Recent heavy rainfall resulted in a sudden rise in the level of Milk Creek. This caused us to take a close look at how well the large vegetated log matrix and the three […]
Author Archive | Tom Salzer
District receives statewide honor from NRCS
The Clackamas County Soil and Water Conservation District recently received a statewide honor from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service(NRCS). The NRCS singled out Clackamas for the 2012 Soil […]
Environmental Markets for Farmers and Ranchers
Environmental markets? Environmental services? What do these terms mean? How can these markets benefit farming and ranching? How do environmental services benefit water, wildlife, and other natural resources? A few years ago, the […]
Milk Creek Project: Greening Up Before Fall Rains Arrive
A quick inspection of the Milk Creek Project log structures shows grasses and willows sprouting, even though fall rains have not yet arrived. Milk Creek water is clear as it flows past the […]
ODA Delivers Agricultural Water Quality Report
September 26, 2012 — A lot has happened since the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 1010 in 1993, giving birth to the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Water Quality Management Program. A new report […]
Plant a Patch of Flowering Plants for Pollinators
Plant a patch of flowering plants to attract native pollinators like bees, butterflies, and beetles! The value these small creatures provide is extraordinary. While honeybees do pollinate crops, so do our less heralded […]
Milk Creek Project: Water is Flowing in the Restored Channel
The contractor and engineers worked closely today to return Milk Creek to the old channel. Stream riffles that existed before the project were restored. Great progress was made on engineered log jams downstream […]
Milk Creek Project: Surface Seeded and Bank Shaping Underway
What a difference a day makes! Topsoil was spread today and raked to provide good soil-to-seed contact. Straw mulch was placed to help with germination of the seed. The opposite bank is being […]
Milk Creek Project: Final Grade Achieved Today
The remainder of backfilling the structure was completed today, topsoil was replaced, and smoothing of the restored upper bank was started. Tomorrow, the surface will be smoothed, cobbles will be picked and raked, […]
