Stephen's Creek Updates

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.

Stephens Creek needs a new name. How about Fringecup Creek?

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

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!

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:

• 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

After having so much success at the first event and truly creating a village day atmosphere, we decided to host another land-tending party at the Stephens Creek site. Before the event, we made connections with Fulton Community Garden, who has generously allowed us to borrow shovels, and also John Miller, a Collins' View resident who is just as obsessed with the creek as we are! In fact, he wrote this lovely blog post.

In addition, we had some visiting from the 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.

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 Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage. We had some extras, so we passed them onto Tryon Life Community Farm & Cedar Moon Ecovillage. Truly an ecoregional collaboration!

Results

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.

This time, our work included the following:

• Sitting circle and English ivy processing for basket weaving
• Ivy pulling
• Natural terracing using logs felled previously by ODOT
• Path making by edging the paths with logs to promote the return of plant growth at the edges
• Oak protection, which involved putting some chicken wire around the newly planted oaks to protect them from beavers
• Trash pickup - We even found a scooter!

We'll be hosting this event again on June 1st at 10 a.m. if you'd like to drop by!

To get more information about this project, please email regen.willamette@protonmail.com or check out Stephen's Creek.

03/22/25

Going to pull up the tire out of the creek.

This was the very first land-tending party at Stephen's Creek! After getting the ODOT Adopt-a-Landscape permit in early March 2025, our team worked tirelessly to drum up interest. We handed out flyers to more than 60 households in the neighborhood that abutted the riparian area, presented at the South Burlingame Neighborhood Association, had the project featured on the social media accounts for Westside Watersheds, posted the event on the Regenerate Cascadia website, and listed the event on the NextDoor app. Additionally, we put some flyers up on street poles in the neighborhood.

To prepare for the event, we borrowed tools from Westside Watersheds, acquired snacks, brought in signs, and set up chairs.

At the event, we had 23 people show up, including one youth.

To introduce the event, we discussed all the partnerships involved in the project and then led a meditation to help us all orient toward working patiently at the pace of nature. We invited in the sacred water of Stephen's Creek and mentally visited all the places water from this creek visits on its way to the ocean. With that done, we did a get-to-know-you game and transitioned to describing the work teams.

Piles of ivy pulled up by the mat team, waiting for basket material prep.

Everyone was able to self-select into one of the following teams (people could also move between teams at-will):

• Sitting Circle (prepping English ivy for basket-making, making cedar bundles, socializing, resting)
• Ivy Ringing (cutting a circle around trees to give them a better chance at outlasting the ivy)
• Ivy Mats (working at the top of the area to pull up a large ivy mass)
• Trash Team (bonus points for getting the shopping carts and tires out of the creek)
• Blackberry Busting (cutting and digging up blackberries on the hillside)
• Dogwood propagation (cutting and planting dogwood in the mud along the creek)

Results

We cleared half the hillside of blackberries; picked up four large landscape bags of trash, one tire (150 lbs), and two shopping carts; cleared a 20x10' area of ivy; made four bundles of basket-making material; made one cedar bundle; and propagated 20+ dogwood saplings. Additionally, one volunteer started playing the harmonica to entertain us all!

A basket made by a volunteer out of the English ivy pulled during this land-tending event (took them two hours with no experience).

We closed our land-tending event with a circle share about what surprised us and spoke about the next land-tending event, which will be on Earth Day, April 26th, from 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Everyone really enjoyed the event and is looking forward to coming again! The neighborhood association was especially pleased with how it went and anticipates sending regular attendees.

We look forward to all the ways this landscape will change over time as the result of our efforts and the natural ways that nature returns to itself.

To get more information about this project, please email regen.willamette@protonmail.com or check out Stephen's Creek.