WIN Quarterly: Summer 2020
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WIN Quarterly: Summer 2020 Greetings, friends and colleagues, I hope you all had a relaxing weekend. It sure felt a little different, this year! The relative calm of the holiday gave me a chance to think about what Independence Day means to me, how that may differ from others and a chance to finish working through my thoughts about Juneteenth. We just declared Juneteenth a holiday at CPRCD and, considering current events, it felt weird to take a day off for the holiday. Ultimately, I did what many privileged white folk do and I donated some money to a charity and went about my day (HBCU Foundation). I instantly felt guilty and knew I needed to do better, so I'm working on that. When congress passed the Lee Resolution on July 2nd, 1776 I would bet that few foresaw another seven years of war with the British. Similarly, I can only imagine that people of color in the United States did not anticipate their fight to continue for another 155 years after Major General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 in Galveston on June 19th, 1865. For my whole life, I've celebrated an independence from a "tyranny" I never experienced. What I've really celebrated was my privilege. In fact, I would've been on the other side as my great grandfathers and great uncles were generals for the British Army; one of the former leading numerous decimations of the Americans during the Revolutionary War until being crushed at Yorktown; one of the latter leading the British to victory at the Battle of Alexandria. Now, with regards to Juneteenth, I will learn to celebrate an emancipation that was also not my own, from an oppression carried out by some of my ancestors. An emancipation that is still yet to be fully realized. I'll learn to celebrate soldiers who fought for the freedom of slaves in one theater of the war while exterminating the Native People of this land in yet another. I'll learn about a crucial moment in history, along a journey not yet finished, which gave people of color a better chance in this nation. I'll learn about those Black Americans that have been able to leverage that new degree of freedom into success and further progress. History is just that....history. Sometimes, history is truly historic, while other times it is better forgotten. Often, history is his story and in the case of this country, he was often white, privileged and on the "winning team". History is an accumulation of individual choices and, thus, no history is truly "ours". Our histories are unique from one another and even within themselves, depending on how far back you want to go and whose side of the family you want to trace. History is created in the present. The history we are creating today has the potential to be absolutely historic, but only if we learn and apply that knowledge. To know is not enough, to care is not enough and the things we do will be the only things that matter in the end. History is about that which is done and everything else never even exists. Black lives do matter. Women's rights are human rights. Love is love. Humans aren't illegal. We all live on Tribal Lands. Wishing you all good health and comfort, Troy Abercrombie Partner Spotlight: Coos Watershed Association Partnerships Play Crucial Role on Oregon's South Coast Photos by Lucy Allison Crews from Coos Watershed Association and Oregon Parks & Rec have diligently marked plants at this biddy-biddy site in Cape Blanco State Park (above photo). Despite the competition at this well vegetated site, you can see that this invader has no problem finding room to make roots. Don't let that blue sky fool you, crews dealt with 45mph winds as they surveyed Cape Blanco and Cape Arago. CWA was also able to do treatments at Whiskey Run bike trails, recently. Great job, CoosWA! Tasty little before and after with Hunter throwing up the internationally recognized challenge to a thumb war. You don't want this, Hunter! This newly opened coastal oasis is courtesy of a recent partnership between CoosWA and the Coos-Bay/North Bend Water Board. The inaugural project of the partnership involved cut-stump treatments of about 1/8 net acres of gorse. While gorse is thick in many parts of the south coast, this site is relatively native and presents a rare EDRR opportunity for a species that has plagued the area for over a century. Teamwork makes the dream work and defense wins championships! Great job, South Coasties! Coos Watershed Association is a member of the South Coast CWMA and based in Coos Bay. Partner Spotlight: Clatsop SWCD submitted by Mary Olson, Clatsop SWCD & North Coast CWMA Co-chair Orange hawkweed was first discovered in Clatsop County in 2018. Public outreach efforts have led to multiple new sites being found. The interesting thing is that the hawkweed has been here for a long time. A property in Astoria was found to have orange hawkweed throughout the entire lawn and garden areas in 2019. The landowner was not comfortable with herbicide use, so the flower heads were removed to prevent them from going to seed. We have worked with the landowner over the past year and this summer obtained permission to spray all of the hawkweed. The landowner has lived there for 18 years and says the orange hawkweed was growing there when she bought the house. Another new site was discovered along Highway 101 near Gearhart by Chris Aldassy of East Multnomah SWCD. Thanks to his keen eyes for spotting this large patch while on vacation. There are a total of 11 known locations of orange hawkweed in Clatsop County from Seaside to Astoria, including one on Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) managed land. Education and outreach efforts by Clatsop SWCD and ODF have led to many new discoveries of state listed noxious weeds, including gorse and policeman’s helmet. Orange hawkweed in an Astoria flower garden (left) that has been there at least 18 years. A newly discovered site near Gearhart (right). Photos by Aaron Duzik. Event Spotlight: Scotch Broom Symposium A history lesson, a science class and a call to action walk into a bar... Spearheaded by the passionate Jill Silver, 10,000 Years Institute, WIN proudly co-sponsored the Scotch Broom Ecology & Management Symposium in early June along with many other partners and collaborators including WSDOT, WA-ISC, OISC, ODA, WSDA, UC-Santa Cruz and others. Initially slated to be an in-person seminar, the planning team quickly shifted into "webinar mode" as Covid-19 began to grip the nation and Washington state, in particular. In the weeks leading up to the seminar, WA-ISC and WIN launched the Great Scotch Broom Census across Washington and Oregon. The census utilized the Washington Invasives App and the iNaturalist platforms and nearly 2,000 observations were recorded! Buffered by a robust social media outreach effort that reached over 150,000 views and broad support from media outlets, the census was a great way to connect the general public and conservation professionals in pursuit of a common goal. There was some spirited competition for the census and the top three reporters will be recognized with certificates from WA-ISC, OISC and WIN. Extra special thanks to Lynn Jackson, Shawn Sharrah and Robert Bickle for your dedication to invasive species!!! The webinar was spread out over three days and there were over 650 cumulative attendees! Over 20 people presented at the symposium with daily themes of "Impacts and Research", "Management Actions" and "Successful Approaches", respectively. With a keynote each day and presenters comprised of university researchers, conservation professionals, community action leaders and entomologists, the symposium had something for everybody....and even a little extra! Certified applicators in WA & OR were eligible to receive up to 6 continuing education credits at no cost, as the symposium was free to attend. Dr. Sara Grove, UC-Santa Cruz, discusses the impacts of scotch broom on Douglas' fir seedling survival. Event Spotlight: Scotch Broom Symposium cont’d… Cathy Lucero, Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board, gave a fantastic presentation about prevention through vector control in the context of their weed-free gravel program. All 22 presentations have been uploaded to YouTube and are available for viewing. You'll find everything from prescribed fire and bio-warfare to the impacts on forestry and successful community efforts to keep broom in check. Click here for the event page and YouTube playlist. Tell me you don't want Rod Gilbert to narrate every movie ever and I won't believe you! Breakdown of attendee demographics. The symposium was also confirmation of the importance to meet folks where they are. The accessibility of the webinar, coupled with an interested and passionate public, created a wonderful opportunity to bring science to citizens. One thing is clear, we have the public's ear when it comes to invasive species. Let's make sure we get our message across rather than simply getting it out. We need the help of the public now, more than ever. Luckily for us, they're ready and willing to engage! Hawkweed on Lolo is a No-No Guest column by: Courtney Gattuso- Weedwise Specialist, Clackamas SWCD & Katelyn Hale- Community Engagement Specialist, Sandy River Watershed Council (and a dash of comic relief from the editor) In the beginning... In 1998, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) discovered a small population of meadow hawkweed within a powerline corridor adjacent to Lolo Pass Road nested in the Mt.