On Thursday, October 16, Columbia Land Trust, along with 300 of our closest supporters and friends, celebrated Wild Splendor! The event, our biggest fundraiser of the year, was a true success – and a lot of fun. We watched the world premier of The River’s Will, a short film about our largest restoration project to date;…
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A late bloomer, the green banded mariposa lily (Calochortus macrocarpus ) thrills when it finally emerges. The purple-pink petals pop against the sandy hues of the arid western landscapes that are its preferred habitat. Those who happen upon one are stopped in their tracks….as Stewardship Coordinator Emily Matson was this July 19 on the Rowena…
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Ask Greg Short what he does for a living and he won’t answer with the title of his job (maintenance manager at Heirloom Orchards). Instead he answers with his passion. “I’m a sportfisherman,” Short says. “It’s not a side hobby. It’s a huge part of my life.” Last year, Short spent nearly 100 days fishing.…
Read MoreSnowy plover are back nesting at Leadbetter Point! There are only two consistently successful nesting sites in all of Washington State: Leadbetter Point State Park at the northern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula and Midway Beach, located between Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. In a 2012 survey, scientists counted only 33 birds in Washington.…
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We’re welcoming purple martins to Indian Jack Slough! This spring Columbia Land Trust and Willapa Hills Audubon teamed up to install two purple martins colonies onsite. Akin to the condominium of bird houses, each colony contains 18 dangling gourds that can hold up to 18 nesting pairs and their chicks. Purple martins, the largest of…
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Lawns may be common, but they provide little benefit to bugs, bees, and birds—nor do they filter storm water well. That’s why Columbia Land Trust has partnered up with Pacific Northwest Urban Meadowscaping. Our collective goal is to create an easy-to-implement program that will inspire homeowners to replace their non-native grass lawns with gorgeous Willamette…
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Did you know that it takes an average of 10 years for balsamroot grown from seed to develop its first flower? And that a mature balsamroot plant can be decades old? Plant expert Barbara Robinson shared these remarkable facts when we visited our Four Sisters property for a wildflower-seed collection workshop in May. Barbara’s been…
Read MoreTrout Lake Farm began organically growing medicinal herbs in Trout Lake Valley in 1973. Today it grows everything from echinacea to valerian on 280 acres (depending on what herbs are in demand). These days, the farm makes ample room for skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), a herbaceous perennial in the mint family that’s known to reduce inflammation…
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