Celebrating our connections
By Kasey Hovik
Umpqua Watersheds is working hard to educate people of all ages about our natural world and the importance of protecting, restoring and celebrating our wild places. As you can see from the articles in this newsletter, we have a lot of things going on and we work collaboratively with our staff, volunteers and partner organizations to make progress on our goals outlined in our strategic plan. One of the important ways we have of maximizing and sustaining our efforts as an organization is through our partnerships with other organizations and community groups. We share information and resources to help ensure success and to maximize connections and build relationships. A perfect example of this was our Aug. 28 Watershed Wednesday. Commemorating a half century of conservation Oregon Wild has been celebrating their 50th anniversary this year through a series of community events across the state, and reached out to Umpqua Watersheds to see if we would co-host the first event in Roseburg.
Oregon Wild executive director Sean Stevens and senior conservation advocate Chandra LeGue joined us and provided pizza and beverages from Old Soul Pizza. We had a great turnout. Sean talked about the history of Oregon Wild, and how many people from our community and Umpqua Watersheds were involved with forming Oregon Wild 50 years ago.
Together, we discussed the many projects we have worked on together and what we are currently working on. We couldn’t be prouder of our partnership with Oregon Wild and the great work they are doing across the state and the Pacific Northwest to protect our natural environment. Vote, vote, vote! It’s quite amazing that we are three quarters of the way through 2024! It has been a very consequential year in so many ways in terms of what is happening in the world, our nation, state and community. The decisions we make in the coming elections are huge. We are extremely fortunate to live in a country with free and fair elections. While we at Umpqua Watersheds can’t advocate for a particular candidate or party, we can advocate that you make an informed decision and that you execute your patriotic duty as a citizen to vote.