This year, as Oregon Wild celebrates 50 years of protecting wildlands, wildlife, and waters we wanted to be sure our members, supporters, and long-time advocates from all over the state got a chance to connect with our organization. So our staff has been on the road this fall, hosting gatherings in some of the communities where our work has had an impact over our long history.
In Roseburg we gathered with our friends at Umpqua Watersheds to celebrate protecting places like the Boulder Creek Wilderness and fighting old-growth timber sales in the Umpqua National Forest and on local BLM lands.
In Medford, our friends with KS Wild, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Applegate Siskiyou Alliance, and many others joined us to celebrate the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, the return of wolves to southwest Oregon, the Wild Rogue, and the defense of backyard forests in the area.
In Eugene, Ninkasi Brewing hosted us as we toasted the town where we got our start, the partners and friends we work with on forest defense and the Climate Forests Campaign like Cascadia Wildlands, and the work we’ve done protecting the McKenzie River and Willamette National Forest.
In Bend, we took over a room at Worthy Brewing to celebrate the success our central Oregon staff and partners have achieved in protecting the amazing rivers, wild places, and old-growth trees in the Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests, and the long-time advocacy of the iconic Tim Lillebo.
In Corvallis, supporters and friends (including a big showing of Great Old Broads for Wilderness!) celebrated protected Wilderness and endangered species in the Coast Range, our advocacy for restoration in the Siuslaw National Forest, and looked to the future of engaging folks in this community.
And in Lincoln City we welcomed folks from all along the central and north coast to check in about our work supporting the return of sea otters to Oregon, reforming state and private forest logging policy, and the coastal streams ready to be protected under the River Democracy Act.
In every community, we gathered with enthusiastic supporters to reminisce about their involvement and appreciation of the places we’ve worked to protect together. Many added notes to our giant map showing conservation successes over 50 years to point out their passions and where they hope we’ll achieve success in the future.
Our roadshow tour has been really rewarding for our team as well – as we reflect on our history of work in different regions of the state, connect with supporters old and new, and join together in a vision for the future.
Thank you to everyone who has been able to join us at these events (so far… we’ve got stops in La Grande and Joseph coming up!), and to those who have made a special donation or picked up a shirt or sticker with our new logo to help show off your Oregon Wild pride and to inspire other lovers of the wild! (You can still make a special donation in honor of our 50th anniversary here!)
