BCWEP Service 3

The Bear Creek Watershed Education Partners have been in action since 1994. We decided it was time to start documenting some of our most memorable moments and proudest accomplishments and begin sharing them with everyone. This page is designed to summarize some of our recent favorites.

Click on any of the pictures below to see full size version

The annual Bear Creek Clean Up 2006 was held on May 20, 2006 in Medford, Oregon. 45 people took part in the day of service learning and community building at Hawthorne Park. In addition to removing litter and recyables from the creek and riaprian area, storm drains we stenciled and water quality was tested at various sites to assess the impacts of local landmarks on water quality. BCWEP was able to recycle half the waste removed from Bear Creek during this project, including 550 lbs of steel! Thanks to all involved for the hard work!

BCWEP’s 11th Annual Watershed Education Symposium took place at Southern Oregon University on May 11, 2006 and was a huge success with 280 students and 22 local agencies and organizations coming together to present and share their knowledge and expertise. This annual event serves as the keystone for our organization. Dr. Michael Parker, aquatic ecologist from Southern Oregon University, served as keynote speaker in addition to nearly 15 presentations by local students to their peers.

The second annual Kids and Bugs: Chicos Latinos, was held April 29, 2006 in Bear Creek Park. For this amazing event, 75 Latino youth and 40 volunteers participated in this bi-lingual day of learning about the Bear Creek Watershed. Students dissected salmon, sampled water and macroinvertebrates in Beark Creek, tied fly-fishing flies, learned how to cast a fly fishing rod, and participated in many other activities. Thanks to all who partnered on this event including OSU Extension Jackson County, Bear Creek Watershed Council, SOESD and all the enthusiastic volunteers!
This event would not be possible without the support of the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

A celebration for Earthday, April 22, 2006, was hosted at North Mountain Park where BCWEP provided a macroinvertebrate sampling activity that many kids (and adults!) took part in and learned from. Participants were able to collect from nearby Bear Creek, and identify findings with help from scientists and educators. Thanks to volunteers Jason Bauer, Clayton Gillette and George Duran who helped run the activities for the nearly 400 event participants!

For our Lazy Creek Planting project on April 12, 2006, Becky Plankenhorn’s 5th grade class from Roosevelt Elementary helped plant over 100 native trees and plants along the riparian area in Bear Creek Park where Lazy Creek enters Bear Creek. Take a walk on the greenway and check out their hard work! This project was completed by BCWEP in partnership with Oregon Trout and Rogue Valley Council of Governments.

Our Mudfest II Event, held on November 4, 2005, had 75 youth and 10 adult participants from Orchard Hill Elementary and Crater High School that planted 1150 wetland plants to create a 1.5 acre bio-retention area! The project was in partnership with Bret Moore of the Twin Creeks Development in Central Point, Robert Coffan of Cascade Earth Sciences, and planting assitance from the Rogue Valley Council of Governments. Click here to read the Medford Tribune article on the event.

Our Lazy Creek/Bear Creek Planting Project, held on November 8, 2005, had 30 fourth grade participants from Wilson Elementary that planted 81 riparian plants to create a healthier riparian system near the mouth of Lazy Creek. The project was hosted in Bear Creek Park in Medford in partnership with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments.

Our 9th Street Native Plant Garden Project, held on October 19, 2005, had 28 youth participants from Griffin Creek Elementary. The students planted 142 native plants to create a riparian garden for public appreciation as part of a school service project. The project was in partnership the Rogue Valley Council of Governments.

Our Science Inquiry Workshops, held on September 30 and October 7, 2005, had 89 adult participants from all realms of formal and community education in Southern Oregon. The workshop focused on how to incorporate science inquiry standards using local resources and provided tools, techniques and ideas for creative intergration. The project was in partnership with Scienceworks Hands-on Museum and Southern Oregon Public Television with funds provided from PBS.

The BCWEP Annual Bear Creek Clean Up, held on May 21, 2005, had over 100 community participants of all ages at two sites in Medford and Phoenix, Oregon. This year, volunteer participants gathered trash and recycling, tested water quality at multiple sites, and stenciled 115 storm drains around Medford! Storm drain stenciling encourages people to keep drains clean and not dump waste that will drain into Bear Creek.

Our 2005 Symposium, held on May 12, 2005, had 338 participants from 11 schools from the Ashland, Medford, Phoenix-Talent and Central Point School Districts. Eighteen agencies and organizations participated in the form of hands-on table displays, watershed activities, games, and presentations.

On April 16, 2005 BCWEP sponsored the first ever Latino Kids and Bugs with the help of OSU Extension Center, the Bear Creek Watershed Council, and the Jackson County Education Service District. The mission was to provide hands-on outdoor educational opportunities for Latino Youth of all ages in the Bear Creek Watershed. Participants received breakfast, lunch, and transportation to Bear Creek Park in Medford. The 88 participants sampled and identified macroinvertebrates in Bear Creek, tied flies and learned to cast fly fishing rods with Rogue Flyfishers, played educational games, dissected steelhead, heard Native American bilingual stories in a 40-foot inflatable salmon tent, and had a blast learning about our watershed.

In conjunction with a local developer, Cascade Earth Sciences (Hydrologic Engineering Company) and the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, BCWEP organized thirty-five 4th grade students and 12 high school mentors to plant bioswales and constructed wetlands with native wetland vegetation in the new Twin Creeks development in Central Point, Oregon. The event, held on October 26, 2004, quickly became termed "Mudfest."

For National Public Lands Day, September 18, 2004, BCWEP partnered with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for Fishing Line Clean Up Day. BCWEP purchased, constructed and coordinated the assembly of 16 fishing line recycling bins for placement along the Rogue River. Over 40 volunteers participated in the construction of the bins as well as cleaning up used fishing line and litter along 1.5 miles of the Rogue River.

With the help of a service group of environmental science students from Southern Oregon University, BCWEP constructed and installed four fishing line recycling bins at Emmigrant Lake. BCWEP volunteers adopted the bins, emptying them and sending monofilament material away to be recycled into plastic fish habitat structures.

Some pictures from our 2004 Symposium in which 358 participants from 7 schools from Ashland, Medford, and Phoenix-Talent school districts shared their watershed experiences. Fifteen agencies and organizations provided opportunities for youth of all ages.