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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 2019)
JULY 26, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3 KeizerCommunity KEIZERTIMES.COM Turning back time at Willamette Mission Riverkeepers spearhead effort with substantial community support By LAUREN MURPHY Of the Keizertimes Willamette Mission State Park has a lot to offer: equestrian trails, a disc golf course, picnic areas, and thanks to the efforts of the Willamette Riverkeepers and their many partners, a beautiful, native fl oodplain forest. Willamette Riverkeepers is a non-profi t organization that have been working to restore the Willamette River for nearly 20 years. They have partnered with Oregon State Parks to restore native habitat within the natural areas of the park that were overrun with weeds and blackberries. They are working on more than 600 acres of land, a task that would be impossible for their small organization without help. “We used a local farmer to sow the seed, we used a contractor based out of Tigard called Ashcreek Forest Management to do all of the site prep and planting, we had a local farmer that leases within the park help us do some of the initial site prep,” said Marci Krass, the Riverkeepers’ program manager. They use contractors to remove the invasive plants that have taken advantage of the bare ground out at the park, such as: Himalayan blackberry, reed canarygrass and clematis. After the weeds are removed the Riverkeepers plant native plants: cottonwood trees, ninebark, or red elderberries “All of our restoration work is happening in the natural area,” Krass said, which means other parts of the park will not be disturbed. “It’s a public park, what we’re trying to do is make the forest higher quality.” She pointed out bare patches of ground along the path that used to be covered in blackberries, removing them not only makes the park more enjoyable for horses, bikers, and hikers, but it also helps restore habitat for native fi sh and wildlife. “Historically, this was most likely a forest and it was cleared for agriculture at one point,” she said. Before the space became a state park it was a mission. It was the fi rst Methodist mission on the west coast, established in 1834 by Rev. Jason Lee. “They tried to farm it and then they realized it’s not good focused on the more danger- ous weeds. A project like this requires collaborative partnerships and grant funding. Willamette Riverkeepers applied for funding through the Willamette River Anchor Habitat Investment Program, which is jointly funded by Meyer Memorial Trust, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and Bonneville Power Administration. There are many other funders, as well as in-kind donations, that make a project like this possible, including the Salem-Keizer REI, which has given $69,000 to the Riverkeepers since 2014. In addition to the funds, the Riverkeepers have opportuni- ties for volunteer work, which can be found on their website, willamette-riverkeeper.org/ volunteer. They’ve partnered with the community on sev- eral projects in the park.North KEIZERTIMES/Lauren Murphy In addition to planting native trees and other plants like the cottonwood seen above, the River- Salem High School students keepers and volunteers place temporary cages around the trunks to protect them from deer helped with a project to pro- scratching antlers against them. While it’s part of a natural cycle, the damage can kill young trees. tect young cottonwood trees from deer by placing plastic for farming and that’s because root systems, you get different time it can make a big differ- netting around the tree trunks. we now know it fl oods pretty bugs, different insects that are ence,” Krass said, though it When trees are young deer will utilizing the plants,’” she said. is trickier in some areas. She come by and scratch their ant- often,” Krass said. The land was cleared for More plants mean more bugs pulled back a clump of weeds lers against the trunks, which is farming but the mission had and, when the river fl oods, the that had surrounded a rose, “It’s damaging to the bark and can been abandoned, leaving bare fi sh can eat well because there tough because you don’t want kill young trees. The cages de- ter the deer so nega- ground, the perfect place for is enough to go around. When to the trees can you have a monoculture of tively affect invasive species to grow. grow and es- “A lot of the problem, I weeds it’s not as complex of a the rose but tablish. you want to think, in this park is invasive habituate,” Krass said. Willamette When it comes to removing get rid of species,” Krass said. “If you let R ive r ke e p e r invasive species do what, they the invasive species the the grass,” are not the is Riverkeepers have several which want they’ll usually win.” only group Invasive species compete tactics: cutting the weeds, when a cut- trying to with and usually kill the native mowing them down, and ting treat- restore the ment would plants. The overall impact occasionally using herbicides. river, and in “Sometimes we’ll use some come is reduces the amount of — Marci Krass W i l l a m e t t e herbicide, like spraying, be- handy. biodiversity in the forest. Program manager Mission is In a proj- “You have diverse plants cause it’s a tool and if we use Willamette Riverkeepers not the only with different, more complex it in the right way at the right ect like this site they are it’s import- working on. ant to prior- “More than 50 organizations itize what needs to get done, “Some weeds can have a big- up and down the Willamette ger impact on changing the are concerned about water ecology of the area, like weed quality and habitat availability,” canary grass,” she said. “But this she said. The end goal is to have a annual aster, it’s kind of annoy- ing and ugly, but the reality is native forest that Oregon State it’s not going to stop a native Parks can manage themselves, plant from growing,” which is or better yet, a self-sustaining why most of their efforts are forest. “What we’re trying to do is make the forest higher quality.”
