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Green Dream
A conservation program prepares to expand from Benton into neighboring counties
By BENNETT HALL
Corvallis Gazette-Times
Dressed for the weather in rainsuit and waterproof boots, Ed Rust strides across a ryegrass field in a driving rain, paced by a pair of happy dogs. He’s eager to see how much water the storm has brought to the “Little Willamette,” a cutoff river channel that extends a marshy finger onto his family farm west of Albany.
“Oh, there’s quite a bit of water in here already,” he says, eyeing a tree-lined ditch channeling a muddy flow toward the nearby slough.
That’s good for the wood ducks, beavers and other wild creatures that rely on the Little Willamette as an island of critical habitat in an ever-expanding sea of agricultural and urban development.
Click here to download the full article (originally pubished Sunday, December 9, 2007 by the Gazette Times)
current projects
Outreach and Education
Education of children, adults, and families continues throughout the year through nature walks, native plant restoration, and classes in the mid-Willamette Valley.
Many of these activities are organized and led by Greenbelt Land Trust in cooperation with our partners (See Events and Activities). For example, a recent nature walk for 18 children, teachers, and parents at Lupine Meadows had students identifying native plant species—including the endangered Kincaid’s lupine—and experiencing the special thrill of seeing the rare Fender’s blue butterfly flutter across the upland prairie.
We continue to provide staff and materials to help with outdoor classroom instruction, such as a project with sixth and eighth graders to familiarize them with plants along the Alsea River during the salmon migration. Students identified and drew plants, and wrote descriptions of them, in their journals.
In short, Greenbelt Land Trust represents a powerful antidote to the “Nature Deficit Disorder” increasingly afflicting American children!
Trails
GLT members and volunteers are currently working with the City of Corvallis to complete new trails and improve existing trails at Timberhill Open Space. See Events and Activities for upcoming trail workdays.
Organizational Development
Board and staff are completing our new Conservation Plan and expanding our membership throughout the mid-Willamette Valley.