Parrott Creek Restoration Day

About the event

Bark is partnering with the Cultural Ecology Program at Parrott Creek to restore an 80-acre site in Clackamas County. The site is connected to Mt. Hood National Forest biologically, hydrologically and culturally.

This site located near Oregon City features mixed coniferous forest, an upper grassland prairie, Parrott Creek and one of its unnamed tributaries, as well as a large wetlands area. The Parrott Creek watershed is adjacent to the Clackamas River watershed which headwaters in Mt. Hood National Forest. As tributaries of the Willamette River, both Parrott Creek and the Clackamas River share many similarities. Parrott Creek provides an excellent opportunity to practice restoration techniques that will then be used in the Clackamas River watershed and within Mt. Hood National Forest. 

Bark staff and volunteers can practice a variety of restoration techniques including invasive plant removal (blackberries), amphibian population surveys, beaver habitat evaluation, and much more. Parrott Creek has been known to have populations of lamprey, juvenile cutthroat, steelhead, coho, and other anadromous species. Besides providing a home for fish, this project area is also used by amphibians, beavers, coyotes, birds of prey, deer, and small mammals. The lower elevation of the Parrott Creek site allows Bark volunteers to participate in projects and learn skills in the shoulder seasons when restoration efforts within Mt. Hood National Forest are not always possible. 

The Parrott Creek’s Cultural Ecology Project focuses on restoring an 80-acre site so that it can be a space where Indigenous people can safely gather natural resources such as foods, medicines, and weaving materials while connecting with the land and their communities and traditions. In addition to restoration field days, they hold community workshops on topics such as cedar pulling for basketry and regalia; cattail, hazel and vine maple harvesting; lamprey and beaver surveys, and more. Given that many Indigenous peoples can’t easily access these sorts of natural and cultural resources in places like the lands now known as Mt. Hood National Forest, this project provides urban Natives with culturally appropriate access and education in Indigenous Traditional Knowledge that ensures their cultures’ wisdom can be actively practiced and passed down for generations to come.

One of the many ways Bark can help support Indigenous communities is by lending our capacity. In this case, Bark brings volunteer power to the Parrott Creek site to remove invasive plants, plant native plants, lead beaver surveys, and help with trail maintenance. It’s straightforward work that addresses complex issues, like the legacy of land theft and cultural erasure that undergirds our national forests (and much conservation work more broadly). And many hands make light work.

Bark volunteers will learn about invasive species removal, plant species identification and planting techniques, erosion control and bank stabilization, small non-native tree felling, and other restoration techniques. These skills will then be used when doing restoration projects in Mt. Hood National Forest. Access to sites within Mt. Hood National Forest is restricted to times without snow and the Parrott Creek site allows access much earlier in the season. Skills honed and knowledge gathered at the Parrott Creek site will directly benefit volunteers helping on Bark field days on Mt. Hood.

Time: 10am-1pm

Location: MEET AT 9:45am at 1001 Molalla Avenue #209, Oregon City, OR 97045. We will carpool from there to the site.

Bring: All-weather gear, long pants, sturdy shoes (rubber boots recommended but hiking boots ok), rain gear, sunglasses, water, snacks (some snacks provided).

Weather forecast: NOAA Weather Oregon City. We will cancel the event if the weather is expected to be below 37 degrees OR very rainy.

Accessibility: Events will be light rain or shine! However, if there is heavy rain or temperatures are below 37 degrees, we will postpone or cancel the day.

This event will be focused on removing invasive plants! Invasive removal days will be a 4-5/5 accessibility with bending, squatting, digging large roots (often blackberry), handling thorny plants, carrying materials. Each site will require walking/standing on steep hills which may be slippery and/or require crossing a small stream on a flat log.

Questions?  Need to carpool? Email Meg@Bark-Out.org