Oregon State Parks Take Part in Earth Day Celebration

Special events are scheduled at Champoeg State Heritage Area, Silver Falls State Park and Tryon Creek State Natural Area in the Willamette Valley and Portland area; at parks in the Columbia River Gorge; at the Valley of the Rogue State Park near Grants Pass in southern Oregon, and at Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon.

Silver Falls State Park Courtesy: State of Oregon

(SALEM) - The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department has forged partnerships with park and earth-friendly Oregon businesses, organizations and government agencies in several regions of the state to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday.

At Champoeg, Earth Day will run from 10:00 AM�5:00 PM and include a "Play in the Woods" Expo co-sponsored with OPRD by REI, the Columbia River Orienteering Club and The Friends of Historic Champoeg. Workshops will focus on outdoor navigation skills, wilderness first aid and environmental ethics as well as a disc golf demonstration and a Volkswalk.

Visitors to Champoeg, which is 27 miles south of Portland, can also ride in a guided bicycle tour centered on the park's diverse wildlife habitat. The tour begins at 2:00 PM and a Junior Ranger program for children focusing on wildlife will be at 11:00 AM. The park's visitor center will offer nature-related video presentations and refreshments all day.

Salem Audubon Society members will be at Silver Falls State Park, 26 miles east of Salem, to show how birds recycle natural material to build their nests. They will also help visitors to the South Falls Lodge build their own bird nesting boxes while park staff and the Friends of Silver Falls answer questions about healthy environmental practices and lead a nature walk. The event begins at 11:00 AM.

Park staff and the Friends of Tryon Creek will help Earth Day visitors learn "Why the Mole went Underground" at special Trillium Trail science, art and food stations. A guided hike also is scheduled. The park is off Terwilliger Boulevard in southwest Portland.

Central Oregon OPRD staff will partner with Deschutes County by presenting an invasive weed display area at Smith Rock State Park Saturday. Giveaways will include small sample bags of native grass seed.

Valley of the Rogue staff and hosts will give away tree seedlings donated by the Oregon office of the Bureau of Land Management. The seedlings will be available at a park host site (D1) in the park's campground from 8:00 AM until the supply is gone.

Staff from Joseph Stewart State Recreation Area will help distribute Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine and cedar tree seedlings contributed by the Medford BLM office at an event in nearby Shady Cove. The giveaway will coincide with landscape cleanup project sponsored by the Upper Rogue Watershed Association.

On the coast, Devils Lake State Park staff will team up with Lincoln City employees to hand out cedar tree seedlings at the Lincoln City Community Center, beginning at 10:00 AM.

Cleanup activities will highlight Earth Day in the Columbia River Gorge. Fourth grade students from Hollydale Elementary School will be one the scene one day earlier-April 21-to pull ivy at Dabney State Recreation Area. The Northwest Steelheaders will remove trash from the same park the next day. Other Columbia River Gorge support groups pick up trash between Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint and the Crown Point Vista House, and welcome the public to help clear non-native vegetation in Bridal Veil Falls State Scenic Viewpoint.