Coming Together 2023 Year-End Review
Vesper Meadow and The Understory Initiative staff
From the start of Vesper Meadow, we envisioned the creation of a restoration demonstration site that was also a community hub. Over the last 5 years we have made this dream come true, and looking back at 2023 really feels like the community network has blossomed. The fantastic folks that come and support Vesper Meadow are a diverse and thriving collection of students, artists, researchers, volunteers, supporters, educators, and partner organizations.
At the heart-center of this network, is our team at The Understory Initiative: a group of hard-working, passionate, and thoughtful ecologists and restoration practitioners who serve as the Vesper Meadow extended-family: providing research and monitoring support, restoration partnership, and are our essential administrative backbone. We are proud to share the year-end report from The Understory Initiative:
2023 Newsletter and Year-end Report
Vesper Meadow 2023 At a Glance:
Restoration activities
24 Post Assisted Log Structures built in Latgawa and Spencer Creeks
200,000 square feet of invasive meadow grass-es removed and reseeded with native grasses and forbs
Community Partner Organizations
• The Understory Initiative and Rogue Native Plant Partnership
• Indigenous Gardens Network
• Bureau of Land Management (Medford Office)
• Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program
• Project Beaver
• RED Red Earth Descendants
• Southern Oregon Education Service District
• Rogue Riverkeeper
• Southern Oregon Land Conservancy
• Rogue Valley Audubon Society
• Native Plant Society of Oregon, Siskiyou Chapter
• Thoreau School Program of Ashland High School
• Friends of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
Volunteers
Over 600 volunteer hours
• Over 150 volunteers
• Over 100 student-volunteers
Restoration Monitoring
6 additional piezometers added to Spencer Creek, data downloaded every 6 months
5 new flow transects on Spencer Creek, data gathered every other month
meadow Camas lily mapping
invasive weed monitoring of Canada Thistle and Reed Canary grass
Creek photopoint monitoring
butterfly (Pollard walk) surveys
From 2018-2023, this location along Latgawa Creek at Vesper Meadow has seen a lot of love in the form of student-led willow staking, volunteer-created beaver-based structures, and partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District, Drinking Water Providers Partnership, and Project Beaver.