Two Grants Given in Portland, OR

After a successful trip in Yellowstone National Park, The Public Lands Day Tour headed east through Idaho and into Oregon along the Columbia River to the Portland area. Organizers had scheduled two stops to hand out grants for upcoming National Public Lands Day projects.

Staff at Bonneville Lock and Dam with volunteers accepting the grant from
National Public Lands Day

The first stop was at Bonneville Lock and Dam in Bonneville, Oregon. Bonneville Lock and Dam sits about 30 miles west of Portland inside the National River Gorge Scenic Area and is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The morning was kicked off with our check presentation ceremony followed by a fantastic tour of the facility, specifically the area where this weekend's project will take place.

The Gnome oversees the project area
The wildlife biologists have a wonderful day and event planned for volunteers. The project will involve planting conifer trees along a trail leading to Bass Lake. Organizers have a long term goal of filling Bass Lake to previous levels and restoring local habitat levels. Even now, you can go to this area and see elk, bear, coyote, deer, and other animals not to mention the fish species. We'll be keeping an eye on this project in the next year or so to see progress.

Our next stop was a neighborhood park managed by Portland Parks and Recreation Department called The Portland Children's Arboretum. This park is nestled behind a neighborhood and is an oasis among local trucking and parking areas.

Members of Portland Parks and Recreation Department and Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc's Portland regional office on hand for the check presentation.

The neighborhood association is strong near this park and has brought this park to life in recent years. This coming Friday, Toyota employees will return to the Portland Children's Arboretum to continue working in the park they first visited last year. Work projects may include tearing out the invasive blackberry weed from some of the great trees located in the park among planting some new trees and laying down mulch on a new trail. Organizers commented on just how efficient the Toyota employees are and are excited for the upcoming event.

It was a wonderful day in Portland, Oregon and I could sense the excitement for National Public Lands Day as we get closer to the big day. It's wonderful to meet people who have such a great respect for our public lands and who want to give back to them. The Public Lands Day Tour will start heading back to California to wrap up the tour with stops in Yosemite on the 28th and finally at Golden Gate NRA on the 30th where we have 9 worksites planned and remarks from Richard Louv, author of the book No Child Left Indoors. Until next time!!