As spring shifts toward summer, we have been busy managing trailside vegetation and invasive species response.

Our small but mighty stewardship team, dedicated volunteers, and community work parties have been working hard to improve trail corridors and manage vegetation in high-use areas throughout the park. Keeping vegetation from overgrowing onto trails not only improves accessibility and visitor experience, but also helps reduce the likelihood of hikers encountering unwanted ticks.

With warmer weather also comes increased tick activity. Your best way to avoid ticks when you visit the park are to stay on designated trails, wear long sleeves and pants when possible, and perform tick checks on yourself and your furry friends after spending time outdoors. If you want to learn more about the ticks, identification, and ways to stay safe click here.

Our stewardship crew has been working closely with a group of land experts on the Stewardship Advisory Council (STAC) to help prioritize invasive species management throughout Howard Buford Recreation Area. This collaboration brings together ecological expertise, stewardship experience, and long-term habitat goals to guide restoration efforts across the park.

To maximize the efforts of stewarding over 2,000 acres of land with our limited stewardship crew, the team has been using EDRR to address invasive species in the park. EDRR stands for Early Detection Rapid Response — a proactive land management approach focused on identifying and addressing invasive species before they become widespread and significantly more difficult to control.

Photo Credit: Mathew L. Miller

Spring Wildlife Sightings

Spring has also brought some exciting wildlife encounters. Recently, two gopher snakes were observed mating in the nursery — twisting and wrapping around one another in a fascinating display rarely witnessed up close.

Gopher snakes play an important ecological role in our region and are completely nonvenomous. However, they do enjoy basking in warm rocks and pavement. This causes them to go onto the road and in parking lots. We ask you to please drive slowly entering the park and keep your eyes out for these beautiful snakes and other reptilian friends who call this place home.

Who’s spitting on the flowers?

Have you ever wondered what this foamy stuff on grasses and flowers was? This spring it seemed to be especially abundant in the nursery and the park. It is caused by spittlebugs (nymph stage). The nymphs have sucking mouth parts and create a protective foam around themselves while feeding on plant juices. If you wipe some of the froth away you may find a little green creature inside.

They will develop this way for a month or so before maturing to darker adults, usually brown and mottled depending on the species. When in the adult form they are called froghoppers due to their loose resemblance to frogs and their incredible jumping ability. While they do feed on plants, they generally do not cause much damage.

Golden Paintbrush in Bloom

On Wednesday, May 13th the Stewardship Crew went out to a post-burn site visit at Native Oaks Ridge located outside of Cottage Grove that was open to the Rivers to Ridges partnership. This 326-acre property that consists of oak woodland, oak savanna, upland prairie, and conifer forests is managed by the Coast Fork Watershed Council. The burn was coordinated by Southern Willamette Prescribed Burn Association.

It was exciting to see a bunch of plant people come together and take in the Spring blooms of castilleja levisecta (golden paintbrush), calochortus tolmiei (cat’s ear lily), dichelostemma congestum (ookow), and many more. We even got to try Fragaria virginiana (Virginia strawberries) straight off the vine.

Golden paintbrush, a threatened plant species introduced on the property in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife through the Fish and Wildlife Program, is thriving in the upland prairie.

Restoration techniques such as ecological burning made these beautiful blooms possible. We look forward to continuing this vital work in HBRA so endangered plants can thrive for years to come.

We’ve been blown away by the support our community has shown during the May Match campaign. Because of that momentum, we’re extending the match through June 30 to help us reach our full $20,000 goal!

Meaning every donation will still be matched dollar for dollar by a generous group of board members and supporters, doubling the impact of your gift.

Your support is already making a real impact across the Greater Mt. Pisgah Area, from trail improvements and invasive species removal to native plant propagation and Oak Savanna stewardship.

Every gift helps care for this special place that so many people love.

Our nursery staff, volunteers and interns are  hard at work weeding, watering, and caring for thousands of native plants as seed harvesting season gets underway. Every year, seeds  from about 120 different species are collected, threshed, cleaned, weighed, mixed and sown in stewardship projects throughout the Greater Mt. Pisgah Area. See the story, below, from long-time Friends volunteer, Dave Predeek, about the impact a few volunteers and a few seeds can make.

Interested in learning more about native plants, volunteering is a great way to work alongside experienced staff and have all your native plant questions answered!

Native Plant Nursery

Every Tuesday, 8:00AM-11:00AM, Thursday, 8:00-11:00AM, Saturday, 8:00AM-11:00AM

Seed harvest is beginning! As the weather warms, the early-blooming plants are beginning to form seed pods. Come join a volunteer work party at the Nursery on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to harvest and clean various species of seed! Tall larkspur, bleeding heart, and columbine are some of the first to harvest. Seed harvest does require focus and a bit of endurance, but group harvests always lead to fun conversations and plenty of laughs. Can’t wait to see ya!

We’re also sending out a “mayday” to any individuals who enjoy weeding! Since we’ve been so focused on seed harvest, the weeds in the nursery have gotten out of control! Come help us whip the nursery back into shape by yanking out bindweed by the wheelbarrow-load! Feel free to drop by during regular volunteer hours (listed above) or email us to schedule a time if you’re interested in helping, but have limited availability!

Trails Stewardship

Every Thursday, 8:00AM-11:00AM

Become a trail blazer by helping build, maintain, and restore trails within the 30-mile trails system of the park. Currently we are cutting back overgrown vegetation and removing invasive species!

Habitat Restoration

Every Monday, 8:00AM-11:00AM

Help us restore native habitats such as oak savannas, oak woodlands, and floodplains. Tasks include removing invasive species, mulching, applying biochar, and managing brush piles.

Have questions about volunteering? Email volunteer@bufordpark.org

We’re officially reviewing applications for our Summer Internship! With program areas in both Land Stewardship and Nursery Operations, we offer a hands-on, well-rounded experience to help young professionals figure out their future career paths in environmental work.

Know someone ready to get their hands dirty and tend the land? Encourage them to apply today!

Native Seed Farm Tour!

Join Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah and the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) this July 16th for a Native Seed Farm Tour highlighting volunteer-powered native seed production and regional restoration efforts.

Open to all, this tour is especially geared toward native seed growers, restoration practitioners, and anyone interested in native plant stewardship. The event is free to attend, with suggested donations supporting ongoing restoration work.

Space will be limited to 40 participants, so registration is encouraged.

Wildcrafting Workshop With Rooted Remedies Apothecary

Join Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah and Rooted Remedies Apothecary on June 20 from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. for Restorative Wildcrafting, a hands-on workshop focused on harvesting invasive plants in ways that support the health of native ecosystems.

Participants will learn about invasive species management, harvest invasive plants alongside restoration experts, and create herbal preparations using the plants collected during the workshop. You’ll leave with fresh plant material, handmade herbal extracts, and a deeper understanding of ethical and sustainable wildcrafting practices.

This workshop is designed for plant lovers, herbalists, and curious community members alike. A portion of every ticket directly supports stewardship work at Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah.

There are only a couple spots left, so sign up today!

Over the past several months, we've been working behind the scenes to build a new website that better reflects the work, people, and places that make Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah so special.

The new site offers easier access to events, volunteer opportunities, stewardship projects, native plants, trails, and ways to support our mission. While we're excited to launch this next chapter, we're not finished yet. We'll continue adding new content, resources, stories, and ways to connect with our work in the months ahead.

Whether you're a longtime supporter or discovering Friends for the first time, we invite you to explore all that Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah have to offer.

Story by David Predeek

In the early 1990s I attended a presentation by Chris Orsinger who was executive director of FBP (Friends of Buford Park and Mt. Pisgah) at the time. FBP was organized in 1989 to protect endangered ecosystems on Mt. Pisgah. Some years later I began attending FBP board meetings. Chris asked me if I would consider becoming a board member myself. Membership would require accepting certain responsibilities. They needed someone who could lead crews of volunteers twice a month onto the mountain to remove blackberry and Scotch broom that were crowding out the native plants.

Back then we didn’t have a native plant nursery; however, I had been germinating native seeds at home. I had a few small pots of Wyethia angustifolia seedlings. W. angustifolia is a perennial herb of the sunflower family. It is often referred to as mule’s ears because of the leaf shape. It rises 12 to 18 inches above the ground and has a large, central disk and outrageously bright-yellow rays.

We took 4 of these seedlings with us when on a sunny day in May of 1997 a crew of 3 assembled for our first brush removal session. Assisting me was Stewart Mulford who was then pushing 80 years of age. I don’t remember the name of the third person. We trudged up Trail # 7 carrying cutting tools. We attacked a huge patch of blackberries surrounding a large boulder just above the trail. After several hours of labor there was more than enough bare soil to plant the Wyethia. This was on a sunny, southwest-facing slope, and I soon had doubts about whether these plants would survive. Over the years I checked on the plants from time to time to remove competing vegetation. But otherwise, they were on their own. After a few seasons of growth a few blooms appeared. The population spread outwardly at a modest rate through natural seed regeneration and with little care or attention from me.

On April 30 of this year FBP held a late afternoon dinner to honor all the volunteers for their persistence and hard work. A long table was set up in the native plant nursery for a couple of dozen attendees. An hour before the banquet I decided to rush up Trail # 7 with my camera to check on the Wyethia. It had been 29 years since the Wyethia were planted. On this day there were a couple of dozen, large, yellow composite blooms contrasting with the lush green hillside. This was visible a hundred yards away. There were still four dozen unopened buds. I was amazed at the persistence of the population in the face of drought, competition and herbivory.

Have a story about Buford Park you want to share?

Tell us why you love this place, email outreach@bufordpark.org

Thank you for being part of a community that cares deeply about the future of Buford Park and the greater Mt. Pisgah Area. Every trail maintained, habitat restored, and native plant propagated is made possible by people like you.

Without your donation, stewardship of these landscapes for wildlife, future generations, and everyone who finds peace, connection, and belonging here goes away.

If you have not yet made a gift this year, now is a wonderful time to support this work. Donations are currently being matched dollar-for-dollar through June 30, doubling the impact of your gift and helping sustain stewardship, restoration, and community access across the park.

Donate now to double your impact and help care for this special place for generations to come.