Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District

09/11/2026

Food For Lane County Youth Farm invites you to join them this weekend for their annual Youth Farm Fest at their new location on Seavey Loop Rd! This Saturday, 9/12 from 10am-2pm. They'll have farm tours, apple c***r tasting, kids crafts, free PYO flower bouquets and their produce stand. Please visit their page for more details.

(Photos: Food For Lane County Youth Farm)

09/11/2026

In 2023, US Forest Service incident commander Dan Dallas collaborated with a local forest supervisor and Karuk Tribal leadership to take a fire from out-of-control to a carefully controlled burn designed to reduce the fuel load. Taking advantage of cooler, damper weather, the team successfully allowed the fire to advance at slower speeds and lower temperatures, saving trees, protecting soil health, and giving wildlife time to get out of the area.

Unfortunately, opportunities to let fire do its natural work are getting rarer, partly due to longer, hotter, drier summers and federal fire suppression policies.

Grist talks about the problem:

"The problem with putting out all fires, said Dallas, is the same one that troubled him on that drive to California. You’re leaving fuel there that could stoke the next megafire you can’t manage, or even stop. “We keep going back to the same places, and it’s more often that the fires are more severe,” Dallas said."

Read more at:
https://grist.org/extreme-weather/america-is-losing-its-war-against-wildfire/

09/10/2026

Our friends at the Jackson Soil & Water Conservation District are working in partnership with landowners to support ongoing restoration efforts along Antelope Creek, Spring Creek, and Yankee Creek near Eagle Point. These projects will protect water quality and improve wildlife habitat. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3UGTVxB

Are you in Lane County and interested in similar projects on your land? Learn more about what we can do for you here: https://uwswcd.org/farmers-and-rural-residents/

09/10/2026

Tree pruning can be intimidating, especially for beginning gardeners. Workshops like these are a great way to get started.

Learn the basics of young tree pruning alongside Friends of Trees staff this summer & fall! Find out more and sign up for an event at friendsoftrees.org/eugene 🌳

2026 Pruning Event Dates:
Saturday, September 5th, 8:30-11:30am
Saturday, September 19th, 8:30-11:30am
Saturday, October 3rd, 8:30-11:30am
Saturday, October 17th, 8:30-11:30am

09/09/2026

The Oregon Agricultural Heritage Program works to Increase the economic viability of Oregon’s agricultural operations and economic sector, enhance fish or wildlife habitat, water quality, and other natural resources on Oregon’s working land, and reduce conversion and fragmentation of Oregon’s working land.

🌾 Join us for an Oregon Agricultural Heritage Commission meeting! 🌾

September 23, 2026
11:00 am - 12:00 pm (PT)
Virtually on Zoom and streamed on YouTube

➡️ To learn more, visit: https://tinyurl.com/bdzvb4df

09/09/2026

In 2025, the Oregon Legislature passed the Dignity in Place Act, intended to replace place names that include racial slurs and other offensive words across Oregon. The process is proving to be slow. There are some very beautiful places in our state with very ugly names. Among other things, re-namings can make outdoor places more accessible to all.

"It’s really sad because words matter. Words can heal, and they can also be negative. Oregon’s a place we love. We need to take care of it, and the people and get this negativity out of our lives, the things we can control. (There’s) so much that we can’t." – Brenda Meade, chairwoman of the Indian Tribe

Link below. Content warning: The following story contains reporting on place names that currently utilize racial and ethnic slurs through the use of anti-Indigenous, anti-Black, anti-East Asian, anti-Brown, anti-European, anti-Roma, anti-Italian/Spanish/Portuguese and classist offensive language.

https://www.dailyfly.com/2026/09/07/slow-progress-on-renaming-oregons-offensive-place-names/

09/08/2026

Have you ever walked through an old growth forest? These stands of mature trees are culturally, economically and ecologically significant. They provide habitat for a wide range of wildlife, and store huge amounts of carbon. They are infinitely worthy of protection. And decades of fire suppression have left vital stands of increasingly rare old-growth forest more vulnerable to fire.

OSU recently reported on a new study outlining that risk and the importance of protecting old growth:

“Our work can help prioritize stewardship actions. Overall, fire exclusion has left historically fire-resistant forests disproportionately exposed to severe fire now. Our analysis can underpin the stewardship of mature and old-growth forests to promote their resistance and resilience.”

Read more here:
https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/where-fires-used-be-frequent-old-forests-now-face-high-risk-devastating-blazes

09/08/2026

This time six years ago, Lane County was fighting the Holiday Farm Fire with everything we've got. So many people were displaced, along with companion and farm animals, and homes and businesses were lost in what would turn out to be one of the most devastating fires in Oregon's history. Communities along the McKenzie River were hit hard. The recovery works continues today.

Here at UWSCD, we are so glad to have been able to play a part in the recovery work, with the , the Watershed Council, and other community partners.

News has a retrospective of the fire: https://kval.com/news/local/remembering-the-holiday-farm-fire-six-years-later

09/04/2026

The SCAP program helps to protect drinking water quality here in Lane County and downstream.

“During dry summer months, sediment, oil, metals, litter and other pollutants can accumulate in storm drains. Officials said cleaning the drains before the first significant rains of the season, known as the “fall flush,” can help prevent those pollutants from washing into local rivers and streams.”

After launching last fall, Lane County’s Storm Water Management Program is back and accepting business applicants.This voluntary program allows businesses in La

09/03/2026

Mark your calendars: September 28th - October 4th 2026 is Food Waste Prevention Week. Waste Wise Lane County will have some great tips for preventing food waste and they are planning to hold a fun event on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Farmers Market - details to follow.