2024 LTWC Annual Outstanding Partner Award Recipients

Embracing New Opportunities and Honoring Progress

Each year, the Long Tom Watershed Council recognizes special individuals, groups, or organizations. For 2024, during the Annual Celebration, the following were recognized as Outstanding Partners:

Karen DeHaro

Over the past year and a half, Karen has been deeply involved in all aspects of restoration and fire management: leading crews, pile burning, fuels reduction, Scotch broom treatment, burn unit preparation, and post-fire seeding. Karen’s dedication and expertise ensure that every task is done with the highest level of care and precision. Even as she pursues her electrician’s apprenticeship, she continues to return and assist Ecostudies with critical work. A skilled sawyer and restoration practitioner, Karen has taken on some of the hardest tasks, including the removal of hazardous fuels, like poison oak from legacy oak trees, and helping create healthier habitats for the reintroduction of beneficial fire. Her contributions are often overlooked, but without Karen’s steady presence and hard work, we wouldn’t be in the strong position we are in today to bring good fire back to the landscape.

Angie Marzano

Angie has been the primary force behind the success of the Stormdrain Cleanout Assistance Program (SCAP), a program aimed at reducing the financial and logistical burdens of storm drain maintenance for private property owners. Angie brought the motivation to replicate Gresham’s highly successful SCAP program and model it to the needs of Lane County.
She spearheaded the planning, logistics, bidding, and contracting processes, marketing and promotion – transforming the program from a concept into a highly effective initiative in record time. Thanks to her efforts, the first year of SCAP (fall 2023) exceeded enrollment expectations, by signing up 81 businesses, which translated to 248 stormdrains cleaned and continues to grow with minimal partnership input. Since the creation of the program, over 130 businesses have participated, with over 400 storm drains cleaned in every Lane County city. Angie’s passion and project planning skills have been pivotal in moving the needle of our collective efforts of cleaner surface water flowing into our beloved waterways, as well-maintained storm drains play a critical role in reducing pollution.

The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde’s Natural Resources Department

The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde’s Natural Resources Department (CTGR) provided significant leadership and support for three burn sites in the Long Tom Watershed in 2023:

  • Rattlesnake Butte (a Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde site),
  • Camp Creek Hills (a Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians site), and
  • Coyote Oaks (private property with a conservation easement).

The Long Tom Watershed Council has for many years prepared to bring good fire back to the oak and prairie ecosystems that depend on it. However, we rely on leadership and expertise from outside our organization to implement burns. The successful burns in 2023, totaling 122 acres, would not have been possible without the leadership and capacity provided by CTGR’s Natural Resources Department including their Wildland Fire Program and Restoration Program. We are excited to continue supporting CTGR’s leadership and collaborating alongside your staff and community as we work together to expand ecological and cultural burning capacity into the future.

COULDN’T JOIN US FOR THE CELEBRATION?

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