Stephen's Creek Updates

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.