NPSO Annual Meeting, May 29-31, 2020
Spirit Mountain Lodge, Grand Ronde, Oregon
The Cheahmill Chapter, located in McMinnville, is pleased to announce plans for the NPSO Annual Meeting to be held on May 29-31, 2020 (the weekend after Memorial Day). The venue is the Spirit Mountain Lodge in Grand Ronde, situated between the mid-Willamette Valley and the coast, enabling us to offer field trips in the Valley, at the coast, and in the Coast Range.
Since the UN General Assembly recently declared 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, to “massively scale up the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems…,” it is fitting that the theme for the 2020 Annual Meeting is “Ecological Restoration and Conservation of Willamette Valley, Coast Range and Coastal Landscapes.”
Field trip leaders include representatives from agencies and organizations involved in conservation, restoration and management of the sites we visit, such as the US Fish & Wildlife Service, the US Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, the Yamhill Soil & Water Conservation District, the Institute for Applied Ecology, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. We will visit oak savannas, prairies, coastal forests, and estuaries, many of which are being restored or actively managed for culturally significant plant species or for the protection of state and federally listed species. Two-thirds of Oregon’s wineries are located in the Willamette Valley. We will visit wineries that are managing their lands to protect native habitats and species.
On Friday night, tribal members and staff will talk about the history of the Grand Ronde Reservation, efforts to grow culturally important native plants, the use of fire for habitat restoration, and how the academic field of restoration ecology is informing their practices. Our Saturday night banquet speaker, Ed Alverson, will update us on efforts to reconstruct historic Willamette Valley landscapes that serve as benchmarks for how to best manage these lands today.
In the March issue of the eBulletin, we will provide short descriptions of the field trips and a link to the meeting website that includes full descriptions of the field trips, registration materials, a schedule of events, and additional information about the evening programs, the venue and food, and lodging at the Spirit Mountain Lodge, the coast, and in the Valley.
Only current NPSO members may attend the Annual Meeting. Join here: http://npsoregon.org/membership.html