The Land Legacy Committee meeting, originally scheduled for 4:00 PM Monday, March 30th, has been rescheduled and now begins at 5:00 PM. This will be a teleconference meeting. For more details on the meeting and how to attend please visit our Land Legacy Committee page.
Updated March 25th, 2020
We at EMSWCD care about your health and the health of our most vulnerable populations. With the growing concerns around COVID-19 (novel coronavirus), we have decided to close our offices to the public and cancel many of our upcoming workshops and events until further notice. Most staff will be working remotely. Please call or e-mail for assistance.
EMSWCD staff are working on ways to bring the workshops, meetings, and events to you remotely. Please see our Upcoming Workshops page for updated information about our spring workshops. Stay tuned for further updates, please keep social distancing, and stay healthy!
Additional information is available from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Oregon Health Authority:
Laura Masterson (left) presents Allison Hensey with a service award
At the February Board meeting, At-Large 2 Director Allison Hensey resigned from her position on the EMSWCD Board of Directors. We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Allison for seven years of dedicated service to the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. Among her many valuable contributions, Allison has done terrific work helping advance diversity, equity and inclusion at EMSWCD, and serving as our Board Chair over the last year guiding the organization through a time of transition.
Carrie Sanneman, formerly our Associate Director, has been appointed to the At-Large 2 position. To learn more about our Board members, as well as view upcoming meetings and agendas, please visit our Board section.
“The farm succession planning workshop series helped us create an important road map for the future of our family farm.”
-The Sturm family, 2019 Farm Succession Planning Workshop participants.
EMSWCD is excited to once again offer a free farm succession planning workshop series for District farmers(the EMSWCD service area consists of all Multnomah County east of the Willamette River). Taught by a leading national expert, the workshop series will offer strategies to transition the farm and farm business, tax planning and so much more. One-on-one personalized counseling is also offered at no cost. The workshop will take place at the Multnomah Grange (30639 SE Bluff Road, Boring) on January 29th, February 12th and February 26th, and on March 11th from 1 – 4 pm, with a complimentary lunch at 12:30 PM.
Registration is required and space is limited – RSVP with Kathryn Nishimoto at (503) 594-0738 or kathykb@clackamas.edu.
The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (EMSWCD), serving all of Multnomah County east of the Willamette River, has scheduled Board meetings, Budged Committee meetings and Land Legacy Committee meetings at the District Office (5211 N. Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97217) for the months of January through June 2020.
Visit this page to see a calendar of upcoming meetings.
Welcome to EMSWCD’s Nature Notes series! Nature Notes shares small moments and interesting observations from our property, as well as related natural history tidbits, on a weekly to monthly basis.
Leave the leaves!
As 2019 draws to a close, you can help birds and pollinators (and save yourself some yardwork!) with some simple actions.
In your yard:
Leave the leaves — and everything else! Beneficial insects (those that eat garden pests, pollinate flowers and vegetables, and feed birds) need shelter through the winter just like people do. They hide in the soil under leaf litter, between layers of bark and wood, in rock piles. Many pollinators also spend the winter in hollow standing stalks of woody shrubs. Birds depend on these insects for food through the winter and into the spring. Help them survive by leaving your garden natural this winter!
On your balcony, porch, or window:
Many people help winter birds with feeders, but did you know you can also ensure a good crop of wild fruit and seeds next season by raising mason bees? These efficient early spring pollinators are safe and easy to raise, and their shelters take up no more space than a bird house. This is the time of year to start — call your local nurseries and farm supply stores to see if they have mason bee cocoons and nest supplies in stock.