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Laura Brown

A compilation of presentations and resources from the 2020 State of the Willamette workshop for Willamette Basin restoration partners to share perspectives on the current state of river restoration practice, science, funding, and ways to improve restoration outcomes from local to regional scales.

Matt and Serene Mellenthin know how lucky they are. Their spot on the Willamette River is their paradise.

Jenny Meisel, like so many of us, has been at home a lot recently. Like, a lot a lot. As in, the most consecutive time at home ever. While working a full-time job as Marion SWCD’s Native and Invasive Species Plant Specialist and simultaneously wrangling her extremely active three-year-old daughter, Jenny has still somehow managed

I was hiking along a trail in the Patagonia region of Chile recently, enjoying the 30 mph wind in my face, when I first spotted it… scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius). What?! I was 7,312 miles from Oregon, and more importantly 8,455 miles from Scotland! What was it doing here?! There among the Andes Mountains, glaciers,

What a beautiful show Fall gave us this year! I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off the brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges that decorated Benton County. Alas, as all the leaves fall and many native species go dormant for the winter, the plant that continues to catch my eye is…you

It was going to be a scorcher… 97 degrees was the predicted high for the Willamette Valley on that mid-June day. Fortunately for Benton SWCD’s Laura Brown and Charity Mundava (a Vera Theiss Fellow with the International River Foundation who had flown in from Australia the day before!) they would be taking Benton SWCD’s brand

When Scott Youngblood comes into the room, he doesn’t just bring a wealth of knowledge and a Southern drawl, he brings a contagious enthusiasm for conservation and restoration and an unparalleled love for the Willamette River.

In the world of invasive species, it’s hard enough to keep up with the new species we should be aware of and then we’re expected to relearn the ever-changing genus/species combinations of plants we thought we already knew… On top of it all, we’re supposed to remember all the acronyms…oh the acronyms! Between SWCD’s (Soil