2023 Conservation Awards
This year, we are playing a bit of "catch up" due to Covid, so we have several people and organizations to recognize. It takes a community to do this work and together we achieve so much more. We would like to recognize our partners that support the District’s goal to conserve and enhance soil, water and wildlife habitat in Polk County.
Outstanding Volunteer Award– Dale Derouin
Everyone knows that volunteers are the backbone of any organization like ours. Dale has taught us so much about community service and particularly being a good steward to the land. Dale has helped at our plant sales, he’s led tree tours, helped to add native plants at Cornerstone in the winter, and is involved in planning future events. In addition to volunteering with us, he volunteers with the Delbert Hunter Arboretum, the Dallas Food Bank, the Library and the Nature Conservancy. Finally, he has a certified wildlife habitat at home and is a true advocate for the land.
Outstanding Volunteer Award- Pam Wetzel
Pam is another volunteer that has supported the goals of the District. She’s put in several hours tagging and organizing plants at our native plant sales. She volunteered at our Earth Day litter pick-up at Baskett Slough with Andante Vineyards. Pam also came with to help add a pollinator hedge row and other native plants at the Confederated Tribe’s of Grand Ronde’s native plant nursery. Pam knows more about native plants and trees than anyone else we know. She has a thirst for knowledge and has even started a Spanish language conversation group to talk about native plants and gardening. Pam is one of our “go tos” for any plant question or any task that benefits our landscape.
Environmental Educator Award – Lua Siegel, Luckiamute Valley Charter School
Lua is the Gardening and Outdoor Education Program Coordinator for the LVCS. Lua has inspired hundreds of kids and teachers that she works with. Lua first connected with the District to bring her students out to Cornerstone to help add native plants to the landscape. She’s also brought her students to several farms in the area to give her students practical knowledge about our environment and where our food comes from. Lua believes in hands-on learning and has worked with the community and school to install an impressive school garden. In addition, Lua has helped at our native plant sale, and continues to work on riparian restoration with the kids at Pedee Creek.
Conservation Research Award - Derek Godwin, OSU Extension
Derek works statewide as an Extension Watershed Management faculty in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. He specializes in education and research related to minimizing the impacts of land use practices on water quality. Derek Godwin has been a fantastic partner with our Ag Water quality monitoring project in Ash Swale and Salt Creek. Derek’s knowledge and experience has been a great asset to the new staff at Polk SWCD as we learn and re-engage in the Ag Water quality program.
Derek has worked at OSU for nearly 20 years and has been involved with over 40 publications and intellectual contributions. These numbers are impressive, but what we especially appreciate about Derek is his commitment to quality and his contagious positive attitude and endless levels of patience.
Through Covid and what probably felt like endless transitions in staffing, Derek remained committed to the water quality monitoring project on Salt Creek. While Derek is committed, hardworking, and incredibly knowledgeable, he is also an exceptionally friendly person to work with who greets everyone with a big smile and genuine/meaningful engagement that fosters human connection. We feel incredibly lucky that although he does work statewide, he is stationed nearby and is able to partner with us so closely on our water quality projects.
Wildlife Stewardship Award– Tony Spitzack, The Bureau of Land Management
Tony Spitzack has made several in-stream large woody debris possible and has carried most of the workload in coordinating and implementing that work. The Rickreall Creek watershed has seen improvements to fish habitat and riparian function under Tony’s stewardship. The BLM has been a generous partner through Tony, and Polk SWCD would like to recognize him with a Wildlife Stewardship award for his contributions to the District.
Urban Conservation Stewardship Award – Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council
The Glenn-Gibson WC is an entirely volunteer-led organization serving the urban community of West Salem. They help manage the Orchard Heights Oak Savanna, a 14-acre parcel owned by the City of Salem. The WC is working with students from Willamette University and West Salem High School to do field surveys there. They continue to educate the community about increasing tree canopy and home, and invasive species removal and control.
They have added multiple pollinator gardens in the city parks and oak savanna. The WC has also been involved in the Willamette River Greenway survey, Wallace Marine Park rain garden, riparian restoration and projects at the Audubon Nature Preserve.
Watershed Stewardship Award– Luckiamute Watershed Council
Polk SWCD and the Luckiamute Watershed Council have worked side-by-side for years to restore and conserve watersheds in the County. It’s been a great partnership that continues to grow as the Council has gone from 2 staff to now bursting at the seams.
LWC has also performed LWD projects in several Polk County streams, invasive species control and native tree and shrub plantings on streambanks, and fish passage improvements. The Council strives to help people build a relationship with the land. They are very intentional with their projects, education and outreach. They are also a key partner in in the mid-willamette beaver partnership. If you get the chance to work with the WC you’re lucky. They’re a fun and friendly bunch and we’re lucky to have them as partners.
Environmental Restoration Award– Institute for Applied Ecology
IAE has worked with Polk SWCD on many habitat restoration and improvement projects. Most notably at our conservation property, Cornerstone, they have implemented a 30 acre Kincaid’s Lupine planting and a 10 acre Willamette Daisy planting. Both sites needed control and removal of invasive and non-native trees, brush and grass, and follow up treatments over several years to ensure a good seedbed for the native plantings. We look forward to “showing off” the hard work IAE has performed when the Kincaid’s Lupine and Willamette Daisys are in full bloom in the years ahead.
Cooperating Landowner Award– The Thorstads
Art and Barbie Thorstad have been working with the USFWS, NRCS and the Polk SWCD since 2018. Through partnerships with multiple agencies, a vision for returning the land to its historic oak habitat and sheer tenacity, Art and Barbie Thorstad have made great strides, contributing to the footprint of oak habitat restoration in Polk County. They have taken on one of the most challenging landscapes to restore.
Outstanding Cooperator Award– The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde have been wonderful partners to work with and do so much for conserving land in and around Polk County for wildlife habitat. The Tribe helped us to produce a video series about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and supported the recent cultural burn we had at our property, Smithfield Oaks. Jeremy Ojua has invited our volunteers to help at their native plant nursery, sharing his knowledge about native plants. Anna has led a plant walk at Cornerstone. And Lindsay helped lead an oak restoration tour at their property, Ahsney with Greg and Chris from the Cultural Resources department. Lindsay and Mike are also on our Board of Directors and we value having representatives of the Tribe at the table to help guide the work we do.
Everyone knows that volunteers are the backbone of any organization like ours. Dale has taught us so much about community service and particularly being a good steward to the land. Dale has helped at our plant sales, he’s led tree tours, helped to add native plants at Cornerstone in the winter, and is involved in planning future events. In addition to volunteering with us, he volunteers with the Delbert Hunter Arboretum, the Dallas Food Bank, the Library and the Nature Conservancy. Finally, he has a certified wildlife habitat at home and is a true advocate for the land.
Outstanding Volunteer Award- Pam Wetzel
Pam is another volunteer that has supported the goals of the District. She’s put in several hours tagging and organizing plants at our native plant sales. She volunteered at our Earth Day litter pick-up at Baskett Slough with Andante Vineyards. Pam also came with to help add a pollinator hedge row and other native plants at the Confederated Tribe’s of Grand Ronde’s native plant nursery. Pam knows more about native plants and trees than anyone else we know. She has a thirst for knowledge and has even started a Spanish language conversation group to talk about native plants and gardening. Pam is one of our “go tos” for any plant question or any task that benefits our landscape.
Environmental Educator Award – Lua Siegel, Luckiamute Valley Charter School
Lua is the Gardening and Outdoor Education Program Coordinator for the LVCS. Lua has inspired hundreds of kids and teachers that she works with. Lua first connected with the District to bring her students out to Cornerstone to help add native plants to the landscape. She’s also brought her students to several farms in the area to give her students practical knowledge about our environment and where our food comes from. Lua believes in hands-on learning and has worked with the community and school to install an impressive school garden. In addition, Lua has helped at our native plant sale, and continues to work on riparian restoration with the kids at Pedee Creek.
Conservation Research Award - Derek Godwin, OSU Extension
Derek works statewide as an Extension Watershed Management faculty in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. He specializes in education and research related to minimizing the impacts of land use practices on water quality. Derek Godwin has been a fantastic partner with our Ag Water quality monitoring project in Ash Swale and Salt Creek. Derek’s knowledge and experience has been a great asset to the new staff at Polk SWCD as we learn and re-engage in the Ag Water quality program.
Derek has worked at OSU for nearly 20 years and has been involved with over 40 publications and intellectual contributions. These numbers are impressive, but what we especially appreciate about Derek is his commitment to quality and his contagious positive attitude and endless levels of patience.
Through Covid and what probably felt like endless transitions in staffing, Derek remained committed to the water quality monitoring project on Salt Creek. While Derek is committed, hardworking, and incredibly knowledgeable, he is also an exceptionally friendly person to work with who greets everyone with a big smile and genuine/meaningful engagement that fosters human connection. We feel incredibly lucky that although he does work statewide, he is stationed nearby and is able to partner with us so closely on our water quality projects.
Wildlife Stewardship Award– Tony Spitzack, The Bureau of Land Management
Tony Spitzack has made several in-stream large woody debris possible and has carried most of the workload in coordinating and implementing that work. The Rickreall Creek watershed has seen improvements to fish habitat and riparian function under Tony’s stewardship. The BLM has been a generous partner through Tony, and Polk SWCD would like to recognize him with a Wildlife Stewardship award for his contributions to the District.
Urban Conservation Stewardship Award – Glenn-Gibson Watershed Council
The Glenn-Gibson WC is an entirely volunteer-led organization serving the urban community of West Salem. They help manage the Orchard Heights Oak Savanna, a 14-acre parcel owned by the City of Salem. The WC is working with students from Willamette University and West Salem High School to do field surveys there. They continue to educate the community about increasing tree canopy and home, and invasive species removal and control.
They have added multiple pollinator gardens in the city parks and oak savanna. The WC has also been involved in the Willamette River Greenway survey, Wallace Marine Park rain garden, riparian restoration and projects at the Audubon Nature Preserve.
Watershed Stewardship Award– Luckiamute Watershed Council
Polk SWCD and the Luckiamute Watershed Council have worked side-by-side for years to restore and conserve watersheds in the County. It’s been a great partnership that continues to grow as the Council has gone from 2 staff to now bursting at the seams.
LWC has also performed LWD projects in several Polk County streams, invasive species control and native tree and shrub plantings on streambanks, and fish passage improvements. The Council strives to help people build a relationship with the land. They are very intentional with their projects, education and outreach. They are also a key partner in in the mid-willamette beaver partnership. If you get the chance to work with the WC you’re lucky. They’re a fun and friendly bunch and we’re lucky to have them as partners.
Environmental Restoration Award– Institute for Applied Ecology
IAE has worked with Polk SWCD on many habitat restoration and improvement projects. Most notably at our conservation property, Cornerstone, they have implemented a 30 acre Kincaid’s Lupine planting and a 10 acre Willamette Daisy planting. Both sites needed control and removal of invasive and non-native trees, brush and grass, and follow up treatments over several years to ensure a good seedbed for the native plantings. We look forward to “showing off” the hard work IAE has performed when the Kincaid’s Lupine and Willamette Daisys are in full bloom in the years ahead.
Cooperating Landowner Award– The Thorstads
Art and Barbie Thorstad have been working with the USFWS, NRCS and the Polk SWCD since 2018. Through partnerships with multiple agencies, a vision for returning the land to its historic oak habitat and sheer tenacity, Art and Barbie Thorstad have made great strides, contributing to the footprint of oak habitat restoration in Polk County. They have taken on one of the most challenging landscapes to restore.
Outstanding Cooperator Award– The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde have been wonderful partners to work with and do so much for conserving land in and around Polk County for wildlife habitat. The Tribe helped us to produce a video series about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and supported the recent cultural burn we had at our property, Smithfield Oaks. Jeremy Ojua has invited our volunteers to help at their native plant nursery, sharing his knowledge about native plants. Anna has led a plant walk at Cornerstone. And Lindsay helped lead an oak restoration tour at their property, Ahsney with Greg and Chris from the Cultural Resources department. Lindsay and Mike are also on our Board of Directors and we value having representatives of the Tribe at the table to help guide the work we do.
