Are you a landowner along the lower Alsea River or Alsea estuary? Are you interested in learning about opportunities for watershed restoration in your community?
We invite you to join us for a free dinner and presentation about our local estuaries and the importance of tidal wetlands for fish, wildlife, birds, and people. Speakers from McKenzie River Trust, MidCoast Watersheds Council, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will share why local collaboration is key to conserving and restoring tidal wetlands. You’ll hear about a project close to home at the Starr Creek Preserve, a tidal wetland on the Alsea Bay, which recently underwent a major transformation to restore complex habitat for rearing salmon. An abundance of food and hiding places in healthy estuaries makes them ideal habitat for young fish as they grow and prepare to enter the ocean. Conserving and restoring healthy tidal wetlands has been shown to increase ocean survival and return rates for native salmon. Join us to learn more about estuary restoration and how you can get involved! The event will be at the Waldport Community Center on Wednesday March 11th at 5:30 PM. Please RSVP through Eventbrite or by calling: 541-265-9195.
Hear from Margaret Treadwell, McKenzie River Trust; Cheryl Horton, MidCoast Watersheds Council; and Annie Marion, NRCS, about why healthy estuaries are key to the health of coastal fish and wildlife. Our featured speakers will share stories about collaborative projects that are currently underway to conserve and restore tidal wetlands, with examples from the Alsea estuary. We encourage river and bayfront landowners to attend– speakers will be available to answer any questions.
About Our Speakers:
Margaret Treadwell is the Central Coast Conservation Manager at McKenzie River Trust. She holds a Master of Natural Resources degree from Oregon State University, where her capstone project focused on coastal wetland restoration and carbon offset projects. Prior to joining MRT, Margaret was the Program Coordinator for the Friends of Cape Falcon Marine Reserve in Manzanita, Oregon, and led a project to identify and propose priority rocky shore areas on the North Coast for State conservation designations. Before coming to Oregon, she managed international relations for the California Air Resources Board. In her free time, Margaret enjoys exploring the Oregon Coast, from tidepooling to mountain hikes.
Cheryl Horton is the Estuary Program Manager at MidCoast Watersheds Council. She coordinates the Estuary Focused Investment Partnership “Restoring Resilience to Two Estuaries” – a multi-year, OWEB funded initiative to conserve and restore tidal wetland habitats in the Yaquina and Alsea estuaries. She has over 15 years of project management, grant writing, meeting facilitation, and ecological research and monitoring experience. Cheryl holds a BS in Natural Resources from Cornell University and an MS in Wildlife Biology from Oregon State University. In her free time she enjoys creating art and teaching art classes, co-leading a Daisy Girl Scout Troop, and adventuring with her partner and their dog.
Annie Marion is the District Conservationist for Lincoln and west Lane Counties, based in the Waldport Field Office of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. After earning a BS in Biology at the University of Oregon, she worked a series of seasonal field biology and organic farming jobs that took her from NM to Europe to western PA and back to CA before joining the Peace Corps as an Environmental Education volunteer in Nicaragua for two years. Upon returning to the States, she earned an MS in Horticulture & Agronomy from UC Davis and then began working for the NRCS. As the mother of a soon-to-be 4- year-old, she doesn’t have a lot of free time, but enjoys gardening, hiking, and camping with her Family.
Please note: This event is at the Waldport Community Center