KLCC Natural World audio program

This one speaks extensively about the Oregon White Oak savannah (author John Cooney; you can hear other editions of this program here).

Clear Creek Natural Area restoration underway

Metro’s Nature University prepared Beavercreek resident to be a site steward
By Ellen Spitaleri, The Oregon City News,Nov 9, 2011


Leo Mellon points out deer tracks in the mud at the Clear Creek Natural Area near Carver. Mellon is the site steward for the area, which was purchased by Metro in 1995.

Leo Mellon finds inspiration in the Clear Creek Natural Area near Springwater Road, two miles from the Carver Boat Ramp.

The Beavercreek resident also likes the opportunities for reflection at the natural area. He is a volunteer steward for site that includes 502 acres of prairie, forest and wetland. It is home to elk, cougars, coyotes, foxes, deer, beavers and more than 50 species of birds.

“I’ve been the site steward since the spring of 2006,” Mellon said. “A steward is supposed to be one who takes care of something, and in my own small way, I take care of this site. There is not much better a person can be.”

Mellon is one of several area stewards trained through Metro’s Nature University. His duties include keeping an eye on the site, planting trees, removing invasives, leading work parties and field trips, picking up trash, observing wildlife and filing reports after every visit.

Metro purchased the Clear Creek site in 1995, through the Greenspaces program, Mellon said. The land had to meet criteria as habitat and as a buffer between housing developments. Metro is working on a long-range plan to restore the prairie area closer to what its natural state would have been, he said.

The Clear Creek site is not open to the public, but at some point will be, he said. Clear Creek (the actual creek) forms the southern boundary of the site. The creek originates in the Cascade Mountains and flows into the Clackamas River at Carver.

Near the creek are large stands of towering timber, including Douglas fir, red cedar, western hemlock, big leaf maple and Oregon white oak – all native species.

Because part of the site is adjacent to the Oregon City School District’s Springwater Environmental Sciences School, students and teachers treat the natural area as a learning lab, and Mellon has worked with the elementary school students planting trees there.

“I’m impressed by how smart the kids are – they really have a good sense of the natural world. Kudos to their teachers and parents,” he added.


Mellon retired as principal at Washington Elementary School in Woodburn in 2002, and decided to enroll in Metro’s Nature University in 2004. The 12-week program from late January through mid-April develops volunteers who work with children and adults interpreting natural areas. Each volunteer puts in 40 hours of work after completing the training.

After he finished the program, Mellon found out about Metro’s site steward program, and he chose to be the steward at Clear Creek Natural Area, because it was in Clackamas County and so close to his home.

John Sheehan, Metro’s education program manager, sold Metro benefits in several ways from its Nature University program.

“Trained volunteers help us offer small-group nature exploration experiences to groups as large as 60 with only one Metro staff naturalist on hand and Nature U. gives participants the skills, tools and know-how that allow them to deepen their connection to the natural world, and the confidence to do so with others in their community,” Sheehan said.

The program also offers participants “a community and a structure in which to transform their relationship with the natural world and learn how to help others do the same,” Sheehan said.

“I thought I was knowledgeable about nature, but I found out how much more there was to learn. The classes give you an appreciation for the beauty and complexity of this home of ours and you see the interconnectiveness of it all.”


Nature University is a free, 12-week training course that starts people along the path of becoming naturalists and teachers. No special experience is needed, but a background in natural history and biology and working with groups is helpful.

The application for Nature University 2012 is now available; the due date is Monday, Nov. 21.

Classes meet from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays, starting the last Tuesday in January, and running through mid-April.

For more information, call Sandy Jamison, 503-813-7565, or visit the website to see a course catalog and to download an application: www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=11884.

A Scientific Argument for Intervening in Nature

Jessica Hellmann, an ecologist at Notre Dame University in Indiana, is in the midst of exactly the kind of painstaking study that can help guide those who want to move species. Hellmann works, among other places, on Vancouver Island​, studying a kind of oak savanna ecosystem that most people associate with California. The star players of these savannas are called Garry oaks or Oregon white oaks, large trees often gnarled into unique shapes. Under their canopies grow mossy meadows of wildflowers, including buttercups and star- shaped blue camas. For Canadians, this kind of ecosystem is a beloved break from the evergreens that otherwise dominate the landscape. And according to the nonprofit Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, "approximately 100 species of plants, mammals, reptiles, birds, butterflies and other insects are officially listed as 'at risk' in these ecosystems" in Canada. The range of these Garry oak savannas hugs the Pacific coast from central California to just about halfway up Vancouver Island. These savannas are quite rare in Canada and threatened by land development. Hellmann thinks that British Columbians might be interested in establishing such ecosystems farther north on the island or even on the province's mainland as the climate warms. So one set of questions that her study is asking bears directly on whether such a move would work.

Read the rest of the article from Scientific American here.  

Students work to restore Oak Savanna

Nearly 200 students from Willamette Primary School and West Linn High School recently helped plant 1,000 blue camas bulbs at the White Oak Savanna Oct. 20 (2011).

The savanna’s 14 acres is located near 10th Street and I-205 at 2000 Tannler Drive. The property, once overgrown, is now being restored to its natural habitat thanks to the Neighbors of a Livable West Linn and volunteers across the city.

The rest of the story here.

Oaks on Woodpecker Loop trail at Finley National Wildlife Refuge

Eulogy for the tree that says Vancouver Island

A Garry Oak tree found in the Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic site of Canada looms over University of Victoria students as they remove evasive species like the non-native Scotch Broom from the Garry Oak ecosystem near Victoria, BC.

VICTORIA—From Monday's Globe and Mail
by Tom Hawthorn
Sunday, Oct. 09, 2011

O gnarly Garry oak, how majestic you stand.

In summer, you offer leafy shade beneath an umbrella canopy, your branches reaching out to offer protection from harsh sunshine.

Alas, the summer warmth is but a memory. The sun hangs lower in the sky. The oaks now prepare to go dormant. Every zephyr causes a cascade of debris. The oaks shed every leaf in a downpour that includes acorns and coarse woody debris. Some fallen branches are as thick as a man’s thigh.

It is advisable to wear a hardhat while raking the yard.

The detritus accumulates in a pile at curbside, a brown pyramid of dead leaves as crunchy as potato chips.

Halloween approaches and bared Garry oaks now look spooky with knobby limbs reaching out as though to grab the slowest of the trick-or-treaters.

Lone Garry oaks dot the local landscape – three are rooted in my yard – but one of the richest ecosystems in Canada is also one of the most endangered. Other than two small stands in the Fraser Valley, the tree is found only on the southern Gulf Islands and on Vancouver Island.

Once common in these parts, Garry-oak meadows now cover less than five per cent of their former territory.

Happily, a group of botanists, zoologists and vegetation ecologists are coming to the rescue. The Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team, formed 12 years ago, has just released an online guide – www.goert.ca – for preserving and restoring Garry oak meadows.

One of the lead authors is Conan Webb, who chairs the team’s restoration and management recovery implementation group. By day, he works for Parks Canada as a species-at-risk recovery planner. (Those who are trying to preserve the Garry oak have titles as gothic as the trees.) Mr. Webb, 33, said the tree’s ecosystem is one of the most diverse to be found on the planet.

“It’s so different from the rest of the West Coast rain forest,” he noted.

Some 1,600 species of native plants and animals can be found in the Garry-oak ecosystem. About 100 are threatened with extinction.

The meadows are under assault by encroaching land development, as well as by invasive species such as Scotch broom and English ivy. European starlings and eastern grey squirrels displace native birds and eat their eggs. Garry oaks were infested by winter moths in the 1980s, an invasion repulsed over time by the voracious appetites of predatory ground beetles. The moths were followed by the jumping gall wasp and the pesky, sap-sucking phylloxera.

Before the arrival of Europeans, oak meadows blanketed the islands, thriving in the protected rain shadow found behind the Olympic Mountains and the Vancouver Island Ranges. It is a pocket of Mediterranean-like weather.

The meadows are known for their brilliant wildflower displays in spring. The first nations cultivated camas, whose bulbs are rich in carbohydrates. Early European settlers mistook distant fields of the brilliantly blue flower for lakes, a floral mirage. James Douglas, the first colonial governor, pronounced the land surrounding Victoria’s natural harbour to be “a perfect Eden.”

Much of what is now the city of Victoria was covered by Garry oak meadows. Today, one has to go to Beacon Hill Park, or the grounds of Government House to see a meadow in a natural state.

Elsewhere in the city, small patches of meadow are maintained, with volunteers supervising the well-being of the sites. Near my own house, two small city-owned plots of land, smaller than a residential lot, are home to Quercus garryana, a species named for Nicholas Garry, deputy-governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Fort Garry in Winnipeg is named after him, too, which is how far east you have to go in Western Canada to find another native species of oak.

Mr. Webb, who graduated from the University of Victoria with a biology degree, grew up in Port Hardy, outside the range of the ecosystem that now dominates his working life. As a boy, he played in the surrounding rain forest, building forts and playing hide and seek.

In Victoria, he reminds himself to make an effort to introduce his young son to natural wonders.

In the city,” he said, “it’s so easy to get disconnected from nature.”

We live amid natural wonders, from the arbutus, whose bark peels like the aftermath of a bad sunburn, to the towering Douglas fir. No tree says Vancouver Island, or the Gulf Islands, quite like the Garry oak, for which we can all give thanks, even as we spend the holiday rake in hand.

Why restore Oregon white oak habitat?

A recent article in the St. Helen's Chronicle:

By Caroline Skinner Friends of Nob Hill Nature Park

St. Helens is fortunate to still have many of its native white oak trees. These majestic trees are native to much of the West Coast, with a range from Vancouver Island, B.C., down to Los Angeles. While many oaks have been lost to development, there is now a renewed appreciation of not only their beauty, but also their importance in our ecosystem. Many communities are creating and preserving oak woodland habitat, including the new Baltimore Woods Park in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, as well as the Nob Hill Nature Park in St. Helens.

A recent program held by Friends of Baltimore Woods featured a speaker on native oak restoration and preservation. Mary Bushman, from Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services, shared information for Baltimore Woods that also applies to Nob Hill Nature Park.

Oregon's white oaks are the only oak trees native to the greater Portland area. We are in the middle of a corridor for migratory birds that use the oak habitat while traveling the range of their yearly migrations. The oaks provide food specific to some of these species, as well as resting places during their travel.

Oak woodland and savannah once covered 625 square miles of the Willamette Valley. That is more than half a million acres, including some wet areas. Little of that area remains now. Some of the large heritage oaks remaining indicate where other oaks used to live, showing how extensively they used to range. They can live for up to 500 years before starting to falter.

Typically, white oaks don't start producing acorns until at they are least 20 years old, dropping acorns from August to November. Trees growing from sprouts or re-growth grow faster than trees starting from acorns, since they can use the existing root system. As anyone who has seen them in Columbia County knows, they grow in dry, rocky hillsides but can also grow in flood plains.

Why restore Oregon white oak habitat?

Some of the native wildlife associated with oak and sheltered by it includes gray squirrel, western bluebird, white-breasted nuthatch, madrone, larkspur, biscuit root and aster. Invasive plants crowd out and suppress native plants. Also, some invasive species, like blackberry, are highly flammable. Oak has value in wildfire risk reduction. They do not create the large load of fuel found in Douglas fir forests.

For new native plants to succeed, invasive plants should first be under control.

Phase one for woodland restoration is intensive removal of invasive species. At Nob Hill Nature Park, the "friends of" group toiled for several years, starting with a SOLV trash removal event, followed by removal of ivy, holly and blackberries, with much help from their partner group, Scappoose Bay Watershed Council.

Phase two involves adding native plants, shrubs, trees and possibly grasses. At NHNP, overlooking the Columbia River, we've planted flowering red currant, vine maple, spirea, willow and Columbia lily, among others. Native plants, including several kinds of wild lilies, are starting to rebound after the removal of blackberry and ivy at the park. Spring plantings are more difficult to keep alive through summer's dry season, so fall planting is best when possible.

Phase three involves maintenance, including weed control, adding plants as needed, and follow-up watering. This phase should continue for at least three years for best results, according to Mary Bushman, who is leading the Baltimore Park project.

"Friends-of groups can be the eyes and ears of the area, and make long-term management possible," she said.

Also, holding volunteer work parties is a great way to continue to make progress, as well as to see and appreciate the changes. At Nob Hill Nature Park, work parties take place twice yearly, on the first Saturday in April and November. Volunteer work crews there have removed nearly all lunaria, vinca and holly. The park faces an ongoing battle against blackberry and ivy. Reed canary grass is a new, emerging plant problem, showing up in some areas where blackberry has been removed. Cutting, and eventually shade, might help reduce it over time.

Baltimore Woods, at approximately 30 acres so far, is at an earlier point in the restoration process. Land acquisition is still under way. Plans for this summer include the removal of a large, paved area, as well as the development of a pathway through the park. Much work lies ahead for the volunteer corps to create a new oak savannah where one was long ago, along a bluff overlooking the Willamette River and the St. Johns Bridge. A trail through the park will provide connectivity from Smith and Bybee lakes all the way to downtown Portland.

Damage has been done to our natural areas for a long time. Restoring them is not a quick or easy process. It takes a sustained commitment, over a period of time, to bring back a natural state. Even then, non-native species constantly threaten to re-invade. Oaks grow very slowly. But Nob Hill is ahead of the curve with oaks already growing well in their historic setting. Also, huge advances have been made against unwelcome plants in the last five years, thanks to great support from the City of St. Helens and the many volunteers from the community. It's important to preserve and protect our oaks while we still can, and is a way to bring something of value from the past into our future.

Kingston Prairie

A summer morning at the Nature Conservancy site near Stayton, Oregon...

Native plant nursery near Oregon City

Should you want to add an Oregon White Oak to your yard or property, Echo Valley Natives lists Quercus Garryana as one of their offerings. They have many other native plants for sale, and it's a beautiful drive...

Pacific madrone

Beautiful Pacific Madrone - often found in same habitat as Quercus Garryana.

Sudden Oak Death is “here to stay” in Oregon

All the more reason to plant an Oregon White Oak in your yard or property.

The story is here, on Oregon Public Broadcasting's blog called Ecotrope.