The Dirt

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.

Whether it’s an ice storm, a wildfire, or another natural disaster, volunteers from Benton County Community Emergency Response Team (BC CERT) have been trained to help their neighbors respond. CERT volunteer Pam Wilson provides tips to get ready for the next event/disaster and to prepare for possible evacuation due to fire.

In this post, Lauren offers 6 tips on how you can design a bird-friendly garden right in your own backyard.

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.

In my blog post The Native Link: The Importance of Native Plants to Birds, I describe the importance of native plants to the ecosystem, and more specifically, how birds benefit from native plants. But what exactly is the problem with nonnative, and more specifically invasive, plants and how do they affect birds and the ecosystem

Raingardens offer an effective landscape solution to managing stormwater on-site.

Can information from the soil explain why some prairie restoration efforts are more successful than others? In 2016, the Prairie Soils for Sustainable Restoration project set out to find the answer, thanks to funding from Oregon Natural Resources Conservation Service.

2017 was an exceptional year of Integrated Biological Pest Management (IBPM) education thanks to USDA Risk Management Education Partnerships Program funding and the leadership of Gwendolyn Ellen.

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

In this post, Lauren Pharr provides some useful tips that can help you begin identifying birds by their song

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

Lauren Pharr shares her top tips for new and beginning birders!