Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area receive BLM national volunteer award
CROOKED RIVER RANCH, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area is pleased to announce that the Bureau of Land Management has selected FANs as one of only nine volunteer organizations in the United States to receive the national “Making a Difference” volunteer award.
There will be a virtual award presentation ceremony on Wednesday, August 16th at 10:00 a.m., where the Secretary of the Interior's Office, the BLM Director's Office, and the OR/WA State Office will present the award.
Although the national event will be livestreamed, Prineville District BLM staff and FANs members will gather in person at the Ranch Chapel in Crooked River Ranch at 5060 Clubhouse Road.
Immediately following the presentation will be a reception at the Steelhead Falls trailhead. This is one of the locations where FANs volunteers have dedicated thousands of hours of labor, and thousands of dollars on stewardship efforts such as native plant restoration, trail creation and maintenance, etc.
FANs is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization which was founded in 2012. Their mission statement says their work “is to preserve and restore the wild landscapes of the middle Deschutes and lower Crooked Rivers and lower Wychus Creek through advocacy, stewardship and education. We strive to protect the fragile ecosystems of these river canyons, the native sagebrush steppe that surrounds them, and the diverse wildlife, fish, and birds that call them home.”
FANs volunteers steward these lands through native bird next box monitoring, trail monitoring and maintenance, weed consultations and invasive weed removal, native plant restoration and trash cleanups.
In addition to stewardship, FANS members have written three pocket books specifically for central Oregon: Native Plants, Common Weeds and Common Birds. FANs volunteers also conduct guided hikes, created and maintain a native plant demonstration garden, and hosts monthly educational seminars called the Lens on Learning. For more information see: www.fansofdeschutes.org.
