13 Nov October 2018 Newsletter
Thank You to Our Volunteers!
Thanks to our awesome volunteers, we had a great year of conservation trips in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest! We led a number of beaver habitat surveys, collected seeds for post-fire restoration projects, did some riparian planting, measured huckleberry regrowth in treatment areas, and explored areas slated for timber harvest. We wouldn’t have accomplished half as much without the dedicated volunteers who help make it happen. We’d like to thank everyone who joined for trips this year. Your involvement makes a huge difference for our organization.
So far we’ve had 120 adult volunteers and 215 students join for trips in 2018, and we still have a few more trips planned for the year—a riparian planting trip and three Young Friends of the Forest trips. As we wrap up a great field season and gear up for planning another, we are feeling extremely grateful for everyone who has made it their mission to actively participate in the stewardship of this wonderful landscape of the southern Washington Cascades.
CFC‘s Banquet and Auction Recap
CFC‘s annual Banquet and Auction on October 4 was a rousing success! We had a great night celebrating with our friends and supporters, and raised more money than ever before for our conservation programs. You can take a look at some photos here: https://photos.app.goo.
A special thanks goes out to our sponsors below, and especially to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe for being our premier sponsor. At our event, we highlighted CFC‘s Young Friends of the Forest Program, which brings over 200 middle and high school students each year on science and restoration trips to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We’re grateful to everyone who attended for supporting this and many other projects in Washington’s South Cascades.
2018 Auction and Banquet Sponsors:
Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Mountain Rose Herbs, Friends of Mount Adams, Columbia Sportswear, Oregon RFID, Oregon Data, Hammer & Hand Construction, Home Advisor, Gordon King
Volunteer of the Year – Bob Robison!
Bob Robison was recognized as our Volunteer of the Year for 2018! Bob has been volunteering with CFC for over 3 years. This year he went on over half our trips and went out on his own multiple times to work on our beaver habitat surveys. Needless to say, Bob has worked on almost all of our projects. He’s able to help teach new volunteers the tricks of the trade, easily making him an invaluable person to have in the field with us. Thanks for all you do for CFC Bob!
Comments on Marbled Murrelet Long-Term Conservation Strategy due November 6
Marbled murrelets are seabirds about the size of a robin, related to puffins, and some might say they are similar in shape to a potato. A majority of their lives are spent out at sea, where they feed on small fish and crustaceans. The nesting behavior of marbled murrelets was a mystery until 1974 when the first nest was discovered. These birds do not build a nest, but instead lay one egg on a mossy limb of an old growth conifer.
To provide suitable nesting habitat for marbled murrelets, trees need to have old growth characteristics such as large, mossy branches and other deformities that can be used as nesting platforms. Generally it takes forests at least 100 years to develop these characteristics. While raising chicks, murrelets must return to the sea nightly to forage for food, therefore mature forests must also be located within 55 miles of marine waters to be suitable as nesting habitat. This unique nesting behavior inescapably binds the fate of marbled murrelets with the fate of mature and old growth forests.What is the Long Term Conservation Strategy and why is it important for marbled murrelets?
Read more in our blog, here: https://cascadeforest.
Join the CFC Canvass!
Happy Halloween from CFC!
