Written by Marlee Eckman, Volunteer Program Manager

Despite the snow and near freezing conditions we had over 250 volunteers join us last Saturday, March 2nd for our Annual Watershed Wide Event! Volunteers persevered and planted rain gardens, removed invasive ivy from fish passage culverts, installed plants at two low income apartment complexes, and restored habitat at several natural areas across the watershed. This was my first year organizing the watershed council’s longest running event and one of the biggest takeaways from this year’s event is the dedication that our volunteers have to the watershed and to their communities. We braved the snow and were rewarded with sunshine and delicious, warm tamales from Salvador Molly’s! My heart is so full of gratitude towards everyone that was able to join us for an incredible event.

This year we spread out at ten different sites in the watershed across five(!) different cities; Milwaukie, Portland, Gresham, Boring, and Damascus. Volunteers worked together to plant almost 3,000 native plants, remove 900 sq. ft. of invasive species, mulch 250 plants, and pick-up over 50 cu. ft. of trash. Thank you so much to all the volunteers, site leads, Creek Crew Leaders, photographers, and tamales runners for making the day a success!

I was lucky enough to be at the 7th Street Bridge Gresham site with a mighty team of volunteers. The site has been host to several Watershed Wide events and while we worked on the west side of the natural area we could see the tops of the trees on the east side of the bridge that had been planted several years ago during Watershed Wide and were starting to tower over the understory. Now all the plants that were put in the ground this year are part of a decades long legacy.

Thank you to groups that joined us; Coastal Conservation Association Oregon – Mt Hood Chapter, Portland Event Productions, Kindness Farm, Ethiopian and Eritrean Community Resource Center, PSU’s Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program, Portland General Electric.

Thank you to all our partners and funders for this event; The Mintkeski Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, Clackamas County’s Water Environment Services, Portland General Electric, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, Clackamas Soil & Water Conservation District, Portland Parks & Recreation, City of Gresham, City of Milwaukie, Crystal Springs Partnership, Friends of Tideman Johnson, The Brookside Apartments, North Clackamas Parks and Recreation, Clackamas County Transportation Division, Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services, Trinity Lutheran Church, Westmoreland Union Manor, ViveNW, and the Hanson Creek Care Property.

Keep scrolling to see photos from all our sites!