Community Hub – Aurora Mills Greenspace

A lot is happening at Aurora Mills these days, and that’s part of our strategy. The more projects we’ve got going on at the same site, the more we can reduce inefficiencies and increase co-benefits. Pudding River WC has been involved in the greenspace for more than 5 years, but in 2024 we finally secured stable funding to continue meaningful restoration and improvements until the end of 2026. This builds upon an OWEB Small Grant and the work we’ve done with that funding for the last two years.

Primarily our work at Aurora Mills is native riparian forest and plant restoration along Mill Creek. That means planting and maintaining a diverse variety of native shrubs and trees. That work is still in the early stages, as blackberry, knotweed, and other invasive weeds have a strong foothold in the rich riparian soils. Additionally, we signed a lease with the City of Aurora to start a native plant cutting block in the greenspace, and once that is up and running we’ll be distributing plants throughout the community, primarily live stakes like willow and cottonwood that can be planted along stream banks and other wet areas.

Over the long term we’d like the Greenspace to be much more accessible, with easier access down to the main area (the current entry point is a steep gravel hill that can be difficult to walk on) and clear walking trails.

Looking to walk around and see our project work? Aurora Mills can be a bit hard to find, even though it’s only a block away from the famous antique street of shops. See the location here – https://maps.app.goo.gl/bxJG3tQ7Adyrb7BcA

Meadow Restoration at Silver Falls State Park

In 2024 Pudding River WC began a partnership with Oregon State Parks & Rec to undertake meadow restoration and enhancement projects around Silver Falls State Park. Our crews worked at the Old Ranches Meadow, the Camas Meadow, and our largest project was in the South Falls Lodge meadow. Stewardship to maintain existing meadows provides important habitat for elk as well as hunting ground for owls, hawks, and other avian predators. Mainly the work has been removing scotch broom and small conifers that are encroaching on meadow borders. 

The meadow in front of the south falls lodge is a historic meadow, so not natural to the area, but original to the work the CCC did in building the park in the 1930’s. The plan was for visitors to be able to view the bowl of the falls from the front porch of the lodge. This area has been unmaintained for quite some time, as large shrubs and small trees began to fill in the meadow. OPRD wanted to reopen the area and restore the meadow and viewscape, and Pudding River crews worked to make that vision a reality. 

Community Hub – Coolidge-McClaine Park

In 2023 we began worked in a DEQ Supplemental Environmental Project to improve ecosystem function and habitat quality along Silver Creek at Coolidge-McClain park. Our first goal was tree ivy removal throughout the park, and one year in we’re almost finished with all of that work. Additionally we cleared a model area along the creek of ivy and blackberry and replanted with native trees like red alder. In December of 2024 we signed an agreement with the City of Silverton to complete ongoing maintenance along Silver Creek, and hope to renew that on an annual basis to keep plantings maintained and high traffic areas free of invasive weeds.  

Scotts Mills Dam Removal Community Engagement – Ongoing

While funding has been secured since 2019 to remove the Scotts Mills Dam, approval from 2 out of 3 Marion County Commissioners has yet to be given. In 2023 we won a community engagement grant to restart the outreach process around the project, better engage local community and county residents, and hopefully win the support of one additional commissioner so that we can move forward with dam removal. As we wrap up this engagement grant in 2025, we’re making sure to move our own advocacy and opinions to the background, and let the voices of Scotts Mills leaders and landowners affected by the dam be front and center in the conversation. 

2020 Fire Recovery Work, Jan 2023 – Ongoing

We continued working on the three Beachie Creek fire recovery sites, all near the headwaters of local creeks, that we’ve been helping to steward since September of 2022. In 2024 we did in-house interplanting, mulching, and weed removal and mulching at the three sites. We’ll wrap up this work in May of 2025, when the grant for these recovery sites ends.  

2025 Preview

We have a busy 2025 upcoming, and are awaiting the results of grant apps that will hopefully expand our project portfolio:

• Rapid Bio Assessment: Large spring event on April 27th at the Oregon Garden to publicly launch our findings from two years of stream surveys

• Fire Recovery Work: Final interplanting, mulching, and weed work, the grant ends in May of 2025

• Scotts Mills: We’ll be wrapping up our community engagement grant in 2025 after some delays in 2024, and hope to center the voices of landowners and community leaders who live in Scotts Mills and near the dam.

• Aurora Mills: We’ll be wrapping up the Aurora Mills small grant in April of 2025, and beginning two Marion SWCD grants, one to continue ongoing restoration at Aurora Mills and another to install a native plant plot and cutting block there.

• Coolidge-McClaine Park and Marion SWCD Grants: We’ve be working on two additional Marion SWCD grants, one to fund electric tools to expand our work in Coolidge-McClaine Park in Silverton, and a second to survey Mill Creek in Woodburn and plan and prioritize areas to plant to reestablish stream shade along Mill Creek. We’re also working on a City of Silverton contract to do additional weeding, planting, and maintenance along Silver Creek. 

• Silver Falls State Park: We’ll be continuing meadow restoration work around the park, with our most visible location being meadow work in front of the South Falls Lodge to restore a historic meadow and viewscape in partnership with Oregon Parks & Rec.

• Fish Passage Barrier Removal: We’re still working to implement a technical assistance grant to figure out a solution for removing Aamodt Dam on Rock Creek, 2025 should be the year we implement our technical assistance grant to find an alternative to the dam.

All that and much more in on deck for 2025! Stay tuned for updates and follow our Facebook page to see what is happening as the year progresses.