What We Do

Our community education and outreach program builds support for conservation by development of knowledge about and appreciation for our natural areas and ecologically sound local food production. The Trust invites the community members and visitors of all ages to lectures, classes, and hands-on workshops. We train a team of dedicated volunteers to do important research and monitoring on our properties.

Nehalem Teaching Trail

One of the projects under development at the five acres dedicated to local food production at Alder Creek Farm is the Nehalem Teaching Trail, an informal path that will connect six “stations” each planted with a group of species characteristic of a specific habitat in the Nehalem River basin.  Interpretive signage will identify plants and explain how they were once used by indigenous residents  for food, medicine, shelter, clothing, tools and ceremony.

With funding in 2007 and 2008 from the Tillamook County Cultural Coalition, as well as funding and volunteer contributions from the Trust, Dr. Doug Deur, local ethnobiologist and author of Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America, has completed planning for trail.  The resulting documents include:
An Overview of the key plants for use in the Teaching Trail

Photos and drawings of the plants (2.1 MBpdf).  

Nehalem Teaching Trail, Planting Plan and Trail Map

A map of the projected trail layout is shown below.

With 2009 funding from the Cultural Coalition and  expertise from Dr. Deur,  Tillamook County school groups as well as Trust staff and volunteers will begin gathering and propagating  plants for the Trail, and install the first “Rocky Peaks” station, which mimics the habitat  traditionally found on the highest peaks of the North Coast watersheds, such as Onion Peak.