Outreach – We Need You
Barbara Lynch
WE NEED YOU!
Barbara Lynch joined the Umpqua Watersheds Board of Directors in the summer of 2018, and she has since become the Outreach Committee Chair. She is thrilled to explore all the beautiful wildlands Oregon has to offer. Barbara works as a preschool teacher at a private school, and she strives to further her environmental and conservation education whenever and wherever possible. She likes to think globally and act locally.
The Umpqua Watersheds community can look forward to many concerts, festivals, events, and hikes this coming year as the Outreach Coordinator continues to organize these events. Our biggest events include our Annual Banquet and Silent Auction in April as well as the Umpqua Brew Fest in October. Committee volunteers are needed. Join the committee on the last Thursday of every month at 5:30 pm at UW office.
Banquet Keynote Speaker Jacob Lebel
It would be difficult to imagine that members of Umpqua Watersheds and the community have not heard of our Guest Speaker for this years Annual Banquet and Silent Auction, Jacob Lebel. I will attempt to describe this inspiring and humble individual for those that may need an introduction or refresher.
Jacob is a graduate of Roseburg High School and has been interested in issues affecting climate change since before he graduated. You may recall from the Fall 2015 Umpqua Watersheds newsletter, that he and his friend and community member, Alex Loznak, founded a youth group called the League of Umpqua Climate Youth (LUCY). Starting small, they spearheaded efforts to bring solar to our schools and then growing to include efforts at the regional and state level and joining forces with Our Children’s Trust, a group seeking to challenge the Federal Government. In that climate case, Julianna vs. the United States, Jacob is one of over twenty plaintiffs suing the U.S. Federal government for their climate negligence and violation of constitutional rights of youth to demand climate change policies to protect their future. This is part of a larger youth-driven global climate recovery campaign that seeks to secure the legal right to a stable climate and healthy atmosphere. In his own words, “I am telling my government to stop aiding and turning a blind eye to the corporations who profit off destroying our resources, climate, and environment, and start acting in the interest of its people. Our lives may depend on it.”
A few years ago, Jacob joined the campaign with hundreds of individuals, tribal governments, business owners, and organizations to intervene in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s process to object to the dangerous Jordan Cove natural gas pipeline project. In 2016, Jacob also travelled to North Dakota to join the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The Water Protector movement has done more to reshape the national conversation for any future environmental project, and it must have been amazing for Jacob to take part in it. As they say, “Water is Life.” Absolutely!
One of Jacob’s passions include working on a family farm. He has a connection to the land, and he knows first-hand how quickly climate is changing in Oregon. He has connections with other self-sustaining communities worldwide that are focused on creating living ecosystems. He writes to inspire people on a deeper level beyond what the conventional media offers. He also appears as a special guest in the Red Dragon Irish Band.
We
look forward to his presentation, Climate in the Courts, at our upcoming 23rd Annual Banquet and Silent Auction on April 13th. If you have donation items for the banquet, please bring them to Umpqua Watersheds or contact us to arrange pickup. Thank you and see you there!
Some of the highlights of 2018: Crater Lake Snowshoe hike, MLK Day and St Paddy’s Day River Cleanups, participation in the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, annual Banquet & Auction, tabling at Earth Day and Energy Fair, River Appreciation Day, Twin Lakes Youth Wilderness Camp, Umpqua Brewfest 9, and the Fall Mushroom Hike.
Mother Nature visited us this year in the form of wildfires and inclement weather, causing several events to be cancelled.
All in all, we are pleased with the effort, as we once again reached over 2,000 people, not counting the hundreds of youth from our Classroom at Crater Lake education trips or our radio outreach via KQUA 99.7 LP FM, which reaches all of Roseburg and beyond!
Once again, it truly takes a village, and it’s uplifting to see the community support we’ve had this year. To all of those who have offered support this year…….THANK YOU
