Columbia Slough Watershed Council
$50,000  Willamette Valley 

This project addresses three needs: improving riparian habitat in industrial zones, addressing barriers to entry preventing students from gaining education in the environmental field, and providing community access to natural spaces. To address these, Columbia Slough Watershed Council (CSWC) will complete work in the COA ID 56 Opportunity Area throughout the project. CSWC works with students in a workforce development program with Ash Creek Forest Management (Ash Creek), a local B-Corp that offers ecological services like habitat restoration, naturescaping, surveys, and consulting. Interns will conduct habitat restoration enhancing riparian forest buffers along the Columbia Slough at Level Beer on NE 148th Ave, a landowner the Council connected with through our Healthy Industrial Lands Initiative (HILI). Interns will benefit from this project by learning about invasive species management and gaining marketable green workforce skills. These efforts will increase shade on the waterway and work to improve the overall water quality within the Slough. English ivy and Himalayan blackberry control and removal will protect existing canopies and create resilient, self-sustaining landscapes.CSWC also seeks to connect community members to the natural spaces in the Columbia Slough Watershed through collaborative event programming. Naturalist events include bat walks, slough science speaker events, and birding paddles. Events will collaborate with long-time organizational partners, including Birdhers, Feminist Bird Club, Bird Alliance of Oregon, local educators and facilitators, and many others. Events will be held throughout the Columbia Slough Watershed, primarily at Whitaker Ponds, Kelley Point Park, and Smith & Bybee Wetlands. Through these events, we aim to foster lasting connections to natural spaces in the Columbia Slough Watershed, create safe spaces for learning, and facilitate opportunities for community connection.