Public Events: Join as a volunteer, a student, a community scientist, an artist, and get involved at the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve. All are welcome to attend, space is limited/ all participants must RSVP in advance.
Partnership Events: These private events are reserved only for participants associated with partner organizations, schools, Tribes, or others noted in the event description.
All are welcome to ‘be like beavers’, and help us gather willow stakes! We will gather willows along headwater creeks of the Rogue River to utilize toward restoration techniques to restore the creek channel previously eroded by grazing and down-cutting associated with lack of vegetation.
Join us for a 2-day series: Willow and Qi….what do the two have in common? Come find out! Learn about willow and the benefits of Qigong. “move like willow” with Qigong movement and plant willow in Latgawa Creek. Friday 5/08 - public talk at the Medford Library. Saturday 5/09 - Qigong and willow planting at the meadow!
Join us for an inspiring evening, enjoy a photography walk, and choose to participate in the optional follow-up workshop and photography showcase. Golden hours is one of the most beautiful times of the day and mid-May means you will immerse yourself in the early spring buds, blooms, birds, and butterflies of the meadow!
Take a field trip out of the studio, and explore the day’s theme “art in full bloom" and what it means to make art as part of the story of a healing landscape. The end of May is a prime time to visit the meadow in its full green-spring-glory and see colorful blooms. We will share about the meadow and creek restoration demonstration site and have free time to get creative!
All are welcome. Volunteers will enjoy the beauty of the Preserve in the evening and have opportunities to learn about native plants of the Cascade-Siskiyou, their pollinators, and human-connections. Native grass and flower seeds will be stored for fall restoration planting in restored meadow plots and demonstration garden areas.
Join us and friends from Southern Oregon Land Conservancy for beautiful surroundings, good company, and do a good deed for the land. It's our 4th annual starthistle removal…come help close in on the finish!
Calling all artists! We will focus on using human figures to add narrative and scale to landscapes. The workshop covers placing figures from life models and photos into scenes to create a believable, cohesive image, and will immerse participants in the beauty of the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve.
Join Tara Laidlaw of the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy and VMEP Director Jeanine Moy for a morning of exploration, creativity, and contemplation. We'll meander the meadow and follow the creek before landing in a comfy spot to reflect using a simple journaling framework.
Join us for a 2 hour educational panel discussion with Tribal voices on how to meaningfully engage in land justice for Tribal communities.
Kicking off the new year by gathering community, talking about biocultural restoration, hearing from artists as thought leaders, and collectively dreaming of a better future.
All are welcome to come and engage community in discussion, art, and visioning under the theme of "Art for What Comes Next" hosted by the fantastic community hub that is Talent Maker City for a dynamic presentation of art, interactive discussion, and space to be creative.
Join us for our fifth year of transforming the meadow from stands of invasive pasture grass to diverse native grasses and flowers, aka pollinator habitat (like restaurants for pollinators!). All are welcome to join, no experience necessary.
All are welcome to join in this collaboration with Cultivate Oregon, supported by Jackson County Soil and Water District. We will discuss practical and organic ways to rid unwanted weeds, improve soils, and prepare ground for native plant seeding. You will tour our established meadow restoration plots and get to participate in the preparation of seeding areas + native plant seeding. No experience necessary, supplies and snacks provided.
We are celebrating 6 years of meadow restoration, community building, and you! All are welcome to join - whether it is your first time at Vesper Meadow, or you are a seasoned community member. Bask in the beauty of the meadow in early autumn, learn about our latest projects, listen to some tunes, enjoy good food and company!
Volunteer fence removal collaboration with Southern Oregon Land Conservancy and Vesper Meadow Education Program. All are welcome to join at the scenic Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve for this community effort to restore habitat and make travel more safe for wildlife!
Red Earth Descendants will be hosting a Women’s Talking Circle at Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve. This Talking Circle is open to women-bodied people and those who identify as women.
Jeanine Moy of Vesper Meadow will share fantastical but true stories from several years of community organizing for biocultural restoration, and personal anecdotes from growing a close relationship to a special place. You might just want to ask a beaver about his feelings of returning home after 20 years away from the creek he has loved... or find yourself intrigued by a rare local butterfly the size of your fingernail. And for sure you will want to talk to the fields of Camas lilies who have waited patiently for over a century for their tenders to return….
Guided by an ethic of reciprocity and nurturing human-land connection, our seed collection events offer a chance to support our continuing 6+ years of restoration efforts .
In partnership with Rhianna from Verdant Phoenix, we will gather native plant seeds and discuss Indigenous gardening and land tending context.
Come spend a summer morning in the meadow, collecting native seeds for First Foods by hand and helping restore this unique high-elevation ecosystem.
Calling all artists, writers, creatives! Join us for and informal day of inspiration and art making in midsummer…as the most beautiful (and least hot!) time of the day.
A Healing Landscapes Program event in collaboration with Southern Oregon Land Conservancy. "As we heal the land, the land heals us." Join us for a day of giving to the land and restoring the self.
Join special guests from Pollinator Project Rogue Valley, and VM Program Director Jeanine Moy and spend a day during the peak of wildflower season to collect seeds of species that are larval host grasses and nectar flower plants for the Mardon Skipper butterfly.
Southern Oregon Indian Education District (SOESD) hosts an annual Native Games event for SOESD families, youth, and community. This year Native Games is at Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve!
Join Red Earth Descendants and Vesper Meadow Education Program for a fun native plant identification walk. Bring a dish to share for RED's seasonal gathering potluck at the meadow!
Following the Friday May 23rd evening talk, we will get out on a field trip to Vesper Meadow and a couple different nearby meadows in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. We will caravan to the CSNM for a hybrid walking/ driving tour of different Mardon Skipper habitat meadows; taking care to not impact sensitive sites. Participants will be treated to a diversity of spring wildflower viewing, early season butterflies, and breeding birds. We will get a good picture of how the state of the Klamath Mardon Skipper is reflected in the land, and learn about the history of people, plants, and water that have shaped the overall health of their meadow habitats.
Join Jeanine Moy as she brings you along through the native bunchgrasses and seablush flowers for a butterly-eye view of the Monument. Hear the story of a rare and imperiled species, and learn about our chance to come together and protect the land that both the Mardon and our communities rely on. Participants will gain opportunities to become involved and take action for meadow habitat conservation and restoration.
Enjoy the beauty of the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve and experience the heart of our healing programs - for both humans and the more-than-human neighbors. Breath deep with a movement and meditation practice in the dense forest before crossing into the expansive meadow to help remove invasive yellow star thistle. This program is in coordination with Vesper Meadows’s Healing Landscapes "As we heal the land, the land heals us"
Join Coalicion Fortaleza and Vesper Meadow Education Program for a day of family, fun, and sun!
Come learn practical and low-cost strategies to restore natural hydrology, improve biodiversity, and enhance ecosystem function. This hands-on workshop will explore low-tech, process-based restoration techniques for waterways and wetland meadows. Emphasizing practical approaches like soil erosion control, and plant community restoration, and natural water flow management, this workshop is ideal for landowners, restoration practitioners, students, and anyone interested in ecological restoration.
Calling all artists, writers, creatives! Join us for and informal day of inspiration and art making in the early summer. We’ll explore the day’s theme “water, restoring the flow for all life." Participants will tour the creek restoration demonstration site and have thoughtful discussion of the meaning of restoring waterways during current times.
Volunteers needed! All are welcome to join in this community effort with the BLM, Friends of CSNM, KSWild - an effort to protect some of the most sensitive Mardon skipper meadows of the Cascade-Siskiyou. No experience necessary, and those experienced in fence work are encouraged to participate. Drinks, snacks, and gloves will be provided.
Join a local learning cohort of community leaders and organizers in skill-building towards cultivating respectful and meaningful partnerships with Tribal communities.
As a thank you to our Spring Fundraiser supporters at $250 or more, we are hosting a unique experience during one of the greenest, sweetest, most lovely times of the year!
Join Vesper Meadow Education Program Director Jeanine Moy and Board Member Stacy Tauber for a bird walk through Vesper Meadow followed by a delicious brunch spread. We'll see some charismatic Sandhill Cranes as well Hermit Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Grosbeaks, Western and Mountain Bluebirds, various sparrows including the Vesper Sparrow, Cliff and Tree Swallows, maybe an elusive Hermit Thrush, and many others!
Volunteers needed! All are welcome to join in this community effort with the BLM, Friends of CSNM, KSWild - an effort to protect some of the most sensitive Mardon skipper meadows of the Cascade-Siskiyou. No experience necessary, and those experienced in fence work are encouraged to participate. Drinks, snacks, and gloves will be provided.
Join us on Friday, April 25 for an afternoon of hands-on activities, local vendors, and engaging experiences that highlight the science of sustainability. Earth Day is a call to protect our planet for future generations—come learn, explore, and take action for a more sustainable future!
Calling all educators and local organizations!
In collaboration with The Crest at Willow-Witt Ranch, we’re co-hosting an open house day for you to get to know the land and people behind the Highlands Connection programs. We welcome educators & partner organizations, old and new, to come out for short walking tours and a brown bag picnic lunch.
Some of the most pressing issues of our time: wildfire, how to build resilience communities, and climate change…. are challenging topics to discuss with children. Through utilizing our “Fire Ecology and Human Relationship” curriculum guide, we’ll showcase resources and lesson plans to explore these issues and provide hands-on learning materials for the classroom and beyond. This workshop features a presentation by Joseph Scott, Culture keeper and Indigenous educator who will discuss traditional ecological knowledge and relationships with fire, as well as several choose-your-own lesson demonstrations. We’re inviting all educators and community organizers to join this free event.
All are invited to our first Mini-Fest for some relaxation, community, and merriment. This fundraiser is celebrating the end of the season, 5 years of Vesper Meadow programs, and most of all… you! You will enjoy the fall season at the meadow, hear about our last five years of biocultural restoration, and partake in both healing and celebratory activities (read more for details)
