SOLV volunteers rest after pulling and hauling almost 10 yards of ivy out of forest along Gales Creek.

Gales Creek Gets Another Facelift!

Enthusiastic volunteers hauled trash and energetically pulled English ivy at a site along Gales Creek on Saturday October 21st as part of the annual INTEL-SOLV Washington County Clean and Green event. Intel, SOLV and the Tualatin River Watershed Council (TRWC) teamed up to tackle one of the worst English ivy patches along the creek. Pulling English ivy in the tangle of shrubs, blackberry and tree roots is backbreaking work. It requires lifting, tugging and pulling the trailing vines and roots out of the forest floor and off tree trunks. The twenty strong group pulled over 10 cubic yards of English ivy and picked up trash, totaling 25 sacks (500 lbs) including six tires.

Following six SOLV work day events over the last three years, the battle to vanquish this one acre ivy patch is finally being won. One Saturday, fourteen Latino volunteers came from the 4-H Tech Wizards program pilot project called “Equipo Verde” adding to the volunteers from Intel, Fisher Farms and the Banks area.

Ric Balfour, TRWC project manager, remembers when the corner of Roderick Road and Gales Creek highway looked like a wall of ivy, growing as high as sixty feet up into the trees. “When Jack McGowan stopped by our site on Saturday I was thrilled to see him again and to show him how much progress we have made,” adding “if we don’t pull this smothering weed off native plants and trees we will end up with one monstrous monoculture – useless to us and useless to wildlife .” Ric thinks that just one more work day tackling this patch will see it halted and under control. There are plans this winter for Boy Scouts from Banks and other community groups to begin the job of replanting this area.

Equipo Verde volunteers work on ivy pulling near Gales Creek

This latest SOLV event marks another step toward restoring riparian (streamside) forest and ultimately improving stream quality for fish, farmers and Forest Grove residents downstream. The Council is working on this five mile section of Gales Creek as a special emphasis project in the Tualatin River watershed. A habitat restoration plan was completed in 2003 and further field work conducted in 2005 has pinpointed the types of projects that will help stabilize eroding stream banks, control invasive weeds like English ivy and Japanese knotweed, and replant native trees. This project is a partnership effort between the local community, the Tualatin River Watershed Council, and the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District. For more information contact April Olbrich at 503-846-4810 (trwc@easystreet.net)

Background on 4-H Tech Wizards: According to Lisa Conroy, OSU Extension Service Washington County 4-H faculty and Tech Wizards Program coordinator, “The 4-H Tech Wizards program is delighted to expand our highly successful after-school mentoring program at Forest Grove High School to include this new science, leadership, and Career-Related Learning Standards (CRLS) focused project. Intel has supported Tech Wizards with volunteers and grants since its inception in 1999 and this new partnership with SOLV is one more example of how organizations working together can engage families to make a huge difference in educational achievement, future workforce readiness, as well as impact the quality of life in our communities.”

Equipo Verde and Intel volunteers and SOLV site coordinator Ric Balfour stand next to trash collected during the SOLV Washington County Clean and Green event last Saturday.

4-H Tech Wizards

Contact: Lisa Conroy, Project coordinator,
Lisa.Conroy@OregonState.edu
Phone: 503-844-9571 or 800-333-SOLV (toll-free in Oregon)
Address: 5193 NE Elam Young Parkway, Suite B, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Website: www.solv.org

Intel Contacts: Janet Rash janetrash@intel.com