Game Changer

Curry Watersheds hosts an aquatic weeds workshop for natural resource professionals in the Rogue River estuary.

Curry Watersheds Partnership: Innovative Conservation in Oregon

In Curry County, a unique partnership combines an educational nonprofit with water-protector offices written by James Sinks | photography by Curry Watershed Partnership An unconventional collaboration is helping save fish, farmland and money on the South Coast. In each Oregon county, you’ll find at least one soil and water conservation district. Overseen by locally elected boards, the nonregula-tory entities oversee projects to protect irrigation water and the farms that help feed you. In addition, every Oregon county is home to at least one watershed council. Those councils convene scientists, industries, recreationists and others to preserve water quality and revive stream-dependent species, primarily salmon. Yet only in one county will you find a mash-up that corrals together those somewhat obscure but similar efforts, along with a nine-year-old educational charity. Based in Gold Beach, the Curry Watersheds Partnership combines the staff and missions of four sustainability organizations under a single roof. By…

Modern coworking space with a wooden exterior, large windows, and outdoor seating, designed to foster talent and innovation in a collaborative environment.

Talent Maker City Rebuilds Community

A community workshop rises from the ashes in Southern Oregon written by James Sinks When the ravenous Almeda wildfire raced up the Rogue Valley in 2020, in its path was the city of Talent, where 6,300 people live between Ashland and Medford. By the time the flames were finally doused, the blaze wiped out some 2,300 homes—with more than 700 of those in Talent—and blackened much of Main Street. Now, half a decade after destruction tore through town, creativity is helping to take its place—and to bring a scarred community together. At a redeveloped site where several downtown buildings were turned to ash, a newly built 8,000-square-foot workshop buzzes with activity and learning. Saws whine in a carpentry shop while wheels spin in a pottery class. A 3D printer farm hums, and screen printing and stained glass-making classes fill the calendar. There’s even a small garden in back where native…

Sunlit children playing outdoors in a floral field, capturing the beauty of Oregon's vibrant nature and family-friendly scenery. Perfect for Oregon lifestyle and outdoor activities.

Salem for Refugees: Finding Hope and New Homes in Turbulent Times

Despite a federal freeze, a Salem nonprofit helps refugees from across the globe find a foothold—and belonging written by James Sinks | illustration by Cate Andrews With signs, smiles and new coats, a festive celebration at Portland International Airport greeted a new Oregon family from far away. That day, a family of four escaping risk in Myanmar walked off a plane and was met by a throng from the nonprofit Salem for Refugees with coats for the cold Oregon winter. Little did anyone suspect, but the January 17 welcoming event—coming on the eve of the inauguration of President Donald Trump—might have been the nonprofit’s last. For a decade, Salem for Refugees has been helping people with legal federal refugee status to get settled, find housing and navigate the path to self-sufficiency in the mid-Willamette Valley. The nonprofit—which also runs Corvallis for Refugees—is one of six official refugee resettlement organizations in…

Chamber Music Unites Burns, Oregon

In blue-collar Burns, chamber music helps bring a small community together written by James Sinks | illustration by Kristiina Almy A former county commissioner plays tenor sax. A research ecologist plays the violin. A police officer plays bass clarinet. And a college student and enrolled member of the Burns Paiute Tribe plays tuba. Twice a year in the Oregon high desert, the nonprofit Chamber Music Society of Harney County brings together volunteer musicians from Burns and the vicinity for free concerts. The most recent, in March, featured fifty-four musicians, and a crowd of more than 200 came to watch and listen to their friends and neighbors in the association’s three ensembles: a choir, bell choir and orchestra. The repertoire is wide, from folk songs to movie soundtracks to patriotic marches. And the shows are a testament that even in one of the more remote places in the country, music has…

Newport’s floating sea lion platforms, pictured here before recent replacements, are a draw for visitors to Oregon’s central coast.

Newport’s Sea Lions Return to the Bayfront

Nonprofit helps to buoy Newport’s local sea lions—and bayfront commerce written by James Sinks | photography by Visit Newport You can hear them before you see them. Nobody is quite sure what they’re talking about, but pretty much everybody is able to find the source of the ruckus along the historic waterfront in Newport: a lazy scrum of sea lions basking and jockeying for space on dedicated floating platforms just off Port Dock One in Yaquina Bay. The barking fellas are one of the region’s more popular tourist attractions, sometimes drawing hundreds of people hourly to laugh and watch the action and wonder just how big a California sea lion can get (really big, like more than 1,000 pounds). The popular and free-to-visit pinniped posse also translates into customers for nearby businesses and eateries. So when a massive winter storm careened into Newport in late 2022 and tore all of…

Sixth, seventh and eighth graders participate in a field trip with ECO educators in November.

World Class

ECO drives a new model of climate change education written by Kevin Branaghin The idea for nonprofit ECO, Ecology for Classrooms & Outdoors, hatched in 2005 when friends Sarah Woods and Bethany Shetterly were volunteering as environmental educators. They identified a gap in primary education and a growing need among students who were increasingly interested in environmental studies. “They wanted to expand environmental education and do field trip programs to educate elementary youth in the Portland Metro area,’ said Monica Smiley, ECO director of development and communication. “Since then, they developed an organization and programs that serve elementary students with hands-on field trips and in-classroom educational lessons. At this point, ECO has served about 32,000 students.” ECO developed and has always used a model of direct service, one that sends its own educators into classrooms to teach the curriculum and lead the service aspects of the program, too. The restrictions…

Sarah Skamser stands among nets used by fishing vessels, including those made by Foulweather Trawl, at the Newport International Terminal on Nov. 25 in Newport, Oregon.

Trawl Goddess of the West Coast

How Sara Skamser is helping preserve Oregon’s commercial fishing industry written by Shirley A. Hancock photography by Amanda Loman In one of the world’s most dangerous professions, Sara Skamser is known as “Trawl Goddess of the West Coast.”  Skamser’s company, Foulweather Trawl in Newport, custom makes commercial fishing nets. It’s the only net loft in the state and the top choice for many of the more than 1,000 Oregon commercial fishermen roaming the West Coast and Alaska. “We roll like a carnival ride out there. One hundred mile an hour winds and waves several stories high can bust out a window, sweep guys off the deck, and stall the engine,” said Kurt Cockran, a fourth-generation commercial fisherman and early adopter of Foulweather Trawl nets. “The one thing I don’t worry about is my nets.” “If they aren’t catching fish, they know it’s not the net, because it came from Foulweather…