RIVER HAPPENINGS: There is Never a Dull Moment on the Columbia

¡EXPLORANDO! JUNE 22, PORTLAND, OR

Community Organizer Ubaldo Hernández emceed the 17th annual ¡Explorando!, a bilingual environmental festival organized by the Columbia Slough Watershed Council. The free event drew over 350 people and included guided canoe trips, live music, folk dancing, storytelling, arts and crafts, workshops, and more.

COLUMBIA COUNTY OIL-BY-RAIL FORUM AND HEARING JULY 11 AND 24, CLATSKANIE, OR

Conservation Director Dan Serres and Community Organizer Kate Murphy hosted a community forum to shed light on Global Partners’ latest plans to use an ethanol facility for oilby-rail. The forum supported public turnout at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s public hearing later in the month.

FORGOTTEN TOXIC WASTE DUMP: BRADFORD ISLAND CLEANUP COMMUNITY FORUM AUGUST 6, CASCADE LOCKS, OR

Columbia Riverkeeper hosted 45 people for a panel presentation on the Bradford Island cleanup. Speakers included Lauren Goldberg, legal and program director for Riverkeeper; Rebecca Hillwig, natural resource specialist with the Oregon Health Authority; and Rebeccah Winnier, owner of Northwest Fish Hogs and a Yakama Nation tribal member.

ALL HANDS ON DECK: PROTECTING THE COLUMBIA FROM HANFORD AUGUST 22, YAKIMA, WA, AND OCTOBER 3, PORTLAND, OR

Associate Attorney Simone Anter teamed with staff from Yakama Nation to present to the Yakima Valley Audubon Society about how conservationists can advocate for Hanford cleanup. In October, a crowd gathered at the Patagonia store in Portland to hear from a panel of speakers, including Conservation Director Dan Serres, about the Trump administration’s latest plans to cut corners at Hanford and strategies to hold the government accountable.

NICHOLS NATURAL AREA COMES TO LIFE SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER, HOOD RIVER, OR

This fall, Water Quality Director Lorri Epstein and Community Organizer Ubaldo Hernández hosted two volunteer-powered work parties to plant native trees, remove invasive species, and spread mulch. Lorri and Ubaldo also taught over 200 elementary and middle-school students during a series of river-science field trips to Nichols.