Thank you Volunteers and Community!

Throughout the year our volunteers and community have poured a lot of sweat, a few tears, and not really a lot of blood, (we had no incident reports this year!) into making JCWC into the organization that it is today. They have shown up in rain, snow, and heat to tend to the land and the creatures that call this watershed home and on behalf of all the staff and board we thank them for all the incredible work they have done this year. 

So what are some of the incredible things our community has done this year?

This year 1,364 volunteers spent 4,778 hours planting, pulling, mulching, and picking up trash at 73 stewardship events. They planted 4,966 native plants, over half of those being planted during our Annual Watershed Wide event in March and  pulled 8,000 sq ft or 13, three car garages worth of unwanted vegetation from natural areas. 

During our Annual Johnson Creek clean-up this year 4.9 tons of trash were pulled out of the creek and from surrounding natural areas. Some highlights include brass knuckles, a lot of Christmas decor, and disco boogie shoes. 

They also helped us connect with over 750 youth and families during outreach and education events. 

I’d like to give a special thank you to all our Creek Crew Leaders this year who went through hours of training in January and stepped up to help lead these events. 

This year we also continued our five community science programs. Our amphibian egg mass surveyors recorded record numbers of red-legged frog egg masses in stormwater ponds in Gresham. Our Powell Butte Bird surveyors collected data from the newly renovated reservoir and that data will help inform the impact that large scale habitat loss and restoration has on our prairie nesting bird populations. Dragonfly and damselfly surveyors netted 18 different species throughout the summer. Beaver surveyors found 22 beavers dams in Johnson Creek and its tributaries. And salmon surveys are still underway, but surveyors have already spotted a few coho in Crystal Springs Creek. We also had a new community science program this year to help document the stormwater outfalls that flow into Johnson Creek. This project is part of an effort to evaluate the places most in need of stormwater retrofits such as rain gardens and bioswales. Volunteers surveyed over 100 outfalls.

These are just a few of the highlights from all of the amazing work our volunteers and community members have put into this year. 

Now to recognize some of our most dedicated volunteers. These are the folks that have gone above and beyond in the number of events and number of hours they have dedicated to the watershed.