FREE FORESTRY & PESTICIDE MONITORING WORKSHOP June 13th

Rockaway Beach Citizens for Watershed Protection invites the public to a free pesticide monitoring workshop given by Oregon Wild at the North County Recreation District (NCRD) on Wednesday, June 13th, at 5:30 pm. NCRD is located at 36155 9th St. in Nehalem, OR. This is an opportunity for coastal citizens to learn how to be online watchdogs for their local watershed. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops to follow along and learn the online process firsthand.

Often when a citizen wants to know about timber-related activity occurring near their home or watershed, they are directed to use FERNs. This free online system, offered by Oregon’s Department of Forestry, gives information regarding future aerial spraying and other timber-related activities planned for private and public timberlands. “This is an opportunity to learn how to monitor what goes on in your own backyard that affects your water,” says Arica Sears, Program Coordinator of RBCWP. This workshop is timely since summer is beginning, a season when aerial spraying often occurs during less windy weather.

Rockaway Beach Citizens for Watershed Protection (RBCWP) is a citizens group that was founded in 2012 in response to the clearcutting and aerial spraying of the Jetty Creek watershed that provides drinking water for the City of Rockaway Beach, Oregon. Since its founding, we have worked to educate and motivate our friends and neighbors to help us protect Jetty Creek. Our efforts have led to reduced aerial spraying and community engagement with timber companies. Our work has expanded to include working with neighboring communities to help protect watersheds all along the North Oregon Coast.

Those of us working with RBCWP want to know that the water we drink and the air we breathe are safe, but we are concerned that existing forest management practices and State regulations place these precious resources at risk. With that in mind, we encourage all Oregonians to learn more about the status of the watershed that provides their drinking water. This is a matter of public health.

As a citizens group, we invite all to attend our meetings, educational events, and hikes. Please join us to learn how to monitor pesticides that affect water and air quality in our communities.