Days every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from June 25 to Aug. 7 (except the Fourth of July). All activities and services are free. Parking is free when entering Blue Lake from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Summer Fun Days. Getting out in nature can be difficult for people “Events like this one are exactly Nature and gardening education who live in cities and spend their days plugged and activities into technology. what communities have been Tuesdays to Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. To connect people with nature, the nonprofit asking for: events that are crafted Led by the Youth Environmental Sista Sistah is partnering with Metro to put for community members by Educators working with the OSU on its first collaborative holistic healing Extension Service, activities are event, called Soul Food Family Gathering community members.” focused around a variety of unique this summer at Blue Lake Regional Park. habitats of the park. Enjoy hands- Loni Black, Metro event planner “To become one with nature, you connect more on natural gardening and resource conservation education at the Blue spiritually,” said Sah’Rah Bey, founder of Sista didn’t have to concentrate on recycling,” Lake Natural Discovery Garden. Pop-up Sistah. “You’re more mentally focused. You can Tim-Khdar Bey said. “We lived in a circle interpretive sites focus on ecosystems, connect more with the people around you. It’s so that everything we did allowed us to wildlife and connecting with nature almost a form of meditation.” have sustainability.” across a variety of topics, such as The organization helps girls of African descent Metro has worked with Sista Sistah on pollination, soil science, composting build self-esteem, self-awareness, spirituality previous events, but this event is planned by and pest management with minimal and connections with their community. the community, which Loni Black, parks and use of chemicals. “For us to be able to get a self-awareness and nature event planner for Metro, says is her Lunch identity that connects us to our ancestral long-term goal for future events. heritage and background, we as aboriginals “Events like this one are exactly what Tuesdays to Thursdays, noon to 1 p.m. and Indigenous people have a sense of communities have been asking for: events Youth Environmental Educators and belonging,” said Tim-Khdar Bey, Sah’Rah’s that are crafted for community members by Reynolds School District Nutrition partner and co-founder of Sista Sistah. “Our community members,” Black said. “Community Services will provide a free lunch belonging is through nature, through a space members are diving in to work together to for participants 18 and younger. A and area, and those things that connect us deliver an event for people and families from nominal fee applies for adults. Metro, to the Earth and to the heavens because they all walks of life, and Metro gets to be a part of OSU Extension and Reynolds School become one in the same.” welcoming people into these spaces.” District Nutrition Services are equal- The event will highlight communities of opportunity providers. color, and numerous partners who are looking to connect with communities of color will SAT. SEPT. 14 Fishing lessons with Get Hooked offer yoga, sound vibration therapy, kemetic Thursdays, 10 a.m. to noon reiki and more. The partners include Sacred Soul food family gathering Heart Crystal Healing, Ladies of the Light, Bring the whole family to a total health and Hosted by the Get Hooked Foundation, Champions Barbering Institute, Kaiser wellness experience in nature. Enjoy healthy which focuses on exposing underserved Permanente and Brotha 2 Brothah. cooking/eating demonstrations, mindful youth to the outdoors. Families can meditation, community-based exhibitors, try their hand at fishing, practice knot In the Zone Restaurant will also provide crystal healing and more. All services and tying and casting, learn water safety, demonstrations to promote healthy eating. activities provided will be focused on the total identify habitat and fish and more. “As people of African descent, we love soul health and wellness of community members. food, so we are going to experiment with Blue Lake Regional Park different ways on how to make it healthy,” 9 a.m.