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Heath Keirstead

As part of an effort to make our programming accessible and relevant to the growing Latino population, in 2018 we partnered with Lincoln School and the OSU Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) undergraduate club to develop a Bilingual Family STEM Night – a first for our area.

Wishing you all the very best the season has to offer and hopes for a peaceful and fulfilling new year.

According to the City of Corvallis, single family residential customers use 46% more water in the summer than in the winter. These water conservation tips can keep lawns and gardens healthy while reducing costs and unnecessary losses.

As of June 2021, our new office location is 136 SW Washington Ave., Suite 201. Benton SWCD staff are temporarily working remotely to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.  The office is not open to the public at this time.  Please contact individual staff for assistance with your conservation needs. Staff can most easily be reached by email.

If you have nest boxes for swallows or bluebirds, you may have house sparrows too. House Sparrows are considered by many a pest because of their aggressive nesting behavior. Learn what you can do.

Winter Native Plant Sale: order online from August 15-December 31 or until all plants are sold, whichever comes first. Then schedule your winter order pick-up for February 4, 5, or 7. Shop now at bentonswcd.org/shop/.

Here is a summary of the Watershed Council efforts Benton SWCD has supported when our budget allows.   Year Watershed Council Project Summary Amount Funded 2021 Luckiamute The funds will support staff time to plan and deliver a variety of Love Your Watershed Program events in 2021. The LWC also anticipates that many of the

Since the coronavirus pandemic curtailed our ability to offer most in-person volunteer events, tours, workshops, talks, and other educational programming, Benton SWCD began sending out a weekly e-news to help us stay in touch. Here is a table with links to each of the e-news we’ve sent during the first year of the pandemic, from

Native plants brought the Pauls to Benton SWCD after they moved to Corvallis in 2006. By 2012, Jerry had revolutionized the order fulfillment process at the Native Plant Sale.

As a Garfield Elementary School teacher, Karrie Woodruff became part of the BSWCD community through Salmon Watch in the fall of 2017. Since fewer Spanish-language resources exist, she creates engaging, hands-on lessons that build from what students know from their surroundings and integrate multicultural perspectives.

Molly Monroe, with her personal and professional dedication to conserving the natural world and its inhabitants, is a role model for all budding and even long-standing conservation practitioners. Read more about this inspiring conservation neighbor!

The 2020 edition of the water weed guide includes 18 aquatic weeds of concern for Benton County and their native and non-native look-alikes.