WREN in the West Eugene Wetlands

Today WREN's Wetland Wander was in action at Laurelwood Bog. This unique site is part of Eugene's Adopt-a-Park program and allows community members to experience a habitat that has been restored through the efforts of Master Gardener Hugh Pritchard. He gave us a tour and talked about the work he has done in reintroducing native species over the last 14 years.

The bog is open to visitors during all daylight hours and can be accessed via the woodchip path off of Agate St. and E 27th Ave (at the dead end). It is a great place to see birds; a couple members of the group this morning spotting 16 different species! Thank you for all who made it out this morning and to Hugh for a wonderful tour. See you at the next one!!

Another wonderful Family Exploration Day in the books 🔍🦋🐞☀

A big thank you to all who made it out to Golden Gardens Park on Saturday! We had fun sharing in your excitement for exploring local ecosystems and seeing wildlife. Opportunities to build community and encourage learning in the West Eugene Wetlands thrills us and is at the core of our mission at WREN!

Save the date! We will be back at Golden Gardens Park on Saturday, August 31 from 10am - 2 pm for the final Family Exploration day of the summer. We will see you there!

Finding my Wings: Taking Off and Learning How to Fly in Environmental Education 🦅☀️🐞

Click the link or head to WREN's website to read our intern Nate Jensen's recap of experiences and learning opportunities during the first half of his time with us!

https://www.wewetlands.org/finding-my-wings-taking-off-and-learning-how-to-fly-in-environmental-education/

**Each summer for the last number of years, Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN) has partnered with and AmeriCorps to provide an internship in Environmental Education. This internship is intended to allow for learning and career growth opportunities for young adults in fields related to land stewardship, natural resource management, and environmental education.

WREN’s intern Nate Jensen has been kept busy with teaching and observation experiences, program development, community outreach, and working with partners such as the BLM on critical plant species field surveys!

Bats and Moths in Your Backyard was fascinating and fun!

A special thank you to Stuart Perlmeter and Aimee Hart for joining us and providing an informative presentation. Probably the biggest hit of the night was a live bat demonstration with our tremendous experts. We all learned new bat facts and walked away with a greater appreciation for the roles that bats play in our local habitats. WREN enjoyed gathering the community together for a wonderful family-friendly evening!

Thank you for your attendance and support!😀🦇🦋🌾

Reminder! Bats and Moths in Your Backyard is tomorrow evening! RSVP is closed as the event is full. 🦇🌅🦇

We will get started at 7:30 p.m. with a presentation before heading out on a guided wetland walk with a bat detector. Parking is limited so please carpool if possible.

Event Address: The Red House, 751 S. Danebo Ave Eugene, OR 97402.

See you there!

WREN's intern Nate has been participating in species of concern surveys with the BLM. The species of focus in June was the endangered Willamette Daisy. It is endemic to the Willamette Valley and is now only found in a few areas throughout its historic range. He also got to spend some field days surveying for the Fender's Blue Butterfly. Stay tuned for more updates and native species spotlights! 🦋🌞🐞

Wetland Wander was in action this morning at Dragonfly Bend! What a great group!

Ecologist Diane Steeck with the Parks and Open Space Division led our walk and shared her vast knowledge about the West Eugene Wetlands. We learned about many native plants, restoration efforts, and the wetland mitigation banking program. A big thank you to Diane and everyone who made it out! 🦋🌾🌞

Saturday WREN was at Westmoreland Park for another Family Exploration Day. There are a couple of really great prairie restoration sites that boast native species including Hitchcock's blue-eyed grass, camas, and barestem biscuitroot to name a few. This is an awesome example of wildlife right in your backyard and a place where you can see some examples of what natural Willamette Valley habitat would have looked like!

Curious about exploring your native local habitats? Come join WREN on one of our series of Family Exploration Days throughout the summer. We provide the supplies and education materials for families and individuals that want to learn and have fun! Keep your eyes out for our next one and we will see you there!

Family Exploration Days are in full swing for WREN!

On Saturday we were at Golden Gardens Park with the Bethel Branch of for story time, a guided nature walk, and scavenger hunt. We love spending time with our community members learning about the local ecosystems and wildlife!🦋🐞🔎

Our next Family Exploration Day will be on Saturday, June 29 from 10am-2pm. Stay tuned for the location and we will look forward to seeing you there! 😀

Here is the First Year Recap of WREN's Youth Land Stewards Education program! Thank you to River Road Elementary and Mt. Vernon Elementary and Ridgeview Elementary for your participation and support. Also a special thank you to the Bureau of Land Management!

If you didn't catch it, please check out the summary video of our pilot year!

WREN's Education Director, Isabel Justiniano, spent the day at the Plants and Pollinators Homeschool Day. There were science and craft activities for the students as well as a chance to explore the stations along the trail! A big thank you to and for hosting a wonderful event! 🦋🌻🌞🐝

Today WREN's Wetland Wander was led by the wonderful Sara Spoden and Kevin House of Mount Pisgah Arboretum. They showed us some bats roosting on site and talked all things insects. It was a beautiful morning and we all had a great time learning and exploring! Thank you to our walk leaders and all those who made it out!

Over the weekend WREN participated at the We Are Bethel Celebration. We loved getting to know community members and seeing familiar faces! Kids participated in an art activity decorating leaves for our tree. A big thank you to those involved with putting on such a great day!

This week concluded WREN's in class programs and field trips for the 2023-24 school year! A highlight was constructing watershed models with the students and simulating different scenarios that impact water quality and habitat health. We also played a student favorite "Migration Madness." What a way to wrap things up! 🗻❄️☔️🌞🌻

Keep an eye out for our summer Family Exploration Days. They are a great opportunity to discover our local ecosystems while enjoying time outside!

As the school year comes to a close, WREN is finishing up field trips and in class visits. We have really enjoyed sharing time and activities with you as we have learned about the importance of wetlands! Here are some of the recent highlights 📗🌞🌱🐦

WREN's Education Director, Isabel Justiniano, was recently interviewed by Adam Huizenga with .9 for their Focus on Community series. Give it a listen to learn more, hear about volunteer opportunities, and events!

https://www.wewetlands.org/about-us/

Field Trip Day! WREN had a Montessori class out to learn about wetlands and pollinators. We used scientific tools like magnifying glasses, binoculars, and nature journals. The students had a lot of fun playing games and using their observational skills!

WREN was thrilled to participate at this year's Wildflower Festival! It was a wonderful day meeting community members, educating about our programs and mission, and sharing in the beauty of springtime flowers. We identified animal tracks and s**t, did a few art projects, and played a matching game about pollinators with families. 🐾🌸🌳🦋🌞

A special thanks to Mt. Pisgah Arboretum and the Emerald Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, Lane Community College, and University of Oregon Biology for partnering to put on a special event!

The last few days WREN hosted students from at the West Eugene Wetlands. The students practiced their observation skills using binoculars and magnifying glasses, identified species living in the wetlands, and discussed how they can conserve this unique habitat. To recap what they learned, the students added observations to their own nature journals. We had a great time exploring the wetlands together!

We had beautiful weather for our Wetland Wander today at the Tsanchiffin Trail! Colin Sayre and Christine Calhoun of the BLM talked about the restoration of this site, including invasive and woody species management, and the use of test plots to promote the growth of Willamette Daisy. We also identified many beautiful plant species including Common camas, Mule's ear, lomatium (Bradshaw's and Bare stem), Nootka rose, Death camas, Saxifrage, and more!

May is American Wetlands Month, and what better way to celebrate than with another Wetland Wander! 💦🌸🌞

Join us this Tuesday, 9-11 am for a special walk along the Tsanchiffin Trail/Balboa, meeting at the Red House (751 S. Danebo Ave). Our walk will be led by the BLM's Colin Sayre and Christine Calhoun, and will be focused on the management of this site's wetlands, and plant species! We hope to see you there!

Meet the newest member of our team, Nate Jensen! Nate is our Environmental Education Intern through the Land Steward Program of the

Nate was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT. He grew up skiing, hiking, and running in the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges. This area allowed him to discover a deep love for endurance sports and the beautiful wild places that he had such great access to. In college he pursued his interests by studying exercise science and biology, graduating with a BS from Utah Valley University. After graduating he set off to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest, promising himself that he would move there one day. The last few years he had the chance to work for Patagonia in Salt Lake where he continued to grow his love for environmental activism and community engagement until the perfect opportunity came to move to Eugene. When he is not working you can find him running, hiking, camping, reading, or watching soccer!

Yesterday WREN wrapped up the first year of the Youth Land Stewards Education Program (YLSEP)! 🪻🌎🌸🌳🐾🦫

Thank you to the Mt. Vernon Elementary School, Ridgeview Elementary School, and River Road/El Camino del Río Elementary School - Eugene 4J for participating this year, and for coming out to visit the West Eugene Wetlands! We've truly enjoyed teaching you about our critical habitats and threatened and endangered species! See you next year!

And just like that, we’ve reached the end of Earth Month! We want to give a huge thank you to all of our business partners that donated money, space, and refreshments this month. We’d like to give a big shout out to our community partners as well! Our events and fundraising efforts wouldn’t have been possible without all of you. To hear more about our events, listen to KEPW Eugene Community Radio Station, John Q Murray’s interview with Isabel Justiniano, our Education Director! 🌎🌿🐝🐞🍻☕️🥐

https://wholecommunity.news/2024/04/26/wren-celebrates-west-eugene-wetlands-for-earth-day-earth-month-and-year-round/

WREN’s busy season is far from over though! Keep an eye out for more community events, including a planting event with Friendly Area Neighbors and the City of Eugene Parks and Open Space at Westmoreland Park on May 4th! You can find more information about upcoming events by following us on social media, checking our website, www.wewetlands.org, or signing up for our newsletter.

Thank you to our partners! Earth Day Oregon, , , ColdFire Brewing Company, and Holden Center

Explore Bethel’s beautiful Golden Gardens park and learn all about the critters that make this place home. From 10am to 2pm on May 4th, community organizations (Beyond Toxics, Active Bethel Community, Lane County Audubon Society, Willamette Resources and Educational Network (WREN), Wildcraft Cider Works) will join together and lead family friendly educational tours and activities around the park!

WREN had a blast at the Dos Rios-Two River Elementary School STEAM night AND the Changemakers Speakers series at the Hult Center! Families played "Guess the Wetland Ingredients" and got an up close look at our skulls, tracks, and s**t samples! 🐾💦🌳

Happy Earth Day! This month, we’ve had so much fun planting native species, cleaning up litter, and enjoying refreshments from our awesome business partners , , , and . 🍻☕️🥐

We were proud to partner with . Through Earth Day Oregon we joined with hundreds of nonprofits and businesses to take collective action in making Oregon more livable, just, and sustainable. Make sure to follow Earth Day Oregon so you can get updates on other upcoming events and future campaigns 🌎🌿🐝🐞

There’s no better way to celebrate Earth Day than with WREN tomorrow, April 20th! We’ll be planting native species and enjoying refreshments from at Turtle Swale from 10-12 and cooling off with a drink at ColdFire Brewing Company from 3-5 🌎🌿🐝🐞🍻

Yesterday WREN had the opportunity to attend the U of O Environmental Connect Fair! WREN will be hiring a part-time intern to help with our Fall programming, and we also have ongoing volunteering opportunities. If you're a college student interested in interning or volunteering with us, please reach out to our Programs Assistant: Rachel Schneiderman, [email protected]