FOREST MEDICINE

On May 12th, volunteers from many walks gathered at the front entrance of the underutilized and overtaken forest at Evergreen Park to work together on what has been an ongoing effort by our Roots & Shoots service-learning program to change those two descriptions.

Thank you to Yale alumni (and future student), home- schoolers, high school students, college students, and other friends and community members who joined us on Mother’s Day!  Additional thanks to the City of Hillsboro for providing the tent, tool trailer, and mulch, and to OYA and Dr. Kracker for refreshments!

Evergreen Park adoption has been a signature project for RFH Roots & Shoots since our 2010 Oregon kickoff.  Youth and their families have kept the park clean and maintained, volunteered for Hillsboro’s Great Pumpkin Hunt, planted flowers to celebrate Earth Day, and removed invasive Himalayan Blackberry.

The consequences of invasive Himalayan Blackberry on Evergreen Park’s forest include:

• reduced biodiversity due to crowding out of native plants by monoculture
• obscured trails, making the forest less inviting to explore
• concealed areas where vandalism and litter occur

In our vision of the rehabilitated forest, blackberry monoculture is replaced by a variety of native plants, inviting a greater diversity and number of animals to live there. Things are already off to a great start with birdhouses installed by local scouts in some of the clearings.

Well-defined trails make the forest inviting to humans, too, especially local children, who can explore the biodiversity of the forest more easily and safely.  As neighbors discover trails, explore the forest, and connect with nature, we hope they too will fall in love with the beauty of life there.

Since 1996, Resources for Health’s mission has been to “empower citizens to care for their health, the environment, and their community.” Here’s how our work at Evergreen Park fits with that mission:

HEALTH: Improved trails invite people to walk.  Not only is walking good exercise, walking in the forest is even better.  Have you heard of Shinrin -Yoku or “forest bathing,” a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine?

ENVIRONMENT: Better management of invasive species help native plants thrive, inviting more and greater diversity of wildlife into the forest.  By invasive species, we’re referring to the blackberry.  But do you think we humans are invasive too?

COMMUNITY: Reclaiming the forest from invasive blackberry will require lots of community help, fostering better neighborhood relationships and raising awareness of a park that is somewhat of a hidden jewel.  (Some folks who volunteered on the 12th said they lived nearby but never knew the park was there!)  And in the words of conservationist Aldo Leopold: “The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.”

More outdoor adventures and exciting progress await!  We hope you will join us again fore our next project in the park on June 8th to help end Nature Deficit Disorder!

Bikes, Bites & Books, oh my!

A Day in the Woods at Evergreen Park

ODFW: Stop the Water Exchange!

*JOIN THE FACEBOOK EVENT!*

We need your help!

Nestlé Waters has been trying to build a water bottling facility on the Columbia River Gorge and bottle the water of Oxbow Springs since 2008. Right now, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) holds those water rights for a salmon hatchery. For Nestlé to bottle the water, ODFW would have to exchange the spring water with the town of Cascade Locks, and Nestlé would then buy the water from the town. At any time, the Governor could tell ODFW to pull out of the water exchange, or ODFW could stop it themselves.

Two years ago the Resources for Health Roots & Shoots group devised the H2Origami campaign, using origami made from natural and recycled materials to raise awareness about water issues and to advocate for clean and healthy waterways for people and wildlife.We sent and delivered thousands of pieces of origami folded by citizens at H2Origami outreach events asking the Governor to make the right decision and tell ODFW to stop the exchange. The only response we have gotten thus far is a statement that he will remain neutral on the issue.

Now, with Nestlé still trying to push its way into the gorge, our youth service-learning group based in Washington County has decided to take action.We’re asking people to send origami messages to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), with your message on one side, and the information that confirms that you’re a real person on the other.The more people sending origami, the more powerful the overall message will be. You can send origami too! The first thing you need to do is choose what kind of origami you want to send. To find origami wildlife, and cup instructions, just hover over the “H2Oigami” tab, and click on FOLD.

Next, on one side of the origami, write your first and last name, city, and zip code so ODFW can confirm that you’re a real person. On the other side, write:
“Please pull out of the water exchange that could allow Nestle to bottle Oregon’s water”
or your own words that convey the same message.

Last but not least, make sure your origami arrives to ODFW on Earth Day of 2013. Depending on where in Oregon you live, you should probably send it at the end of the week before Earth Day.
This year, Earth Day falls on Monday, April 22nd.

The department’s mailing address is 3406 Cherry Avenue Northeast, Salem, OR 97303.

If you are sending origami, please e-mail us at info@h2origami.org and let us know how much origami you sent.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In Full Gear: ‘Normalizing’ Active Transportation in Hillsboro

HILLSBORO, OR (3-27-2013) –  Although the City missed out this month on Bloomberg Philanthropies’ cash prizes to implement GoPoint transportation hubs, one grassroot nonprofit’s efforts to “normalize” active transportation in Hillsboro are in full gear.

“In a Hillsboro where active transportation is ‘normalized,’ citizens – including families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities – would be able to reach their intended destinations safely by foot, bike, or assistive device, without barriers to access,” says Annee von Borg, MSW, MPH, co-founder and director of Resources for Health.

Active transportation – including cycling, walking, using a wheelchair, skateboard, or any other form of human-powered transportation – can yield benefits such as weight loss, improved heart health, and overall enhanced well-being.  von Borg is familiar with these benefits on a personal as well as a professional level.  In 2011, her family of seven went car-free in Hillsboro, helping husband Moses lose over 100 pounds and change his parking spot from the handicap space to the bike rack.  To accommodate physical disabilities, he rides an adaptive bike.

As a public health professional, von Borg recognizes active transportation as an intervention with the potential not only to boost individual health, but also to transform community and environmental health by reducing air pollution, increasing social cohesion, and even contributing to economic development as citizens redirect money saved on transportation and health care costs toward local businesses.  

In accordance with the organization’s mission to empower citizens to care for their health, the environment, and their communities, Resources for Health has organized two local events to raise awareness of walking and biking routes to Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve in conjunction with tree plantings at the site.  The events also serve to raise awareness of road and sidewalk improvements that would make this public park more accessible to more of the public.  Sidewalk gaps, high speeds, and compromised bike lanes are some of the current barriers to safely and comfortably accessing the Preserve’s location along Highway 219 for car-free travelers, especially for the 60% of the population who identify as “interested but concerned” about biking for transportation.  von Borg writes about some of these issues on the family’s blog.

Last Saturday, a small but dedicated group reached the Preserve by foot to plant 3,000 trees as part of Friends of Trees largest volunteer turnout of the season.  This Saturday, Resources for Health invites citizens to join them again to “Pedal to the Preserve!”, an easy 1.5 mile group bike ride from  Hatfield Government Center.  From there riders can

(1) volunteer planting trees from 9am-1pm
(2) park bikes at the Education Center and walk the trails
(3) continue biking along the scenic 23-mile Jackson Bottom  Loop

Resources for Health is also known locally for its Wheel Solutions program, delivering CSA shares by cycle in Tanasbourne, Orenco Station, and Amberglen neighborhoods, currently in partnership with Dairy Creek Farm and Holland Residential Properties  (see also: Oregonian article).  The von Borg Family additionally was recognized in 2012 by the BTA’s Alice Awards for “outstanding achievements and dedication to building the future Oregon where bicycling is safe, convenient, and fun.”  Clearly they’ve taken this commitment to the next level in Hillsboro.                                                            

MEDIA CONTACT
Annee von Borg, MSW, MPH
Annee@ResourcesForHealth.org
503.690.8348

# # #

Peaceful Collaboration Leads to Successful Attack

RFH Roots & Shoots celebrates Earth Day at our adopted park.

Since our Roots & Shoots group adopted Evergreen Park in 2010, we’ve been waging a peaceful battle on the invasive Armenian blackberry that dominates the park’s forest in order to make space for the crowded native plants that live there.

Last year on MLK Day, Kaiser Permanente office staff came out to help us with the effort against the blackberry.

Kaiser Permanente, the largest managed healthcare organization in the U.S. partners with Resources for Health, local grassroots nonprofit because they “believe that health begins where we live, work, and play.”

For MLK Day 2013, Kaiser teamed up again to remove blackberries as co-adopters of Evergreen Park. This time, we were joined by a local girl scout troupe and a charter school, too.

Jim Gersbach, a friend of Friends of Trees, another organization we frequently team up with, is the Senior Hospital Communications Consultant who will be leading his fellow staff in two service projects a year to enhance the Evergreen Park’s forested area.  Jim knows enough about trees to maybe one day help create an arboretum right at Evergreen Park!  We can dream….  Meanwhile, Scott Crowell at Hillsboro Parks & Rec suggested we do some native plantings at our next project to help crowd out the invasive species, like we did with SOLVE Green Team at Council Creek last year, continuing this year.

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Overall, the event was very successful. The forest floor and native plants that were completely sheathed in blackberry just hours before, were uncovered once more.

If you’re local and looking to get involved with Roots & Shoots, join us at at Evergreen Park, Council Creek, or one of the Friends of Trees plantings in Beaverton!

– Jacob, Roots & Shoots National Youth Leadership Council

Help Wanted for Civic Engagement

RFH Roots & Shoots, now in our 10^th year of youth service-learning projects, is recruiting new members ages 10+ and an adult co-leader in the Hillsboro/Beaverton area.

This year, in addition to hands-on volunteer projects caring for the environment, animals, and community, we’ll use Project Citizen curriculum to learn to monitor and influence public policy on the issues related to our hands-on efforts.   Project Citizen promotes “competent and responsible participation with government at all levels while developing support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.”

For example:  While we volunteer to plant trees in Beaverton neighborhoods, how does public policy affect trees in our state forests?  Our group will work together to identify and study a public policy issue, exercising critical thinking and problem-solving skills to explore the associated complexities, and produce a portfolio project to present to the community and/or policymakers.

WHEN: Saturdays beginning 10/6.  Hands-on, get dirty volunteering 1-2 mornings monthly with Friends of Trees, SOLVE, and City of Hillsboro.  Additional Saturday dates and times for Project Citizen TBD.

WHERE: Indoor meetings – Our home/office in the Tanasbourne area.  Outdoor volunteering – Hillsboro/Beaverton locations.

CONTACT:  annee@resourcesforhealth.org or 503.690.8348 with additional questions or interest as youth member or adult co-leader.