Winter volunteer schedule - canoe season recap - welcome new baord members - and more!
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The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership needs your support this season – your gift large or small helps us in our year-round efforts to restore and care for the waters and ecosystems of the lower Columbia River.
We’ve hung up our PFDs and put away the paddles for the Big Canoe season. We are grateful to have had another successful season ofcreating memorable, fun, and safe on-water exploration of local waterways for individuals, culturally specific communities, and service-based partner groups. This year, our paddling program:
Led 57 Big Canoe paddle events;
635 youth and 498 adults (that’s a whopping 1,133 people!) paddled with us in our Big Canoes;
Partnered with 37 community-based organizations for paddle programs; and
Explored 6 different rivers and waterways: Willamette River, the Multnomah Channel; Coffenbury Lake; Cullaby Lake; Vancouver Lake/Lake River; and the Tualatin River.
Each season we invite our participants and partners to share about their Big Canoe paddling experiences. Here are a few highlights from 2024:
“I love being able to feel safe and confident in the water." -Paddle participant from Neighbors for Clean Air
“We had a student who was very anxious about going out on the water for the first time, but the time and attention [Estuary Partnership] staff gave them before and while out [on the canoe] put them at ease and allowed them to focus on enjoying the experience while also learning a great deal about that stretch of the river, its history, and efforts currently underway to improve it.” -Paddle participant from The Blueprint Foundation
“Besides the teamwork aspect, which is so important for young people who ‘came of age’ during the pandemic, the addition of games that were inclusive and fun was a really great way to underline the spirit of joy that your group fosters for the youth and for us (the mentors).” -Paddle participant from Verde and Rose Community Development
“Many participants weren'tvery familiar with visiting the river at all and definitely not with specific areas of the river. Many had never been in a canoe before. I recall a Community Health Worker who was ecstatic and empowered by helping to propel a canoe. She also wanted to learn more about how to be engaged with cleanup activities.”-Paddle Participant with Multnomah County Health Department
Our Big Canoe program is made possible thanks to the support from the following organizations: East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District, the City of Portland, the City of Vancouver, Clark County, Port of Vancouver USA, Metro, Oregon State Marine Board’s Waterway Access Grant, Program (funding for the Waterway Access Grant Program comes from the purchase of Waterway Access Permits by boaters with paddle craft 10 feet in length or longer), and the Estuary Partnerships Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding from the EPA’s National Estuary Program.
Baker Bay Stormwater Project underway on the Ilwaco waterfront
Last month, we joined the City of Ilwaco, and the Port of Ilwaco to celebrate an important project milestone on the Baker Bay Stormwater Project: the team’s construction contractor, Rognlin’s, began construction on the long-planned project.
Rognlin’s has started project set up, excavation, staging and other first construction steps and over the next 4-6 months, the Aberdeen-based construction company will build a series of biofiltration facilities, depave large areas, install mechanical stormwater treatment, plant trees, pour concrete valley gutters and curbing, and install host of other project elements designed to improve water quality and meet the project’s goals. Construction is expected to be completed by April 2025.
Currently, stormwater from more than three-acres of impervious surface drains directly into Baker Bay and oils, greases,, tire dust, and other car and truck related pollutants wash straight to Baker Bay. The stormwater infrastructure that is being installed right now will capture those pollutants and deliver cleaner water to Baker Bay.
The Baker Bay Stormwater Project was engineered by KPFF and the landscape architecture firm Learning Landscape Designs. It is funded by the Washington Department of Ecology and the Estuary Partnership’s EPA Columbia River Basin Restoration Program School Stormwater Program cooperative agreement funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
We are thrilled to welcome Trang Lam and Matt Harding to our board of directors! Trang and Matt joined the board in September, and we are so excited to add their extensive leadership and environmental expertise to our board of directors.
With nearly 20 years of experience with local government across the Pacific Northwest, Trang assumed the role of CEO at the Port of Camas-Washougal in August. Prior to becoming the port’s CEO, she was the Director of Parks and Recreation in Camas. Trang grew up in Portland, where she developed a deep appreciation for the outdoors. Her hobbies include hiking, kayaking, and sharing delicious meals with family and friends. Matt is the Environmental Project Manager at the Port of Vancouver. In this role, Matt specializes in environmental regulatory policy, permitting, compliance, mitigation, and restoration. Matt is currently leading the Master Planning effort to redevelop Terminal 1 at the Port of Vancouver into a mixed-use urban development.
Congresswoman Bonamici tours Multnomah Channel Marsh Natural Area restoration site
We want to thank Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1) for touring the Multnomah Channel Marsh Natural Area with us on October 29, 2024.
Located just downstream of Portland, the Multnomah Channel Marsh Natural area is a 278-acre tidal floodplain wetland site. Yes, you read that correctly — the tides from the Pacific Ocean influence the flow of water all the way up to Portland and beyond! We’re partnering with Metro to remove artificial barriers to reconnect the natural flow of water between the site and Multnomah Channel, improve fish access, and enhance habitat conditions for native fish, wildlife, and plant communities.
This location provided an ideal backdrop for the Congresswoman to share the details of the bipartisan Coastal Restoration Act. Introduced this fall, the Coastal Restoration Act will help monitor, protect, and restore coastal blue carbon ecosystems and strengthen research on habitat restoration as a natural climate solution.
Volunteer to plant native trees and shrubs
Join the Estuary Partnership for a fun, family-friendly volunteer event where you’ll plant native trees and shrubs to restore a local greenspace, improve water quality, and create habitat for birds and other wildlife.
During these events, volunteers will learn about native plants, including how to identify and install them for optimal growth. It’s also a great way to explore a local natural area.
These volunteer opportunities include a 10–20-minute talk on trails with uneven surfaces. Gloves and tools are provided. Long-sleeved shirts, pants, sturdy shoes, and other weather-appropriate clothing are strongly recommended.
For more information, please visit the event registration page. If you have any questions, contact the Estuary Partnership’s Volunteer Coordinator, Sam Dumont, at SDumont@estuarypartnership.org.
In addition to your volunteer effort, these events are made possible with the support of the Washington Department of Ecology, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Clark County, One Tree Planted, the USFWS Urban Wildlife Conservation Program, and Bonneville Environmental Foundation’s Promise the Pod Program.
Nearly 150 people celebrated the collective work of protecting and restoring the lower Columbia Estuary during our Annual Celebration on October 17, 2024. The celebration was held at the Jupiter NEXT Ballroom in Portland and was hosted by the iconic Poison Waters. Generous guests raised over $60,000 to support our work to restore habitat, improve water quality, and engage students and community members in learning about and caring for the river.
The backbone of the event’s success was its sponsors. Thank you to all of the Annual Celebration sponsors:
We are excited to announce that the biennial Columbia River Estuary Conference will be held May 13-15, 2025, at the Liberty Theatre in Astoria, Oregon. The theme of the 2025 conference is Echoes of the Estuary: Reflections for a Resilient Columbia River.
This conference brings together restoration practitioners, scientists, researchers, and others interested in the ecosystems and restoration of the lower Columbia River, its estuary, plume, and nearshore ocean.
The three-day conference includes oral and lightening presentations and a poster session during an evening social event. Abstracts for the presentations and poster session are due January 31, 2025.
The conference is supported by contributions from the Columbia River Estuary Study Task Force, Bonneville Power Administration, Lewis and Clark National Park Association, and Kilgren Water Resources, and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
If you have questions about the conference, please contact Catherine Corbett 971-380-3629 or by email.
Check out a science kit at the Kelso Public Library
A collection of our most popular science classroom and field education kits are now available for loan at the Kelso Public Library. The kits offer a fun, educational, and hands-on approach youth science programs and cover a wide range of subjects:
Beavers
Water quality testing
Bird identification
Animal signs and observations
Food web and STEM career Jenga
The kits are available for teachers and members of the public to borrow for up to two weeks. To check out a science classroom and field education kit from the Kelso Public Library, contact the library at (360) 423-8110.
The science classroom and field education kit program at the Kelso Public Library is supported through the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission’s No Child Left Inside grant program administered through the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for National Estuary Programs.
Shop and support the Estuary Partnership!
You can donate to the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership when you shop at Fred Meyer! Just link your Fred Meyer Rewards card to the Estuary Partnership by searching for "Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership" or using the code EG199.
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