On March 5, two dozen Beaumont-Wilshire residents teamed with volunteers from SOLVE (originally S.O.L.V.—Stop Oregon Litter and Vandalism, created by Governor Tom McCall and other community leaders in 1969) to plant a little over 500 native plants in the Alameda Ridge stairway at NE 43rd and Wistaria. It was a great day for planting—kind of cool, slightly overcast, but no rain—and a lot of fun. The anchor plants are Sword Ferns and Evergreen Huckleberry, with some Salal, Mock Orange, Snowberry, and other Oregon natives planted as highlight species. There were some blank spots in our planting palette where the Creeping Oregon Grape belongs, but it wasn’t mature enough for transplanting at that time. The planting was finalized in late May and we are in the process of getting the stairway certified as official Backyard Habitat through the Backyard Habitat Certification Program, with the hope of getting a couple of nest boxes mounted in time for the 2017 nesting season.
Once again, heartfelt thanks to the folks at the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (EMSWCD) for the $1,500 in grant funding that made all of this possible. In addition, thanks to Foot Traffic for donating the $100 used to make up a couple of yard signs acknowledging the work that the folks from the BWNA completed. We love our neighborhood!