This is where all things wild, conserved, beautiful and exciting get talked about.
What is 200 feet wide and 800 feet long? The future wildlife crossing over Interstate 5 at mile marker 1.7 in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument near the California-Oregon border! We are grateful that the work of the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition (SOWCC) is moving forward. While not all the funding has been secured, the first wildlife crossing over I-5 in Oregon is in the works. SOLC and many other terrific organizations and agencies are part of this life-saving effort.
Southern Oregon Land Conservancy is partnering with Rogue Valley Audubon Society, Siskiyou Chapter Native Plant Society of Oregon, and Vesper Meadow Education Project to bring the joys of beaver-based restoration to our region! This two-event series will occur in late-September/early-October. Please see below for more information on each event!
Join us for a very special spooky Open Lands Day! The Rogue River Preserve includes a floodplain forest, oak woodlands with meadows, and is only open to the public for special events. You are welcome to explore the trails at your own pace, attend one of our guided hikes, bring a picnic lunch to enjoy, or do all three. We’re offering three hikes themed around our more cryptic organisms. Registration is required, costumes are encouraged. Please only sign up for one themed hike.
Self-guided: 10:00 – 3:00. Explore the Preserve at your own pace.
Lichen Hike: 10:30 – 12:00. Discover the cryptic lichens that live on trees, rocks, and soil with lichenologist Steve Sheehy. Learn how to identify some of the 57 liches described so far on the Preserve.
Cryptozoology Hike ‘Sassy with Sasquatch’: 12:00 – 1:00. Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch, let’s go for a walk to the Fairy Forest and discuss the elusive Pacific Northwest creature. Guided by SOLC staff member Rebekah.
Cryptozoology Hike ‘Ness Around and Find Out’: 1:30 – 2:30. Learn about the monster of Loch Ness while we walk around the vernal pool-mounded prairies; perhaps we’ll spot a distant cousin. Guided by SOLC staff member Rebekah.
This spring, SOLC piloted an exciting new program in collaboration with Unete Center for Farmworker Advocacy and Southern Oregon Climate Action Now. Eighteen Latinx high school youth participated in the program, which introduced them to the science of climate change, the impacts of climate change in our region, and actions that local people and organizations are taking to build resilient communities and landscapes.
Thanks to the work of Representative Pam Marsh and the Environmental Law Center, as well as many others, the bill HB 3464 “Enhancing Oregon’s Fire Resiliency and Water Security through Beaver Management” was developed. Now, beaver management is streamlined into a single state agency (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife) for informed management so that the benefits of beaver in mitigating climate change impacts like wildfire, drought, and protection of imperiled species can be fully realized.
In late May, SOLC staff lead a two-part workshop for local fiber artists to learn about an invasive plant and how to use it! Staff members Tara, Rebekah, Amber, and 15 dedicated attendees spent two days getting to know the invasive dyer’s woad and just one of the many methods for dyeing yarn and linens with it.
WE DID IT! Thanks to YOU, we just conserved 389 acres at Buck Prairie.
This newly protected land is highly scenic, carpeted by a vibrant meadow, with a stream flowing through it and flanked by dark green mountain forests. The 389 acres includes aspen stands, headwater streams, montane forests with grand old Pacific yews, and rocky meadows supporting biscuitroots and western juniper.
In 2022, SOLC facilitated 1,676 student-days of programming and hosted several teacher professional development workshops. From the valley floor to the ridgelines, we are delighted to be supporting learners of all ages – whether they’re kindergarteners practicing their colors with fall leaves in the Jacksonville Woodlands or in-service teachers exploring trauma-informed fire ecology education. Learn more about our education efforts in 2022 and what we look forward to in the year ahead.
In September of this year, SOLC representatives, community partners, and an experienced facilitation team took to the water for Decolonizing the Rogue, a four-day guided exploration on the Wild and Scenic section of the Rogue River. This spectacular setting provided an immersive classroom to delve into how expanded cultural awareness, racial equity, and recognition of impacts from colonial domination can reframe the ways we enjoy and relate to nature – and how we can embody those big ideals in our work as a land trust. learn more about this transformational decolonization river workshop and its impacts on SOLC's work.
When SOLC acquired new lands earlier this year, we also acquired a new rare species, the Vernal Pool Fairy Shrimp. This tiny shrimp is recognized as a threatened species by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. To monitor and steward these animals, two SOLC staff members earned special certification. Read about the certification process and purpose, and some geeky factoids about our community of fairies.
SOLC’s annual Member Picnic reminded us of why coming together – in person --makes conservation possible, and the many ways that our individual curiosity and commitment combine to achieve lasting impact. From this year’s Conservation Award, presented to the founders of the Willow-Witt Ranch, to the Volunteer of the Year Award presented to Linda Kappen, to the assembly of 150+ members, staff, and board (old and new), this picnic marked the progress we have made across 44 years of collaborative, community-based work.
Online community science platforms are being used across the globe to document species of all kinds. SOLC staff were curious if guests of the Rogue River Preserve were making and documenting observations while visiting. They were pleasantly surprised that visitors have! Find out some some of the species they documented and who were the top contributors.
Nature Talks on YouTube
Enjoy recordings of our past Nature Talks. Each event has multiple presenters. From our local national trails, to new SOLC conserved lands, to special species, to tracking animals in the snow - you’ll gain knowledge to impress all your friends.
Stand in a clump of Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) or madrona trees during a winter storm, the trunks wet and luscious, creamy green and burnished red, and feast on the beauty. Children pull off the beckoning curly bark strips and stroke the underlying pale green bark, smooth and soothing. Mature trees can support many bark colors and textures: the older rough brown-gray squares, dark weathered curlicues, strips of fresh reds, and the young apple-green bark. Every summer, madrone trees shed older bark, sloughing off flecks, and puzzle pieces, decorating the forest floor.
84 Fourth Street (office)
PO Box 954
Ashland, OR 97520
info@landconserve.org
541.482.3069
