An amazing day along Tumalo Creek! Highland Elementary students came out in full force...

We kicked off a ten-week river study project with Highland Elementary School today. A whole school project!! As part of their Deschutes Riverkeepers storyline, Highland students are exploring the Deschutes River and Tumalo Creek with the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council. Thanks to funding from the Clabough Foundation and REI, we will be coordinating 15 more field days to help all of the students learn about, connect to, and help care for our home streams.

For our first day in the field, we decided to go big today-- really big. Over 300 students helped us restore hundreds of ponderosa pine trees to the Tumalo Creek watershed. To guide the students to understand the value of the trees in relation to the health of the creek, we led them on an adventurous scavenger hunt to explore and discover all of the wonders along the streambanks. Check out today's photos and video and stay tuned for more to come...

Conservation education out on our rivers and in the field!

It is that time of year again, we are busy working with multiple schools and partners this spring. Stay tuned to hear more about:  

• A hands-on project with Miller Elementary School to explore and learn about Ryan Ranch. Wait until you see the beautiful flora and fauna flags the kids are going to create!
• The Whychus Creek field guide that Sisters Middle School students are working on. With botanical sketches, creative writing, and ecological information about Whychus Creek, everyone is going to want this field guide in their back pocket.
• Our newest education project-- The Deschutes Riverkeepers Project is an exciting opportunity for an entire school to become activated Riverkeepers who will adopt and steward the Deschutes River!!

As an ongoing project in partnership with Deschutes National Forest and Discover Your Northwest, hundreds of students have been participating in hands-on conservation education projects at Ryan Ranch on the Deschutes River. The entire fifth grade at Miller Elementary will be working on three different projects to look at Ryan Ranch through different lenses. They will be artist, writers, historians, and scientists for the next four months as they try to capture Ryan Ranch through painting, creative writing, research, and data collection while out in the field. Ultimately, the students will create an educational video about Ryan Ranch, a mural of the past, present, and future of Ryan Ranch, and flora and fauna flags to share with the community. Students will present their final projects at our annual watershed event at Mt. Bachelor Village on May 15th, Students Speak: A Watershed Summit.

Sisters MIddle School students are halfway through their year-long Whychus Creek study project. Thanks to support from the Roundhouse Foundation and a really cool partnership with Arts Central, 120 middle school students are applying their new environmental knowledge to create a field guide all about Whychus Creek.
 
In April, we will be starting the three-month Deschutes Riverkeepers project with 400 elementary students. The Deschutes Riverkeepers is an interdisciplinary, place-based watershed education program for these elementary students to explore and connect with their home watersheds. They will participate in activities such as hiking along the river, creative writing, streamside art, hands-on science, and stewardship projects. The Deschutes Riverkeepers is a holistic program that combines regional curricula with outdoor exploration in an effective way to guide students to become engaged in informed and active conservation. With so many great kids out in the field, we need volunteers! Please email kyake@restorethedeschutes to sign up!
 

It should be a fun filled spring with many days spent along the beautiful Deschutes River!

All of our projects are made possible with community support and donations. To contribute to conservation education in Central Oregon, click here to make your donation today.

Planting along Whychus Creek

A fun, but cold day of restoration work

One of the many willows planted along the banks of Whychus Creek

Happy to be doing hard work

Making sure the hole is deep enough for the alder tree

End of the day of planting with the hard working 6th graders

The Students from Sisters Middle School were asked to be apart of a restoration project along Whychus Creek, which they gladly accepted. With gloves on and shovels in hand they proved to be hard workers, planting a few hundred plants, helping to transform the bare banks of the creek into a future healthy riparian zone. Even though the mornings were freezing cold, the students were troopers, doing their part in the restoration project. This was their third outing to Whychus Creek, where they learned more about the creek and riparian plants. Next week will be their last Fall outing, but the project will continue for the rest of the year.

Ryan Ranch Data Collection

Taking photo points at each of the 6 transects

Taking a break in the Reed Canary grass

Making sure the data is correctly taken

Identifying and measuring the DBH of live trees

Using calipers to measure dead and down wood for carbon data

Finishing the day up with reflection

It has been a journey of learning for the past 6 weeks for the 7th graders from REALMS. They finished up their last field day of data collection at Ryan Ranch this week. As an overview, the first day to Ryan Ranch, they came as first timers with wide eyes and open minds, ready to learn and take in all that they could about the place. The second field trip was the first day of data collection. They were learning to be scientist in the field which takes extra effort when faced with the unexpected and cold weather. They were troopers though and were good scientist, collecting good data. The data collected was from soil moisture and type to shrub and ground cover identification to large tree counts. The students learned a tremendous amount and by the end of the day were experts in their data collection methods. This week was the last field day for the students and by the end of the day they all felt a strong connection to the place of Ryan Ranch. The weather held off just long enough for the last carbon data to be collected. The goal for the last day was to collect carbon data for a plot of land in the forest near the meadow. This will then be compiled in the class room, using math and science together to see how much carbon is stored in the forest around Ryan Ranch. All in all, the students had a wonderful time at Ryan Ranch and will continue to work with the data that they collected through out the winter. In the spring the students will have the opportunity to revisit the meadow and river again, looking at it through artist eyes.

Thanks to a recent grant from the Roundhouse Foundation, Sisters Middle School students discover Whychus Creek with the Upper Deschutes Watershed Council!

Discovery of a snow berry!

Having fun on the log bridge

Sketching an aspen tree for the Whychus Creek field guide

Learning how to identify the different trees along Whychus Creek

Reflecting on the day

Enjoying the fall colors and the beauty of Whychus Creek

On the scavenger hunt for new plants and wildlife

Last week, we had our second field trip to Whychus Creek with 120 students from Sisters Middle School. We began our field studies by hiking into Whychus Creek canyon at the Discovery Outpost. The days were so beautiful! Aspen and alder trees were changing colors and the resident golden eagle flew above us in the blue sky. The students went on a discovery scavenger hunt to find new plants and signs of wildlife. Some of the investigative students found deer tracks and raccoon tracks. Owl  feathers and deer bones were found by another group of explorers as well. The students had a blast learning about the ecology of Whychus Creek through hands-on investigations. We finished each field study with a short writing project to reflect upon the lessons of the day. The kids spread throughout the canyon to write and reflect on what they had discovered about the botany and wildlife that call Whychus Creek their home. Here is a short poem written by Ross, an 8th grader from Sisters Middle School:

Whychus Creek

Slashing, gurgling,
Sweeping downward
Through palisades of pine trees.
Ever moving,
Ever flowing, it is a stream
And will be for evermore.
Rocks and trees
All dependent on its fertile soil.

REALMS at Ryan Ranch

We had two beautiful days for the first field trips that the 7th graders took to Ryan Ranch. Students were able to explore and discover the secrets of Ryan Ranch. The students learned a little about the history of the giant meadow and they began learning about the plants that can be found along the Deschutes River. This week, they will be putting their new knowledge into action while they collect vegetation data along six different transects. REALMS students will compare and contrast the differences and similarities between the meadow and the pine forest. They will compile their data in order to compare it to last year's student collected data collected. Hopefully, the days will be sunny and warm for the students. Stay tuned for fun pictures from our next two field days...

Busy Fall

Looking at the calendar, it looks like we have filled up October with field days working with local schools! We are excited for more days in November out in the field, to accommodate excited teachers to get their students outside. We are hoping for a very temperate November, lets all hope for a beautiful fall.

Last week was our first outings with Sisters Middle school, out at Camp Polk Meadow. The 7th and 8th graders collected a lot of information about the flora and fauna of Whychus Creek for their end project of field guide for the creek. We are starting to work with REALMS this week. They will be learning about general information about Ryan Ranch, the history, and the proposed restoration project for Ryan Ranch. The students will also have an introduction into the plants that can be found in the area to prepare them for the next outing when they will be collecting data from a preset transect. This will be happening this Wednesday and Thursday, so look for an update and fun pictures later this week.