Restoration Work

LENS Awarded Grant from the Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District

We are excited to announce that the Living Earth Nature Sanctuary has received the first grant we applied for. The Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District has awarded us $5000 to hire a contractor to remove non-native blackberries from two acres of oak woodlands at the center of our 15 acre property. This project will increase biodiversity of native plants and improve habitat for many wildlife species, including five sensitive species which breed on the property.

The contractor will remove the blackberries by cutting the canes and then digging up the crowns. We will not have them using any poisons. We will have the work done during the fall when native forbs are mostly underground and native deciduous shrubs are going dormant. We will choose a contractor with knowledge of native plant identification so that they can avoid damaging similar-looking native plants such as Dewberry and Nooktka Rose. Most likely our contractor will be the nonprofit Walama Restoration Project.

We will have the contractor come in September or October to cut down and chop up the blackberries with brush cutters. About a month later, after the rain has softened the ground and the blackberries have sprouted up so they can find them, they will dig up the crowns.

We wish to thank the Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District for their generosity and all the work they are doing to help protect and restore local natural resources.  You can find out more about them here.