Abbreviated Minutes from a public meeting held November 23, 2013 at Rock Springs Ranch .
There were twenty one attendees.
- The Cooperative Management Agreement (CMA) between the fTWC and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was signed on October 25, 2013. This will support the implementation of the Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan 2006 in our neighborhood.
- BLM decided to expand the boundaries of the ‘Tumalo Natural Area’ – previously limited to the tract of land to the north of Couch Market Road – to include all of their land which is now included in the Tumalo Wildlife Corridor. It will be signed as BLM Tumalo Natural Area.
- The fTWC can now start a program of work as follows:
- Install entry point signs and identify car parking areas
- Block entry to some user-initiated trails, while respecting Public Rights of Way and access for emergency and administrative purposes
- Install educational and informational signs and kiosks
- Survey and, where possible, restore the local populations of Peck’s Milkvetch in collaboration with Oregon’s Native Plant Conservation Program (Oregon Department of Agriculture and OSU) – more details in number 5 below
- Build a website
- Maps will be installed in the kiosks and also information and educational material describing the native wildlife and plants as well as the habitats they occupy to included historical and cultural information about the area – for example the old dam, pioneer activities and Native American peoples who inhabited the area – will also be included.
- This area is home to one of the largest populations of Astragalus peckiiin the world. A.peckii (Peck’s milk-vetch) is an endangered plant that is unique to three counties in Oregon (Crook, Deschutes and Klamath). The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), together with Oregon State University (OSU) plan to do research and restoration work on this plant in this area (and have funding for the project).
Volunteers
- Volunteers are needed for each of the projects identified. A volunteer sheet was passed round at the meeting: we need as many volunteers as possible for work we hope to start on site work in early 2014.
- For those seeking strenuous activity, installation of signs, clearing the car parks etc would be an excellent choice.
- For others, preparing information sheets and educational material for the kiosks may be preferable.
- We also need help with creating and setting up a website for the fTWC.
List of Projects – Volunteers needed!
- Install signs and kiosks
- Clear car parking areas
- Barbed wire removal and trash pick-up
- Astragalus peckii(ODA/OSU project)
- Website development
If you are interested in volunteering please e:mail me at friendsofthetwc25@gmail.com– if you have a preferred project(s), please indicate it by number, otherwise we will assign you to a project and, nearer the time, contact you to check your continued interest and availability.
Funding
We need to raise about $7,000.00 to cover our planned range of projects and educational activities. The Committee of fTWC have committed to double the pledges of any member up to a total of $3,500.00. We received several pledges at the meeting and will now begin an outreach to raise the balance of our funding target.
Thank you for your continuing interest.
Veronica Newton Hudson
President, Friends of the Tumalo Wildlife Corridor.