Stephens Creek Updates - Revision history

Avltavin at 22:10, 25 February 2026

2026-02-25T22:10:12Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:10, 25 February 2026
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			== 02/25/25 ==
			[[File:20260219 161456.jpg\|left\|thumb\|''A stormwater pipe along Stephens Creek at the Fringecup Landing site.'']]
			Over the past few months, our local community group has been hard at work (rain or shine) on planting cuttings from local native plants such as Pacific ninebark, red osier dogwood, spirea, and willow along the eroded creek bed. Our volunteers have been going strong and have also recently made connections with a few of our unhoused neighbors, enabling us to bring supplies and resources.

			We are nearly finished with the log terracing along the stairs, which is slowing the water in the area and creating soil for future plantings. Though it's not official yet, '''we proposed an expansion from our six-acre area into another four acres upstream''', which will allow us to pick up more trash, plant more trees, and clear out more invasive plants.

			Two weeks ago, we were specifically invited to apply for [https://wmswcd.org/ West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District]'s Ripple Grant, '''which would supply the project with more than $20,000''' to fund more plants, labor, permit management, a community tool library, educational signs, and much more! We anticipate starting up quarterly plant identification walks as part of our education.

			Since there are 12 months in a year and 12 [https://earth.fm/earth-stories/permaculture-principles/ permaculture principles], we decided to theme each of our work parties. For "Observe and Interact," we all took 20 minutes at the beginning of the work party to see what was calling our attention, and we used that information to collectively determine what we wanted to work on.

			The second permaculture principle is "Catch & Store Energy," so we focused on getting the terraces closer to completion to help the water absorb into the landscape.

			And, we did a '''community town hall and visioning session''' for the neighborhood associations, explaining the work we have been doing on the project and inviting participants to dream big about what's possible along Stephens Creek. It was wildly successful and a great way to educate local community members about watershed restoration.

	== 11/08/25 ==		== 11/08/25 ==

Avltavin: /* 10/11/25 */

2025-11-10T19:15:51Z

10/11/25

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:15, 10 November 2025
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			== 11/08/25 ==
			[[File:20251010 135845.jpg\|thumb\|This is the confluence of Fringecup/Stephens Creek and the Willamette River. ]]
			Last month, Westside Watersheds donated 85 native plants to our project. We had about 20 neighbors and partners come out to help get all the plants in the ground now that the rainy season is here.

			We planted five each of the following plants:

			* Red alder
			* White alder
			* Western red cedar
			* Oregon white oak
			* Serviceberry
			* Fringecups
			* Maidenhair ferns
			* Spreading wood ferns
			* Flowering red currant
			* Yarrow

			We also planted 30 Western Sword ferns. It very exciting to see this culmination of the project. We have been prepping the zones for additional plants to help stop erosion here for the past six months! Now, we have to keep the English ivy from growing over them.

			We are happy to report that there is much less trash in the area since we first started this project. We are down to 0-1 bags of trash when before we were pulling out about 10 bags of trash.

			There is still a semi-truck tire lodged against the pipe in the creek, but we will need some specialized equipment for that. Also, we have determined that we need a new heavy-duty wagon, so we are in the market!

	== 10/11/25 ==		== 10/11/25 ==

Avltavin at 22:03, 13 October 2025

2025-10-13T22:03:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:03, 13 October 2025
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			== 10/11/25 ==
			I haven't made an update for a while, but that doesn't mean we haven't been hard at work! We have changed our schedule to be second Saturdays from 10a.m.-12:30p.m to have more consistency in these events, and since March, we've been doing land-tending days at least once a month, if not more often.

			We were very excited to receive a [https://getchipdrop.com/ ChipDrop] mulch pile earlier this summer as a collaboration with local neighbors, ODOT, and local arborists. We are about two thirds of the way through that first pile and have been using it to mulch new pathways, baby trees, and a garden bed that we are hoping to plant at the top of the stairs in November.

			We recently received $250 from Westside Watersheds to purchase native plants, which we will be picking up in late October! We will be planting alders, cedars, red flowering currant, Western sword ferns, fringecups, and many others! Please come down to support with this effort!

	== 06/15/25 ==		== 06/15/25 ==

Ean5533: Ean5533 moved page Stephen's Creek Updates to Stephens Creek Updates: Misspelled title

2025-08-03T21:03:11Z

Ean5533 moved page Stephen's Creek Updates to Stephens Creek Updates: Misspelled title

← Older revision	Revision as of 17:03, 3 August 2025
(No difference)

Avltavin at 17:12, 26 June 2025

2025-06-26T17:12:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:12, 26 June 2025
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	== 06/15/25 ==		== 06/15/25 ==
	It was a small group given that it was Fathers' Day and that there were ongoing L.A. solidarity protests going on here in Portland, but we honored all the energy of the moment and let our activism be led by the land that day. We had about six people join us.		It was a small group given that it was Fathers' Day and that there were ongoing L.A. solidarity protests going on here in Portland, but we honored all the energy of the moment and let our activism be led by the land that day. We had about six people join us.
			[[File:Fringecup Creek.jpg\|thumb\|left\|Stephens Creek needs a new name. How about Fringecup Creek?]]
	This time, we did the following:		This time, we did the following:

Avltavin: /* 06/15/25 */

2025-06-26T17:03:40Z

06/15/25

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:03, 26 June 2025
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	== 06/15/25 ==		== 06/15/25 ==
			It was a small group given that it was Fathers' Day and that there were ongoing L.A. solidarity protests going on here in Portland, but we honored all the energy of the moment and let our activism be led by the land that day. We had about six people join us.

			This time, we did the following:

			* Limbed a laurel tree that the beavers had chomped down
			* Watered the baby red cedars (they are growing so well!)
			* Cleared a patch of blackberry to prepare for ChipDrop deliveries in the future (yay!)
			* Pulled some bindweed that was snaking up the alder trees and the fencing


			Our next event is on a Monday this time, June 30th, from 6-8 p.m. Please come out and enjoy the land with us!

			The photo to the left is one we took of the area from the Terwilliger bridge, complete with Mt. Hood in the background!

	== 06/01/25 ==		== 06/01/25 ==

Avltavin at 17:00, 26 June 2025

2025-06-26T17:00:25Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:00, 26 June 2025
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	== 06/01/25 ==		== 06/01/25 ==
	We are feeling a lot of energy around this project and even hosted two impromptu tree planting events between official land-tending sessions. We also recently discovered that the area has pacific ninebark and wild roses!		We are feeling a lot of energy around this project and even hosted two impromptu tree planting events between official land-tending sessions. We also recently discovered that the area has pacific ninebark and wild roses!

			[[File:Trash Pickup.jpeg\|thumb\|As long as we collect it in a neat pile, ODOT comes to take the garbage for us. Less garbage than last time! ]]

	At this event, we had 15 people show up to do the following:		At this event, we had 15 people show up to do the following:
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	We'll be hosting this event again on Fathers' Day, June 15th from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Please drop by!		We'll be hosting this event again on Fathers' Day, June 15th from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Please drop by!

	~~[[File:Trash Pickup.jpeg\|thumb\|As long as we collect it in a neat pile, ODOT comes to take the garbage for us. Less garbage than last time! ]]~~

	== 04/26/25 ==		== 04/26/25 ==

Avltavin at 17:00, 26 June 2025

2025-06-26T17:00:02Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:00, 26 June 2025
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	~~[[File:Trash Pickup.jpeg\|thumb\|As long as we collect it in a neat pile, ODOT comes to take the garbage for us. Less garbage than last time! ]]~~

			== 06/15/25 ==

	== 06/01/25 ==		== 06/01/25 ==
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	We'll be hosting this event again on Fathers' Day, June 15th from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Please drop by!		We'll be hosting this event again on Fathers' Day, June 15th from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Please drop by!

			[[File:Trash Pickup.jpeg\|thumb\|As long as we collect it in a neat pile, ODOT comes to take the garbage for us. Less garbage than last time! ]]

	== 04/26/25 ==		== 04/26/25 ==

Avltavin at 20:17, 2 June 2025

2025-06-02T20:17:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:17, 2 June 2025
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	[[File:Trash Pickup.jpeg\|thumb\|As long as we collect it in a neat pile, ODOT comes to take the garbage for us. Less garbage than last time! ]]		[[File:Trash Pickup.jpeg\|thumb\|As long as we collect it in a neat pile, ODOT comes to take the garbage for us. Less garbage than last time! ]]

			== 06/01/25 ==
			We are feeling a lot of energy around this project and even hosted two impromptu tree planting events between official land-tending sessions. We also recently discovered that the area has pacific ninebark and wild roses!

			At this event, we had 15 people show up to do the following:

			* Holding a sitting circle/do basket weaving
			* Pickup trash from a recently vacated campsite
			* Water and mulch the baby cedars we planted between events
			* Edge the pathways to help control blackberries
			* Trim the blackberries around the roses to give them more space/sun
			* Cut branches that were presenting fire hazards
			* Pull ivy from around the cedars
			* Cut down teasel
			* Pull tansy ragwort

			We'll be hosting this event again on Fathers' Day, June 15th from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Please drop by!

	== 04/26/25 ==		== 04/26/25 ==

Avltavin at 21:41, 28 April 2025

2025-04-28T21:41:39Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:41, 28 April 2025
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	In addition, we had some visiting from the [https://design-school-for-regenerating-earth.mn.co/ Design School for Regenerating Earth], who wanted to see what we were up to! It's really exciting the ways our project has become a template for possible ways to do conservation work throughout neighboring bioregions.		In addition, we had some visiting from the [https://design-school-for-regenerating-earth.mn.co/ Design School for Regenerating Earth], who wanted to see what we were up to! It's really exciting the ways our project has become a template for possible ways to do conservation work throughout neighboring bioregions.

			[[File:Terracing.jpeg\|left\|thumb\|Natural log terracing, which will naturally collect leaves and prevent soil erosion.]]
	Because we love the area and tend it even when we don't have volunteer help, we also spent some time planting some Oregon white oaks sourced from our friends at [https://www.lostvalley.org/ Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage]. We had some extras, so we passed them onto [https://tryonfarm.org/share/ Tryon Life Community Farm & Cedar Moon Ecovillage]. Truly an ecoregional collaboration!		Because we love the area and tend it even when we don't have volunteer help, we also spent some time planting some Oregon white oaks sourced from our friends at [https://www.lostvalley.org/ Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage]. We had some extras, so we passed them onto [https://tryonfarm.org/share/ Tryon Life Community Farm & Cedar Moon Ecovillage]. Truly an ecoregional collaboration!

	=== Results ===		=== Results ===
	~~[[File:Terracing.jpeg\|left\|thumb\|Natural log terracing, which will naturally collect leaves and prevent soil erosion.]]~~
	Again, we had 23 people show up, albeit many of them new to the work! We had two kiddos there, who were very helpful at picking up trash.		Again, we had 23 people show up, albeit many of them new to the work! We had two kiddos there, who were very helpful at picking up trash.