JULY ENEWS

Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly

Greetings Betsy,

It's hot. Here are some ways you can engage with and support your local ecosystem while staying cool.

EVENTS

Single Hill Beer Release:

Wednesday, July 17

What: Beer Release to Support Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

When: Wednesday, July 17, 5:30pm to 8:30pm ('Shrub Steppe Underground' presentation at 6pm; trivia at 7pm)

Where: Single Hill Brewing Co.

Join us for the release of a delicious new Single Hill beer, "Tub Steppe," a West Coast Pilsner perfect for hot summer days. Drink a fresh pint or take cans to go and support CCC programs!

At 6pm, CCC's Jesuit Volunteers Corps fellow Bill Powers will give a short presentation: "Shrub-Steppe Underground: Microbial Life in the Columbia River Basalt Group"

It’s trivia night at Single Hill! There will be a special shrub-steppe round of trivia, which starts at 7pm.

The beautiful and one-of-a-kind can art comes from local shrub-steppe adventurer and artist, W.D. Frank, who showed this piece at last year’s Images of the Shrub-Steppe exhibit at Boxx Gallery.

Last Few Weeks to Submit

to Images of the Shrub-Steppe

The Waning of the Pygmy Rabbit, by Ana Li Gresham and Doug Lewis,

from 2023's exhibit

Hey Artists,

The eigth annual Images of the Shrub-Steppe, showing at the Boxx Gallery from September 6 thru October 5, is open for submssions until the end of this month. Images of the Shrub-Steppe is an annual juried art exhibit featuring work inspired by the shrub-steppe lands and life of the Yakima Valley. Artists in all media are encouraged to submit artwork completed within the last five years.

To submit or learn more about the contest, visit the artist call for entry page here.

The entry deadline is August 1, 11pm PT.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO

Caring For Parts of the Whole

Volunteer 'bucket brigade' filling up 50 gallon water barrels with water from Cowiche Creek to be used for summer watering. A great workout for a great cause!

Our hardworking group of Stewardship staff, volunteers, and committee members have been working on a variety of fun and meaningful projects. Here are a couple highlights:

Caring for a Rare Plant

Each March and April, CCC staff and volunteers document populations of a delicate and rare plant, Hoover’s biscuitroot (Lomatium lithosolamans), which thrives on some CCC lands. This year, we focused on monitoring for the plant on land that CCC manages in partnership with the City of Yakima at Rocky Top. This monitoring will help avoid impacts from any future trail building and reroutes.

Butterfly Garden Upkeep

At Snow Mountain Ranch, the Butterfly Garden is becoming a peaceful, educational, and beautiful space. We are so grateful to our dedicated plant-loving volunteers for so much help with watering seedlings to pulling weeds to installing garden infrastructure. Feel free to check it out next time you're there -- just follow the Riparian Trail West to the junction with the hidden Swallowtail Trail. If you’d like to be involved with butterfly garden planting and maintenance projects, we can always use more hands!

CONSIDER THIS

Looking for a High Impact

Volunteer Opportunity?

Cowiche Canyon Conservancy wants to hear from community members interested in joining our Board of Directors. We are seeking individuals with diverse talents, lived experiences, and community connections who are committed to conservation of shrub-steppe and connecting people to the landscape through education and low impact recreation. Of special interest to us are potential board members with fundraising, community engagement, real estate, and business experience.

Our active and engaged board governs and guides the organization, which includes an executive director, five staff members, an AmeriCorps volunteer, and 6,388 acres of conserved land. As a member of our volunteer Board of Directors, you can play a role in the long term success of the organization by providing leadership, expertise, perspective, and guidance. A board member position description can be found here . If you are interested in board service, please contact Celisa Hopkins at celisa@cowichecanyon.org.

We're Still Looking for Your Old Car!

We’re seeking a donated vehicle in good working order.

For the second year in a row we’re excited to welcome a Jesuit Volunteer Corps member to our team to support our outreach and engagement work. We want to provide our volunteer with a vehicle to be able to travel safely around town and to various CCC trailheads.

If interested in supporting CCC in this unusual and valuable way, please let us know! Also feel free to share this ask with family, friends, and colleagues.

*Last year we were grateful to receive a car from a generous supporter. Sadly this vehicle needs repairs that exceed the value of the car.

What to Look for on Trails?

A male Lazuli Bunting

Your own water! It’s hot out there. If you go outside, bring plenty of water and sun protection. We recommend adventuring early in the morning to avoid the heat of the day.

At lower elevations, tall buckwheat (eriogonum elatum) are just beginning to bloom from above uniquely spindly stems. At higher elevations, you can still find beautiful sagebrush mariposa lilies (Calochortus macrocarpus) blooming pink and purple amidst browning grass.

Early morning is a good time to listen for birds in the shrub-steppe. One of our favorites is the lazuli bunting (Passerina amoena), whose latin name means beautiful sparrow – likely due to their brilliant gemstone and orange colors.