By Ronin Institute Research Scholar Candace Gossen
Beginning in the Fall of 2020, we began the Citizen Science Project called the “Tabor Tree Project” in Portland, Oregon. An old growth forest nestled upon a dormant volcano in the SE of the city, this group of Citizen Scientists identified a diversity of species and ages of trees. I will return with the assistance of the Friends of Mt. Tabor, led by Hap Pritchard to train a new group of volunteers, to continue the ecological health of this old growth forest which consists of mostly Douglas Fir, Big Leaf Maples, London Planetrees, Rowans, a Dawn Redwood, Sequoias, and more. We will be adding a Moon Tree to this living landscape on October 31, 2021.
We have been awarded two grants to continue this project, the Mazamas Conservation Grant will be used to set up the data collection for the project with purchasing a laptop and printer. The second grant awarded from the Ronin Institute will be directly supporting the upcoming training, adding 40 new Citizen Scientists to the collective. Continuing to add tree data to the 2020 collected data, we will focus on expanding the ecology of the forest adding in plant allies, soil information, cloud and landscape changes noting rainfall, temperature and recent wildfire information.
We are thrilled to begin Part Two and if you are in the Portland, Oregon area please contact the Friends of Mt. Tabor to sign up for the training sessions, (https://www.taborfriends.org/volunteer) and see the Portland Hiking Meetup Group for daily Tree Medicine Hikes led by myself (https://www.meetup.com/Portland-Hiking-Group/events/). We are very excited to be planting a new tree to the Mt. Tabor Park, one that was seeded on the Moon during Apollo 14, adding to the great diverse forest of old growth at Mt. Tabor. Stay tuned for more photos when we start the new training October 28. 2021, and the tree planting on October 31, 2021.
A great big thank you to all of the volunteers, supporters and citizen scientists in the world.
Candace Gossen, PhD is a Field and Research Scientist and lover of trees. She is a teacher, NPS Park Ranger and Ronin Scholar training Citizen Scientists.
This post is a perspective of the author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Ronin Institute.
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