Conservation Note for September

Fall greetings! This month your conservation committee would like to reinforce our past messages with a few suggestions for members this fall for what you can do to support conservation of the places we love.

Join the Nesika work party September 20-22, and help us free up our little reforestation seedlings, which have been overgrown and overwhelmed. If you can’t stay overnight, you can go in Saturday morning and leave Saturday evening after a delicious dinner.
Go to trailkeepersoforegon.org and sign up to volunteer for trail work. This is always a good way to have fun outdoors while giving back. And yes, they do trail work in the winter, too.
Set aside a few minutes each week to write or email your state or federal representatives about an issue you care about. So many of the places we love, so many of the laws which protect the wilderness and wildlife we love, are currently at risk. Almost every organization we have featured has issues listed on its website needing your support (or opposition.) From opposing mines near Mt St Helens ( cascadeforest.org ), to asking your state legislator for revision of the Oregon Forest Practices Act ( forestwaters.org , oregonwild,org) to require more trees left along streams during timber harvest, your voice can make a difference.
Have you heard about the new movement among doctors for “RX Outdoors,” physicians actually writing prescriptions for their patients to spend time outdoors? As TCO members you clearly believe that spending time outdoors is good. Try to find time each week to simply stand in a forest, not plunging off on a conditioning hike, but simply stand or sit, and smell, listen and look.
Pay attention to the ground cover, the forest duff, the little shrubs, the hardwoods, as well as the great conifers. Notice who else is there, birds, bugs, ground dwellers, tree dwellers. And contemplate what her forests mean to Oregon, to all Oregonians, and to you. And for our older members, who are not out hiking the trails as they once did, time outdoors is even more important for your health; take time even if only to sit somewhere outdoors each week. You can do some of your reading and writing outdoors, with a little Herbal Armor (non-DEET) to keep the bugs from interrupting your concentration, soaking in the outdoors and filling your RX Outdoors prescription.

Wishing you fall beauty, wild mushrooms, and great hikes,

For the love of of our forests, streams, rivers, and wetlands,

Your Conservation Committee