Bringing the Fish Home: Fish Reintroduction and River Restoration in the Upper Deschutes Basin
2023-02-28 | Deschutes Brewery Public House, 1044 NW Bond St, Bend, OR, 97701, United States
Sixty years after the construction of the Pelton Round Butte Dam Complex, migrating salmon and steelhead are returning to the Upper Deschutes Basin. This seminar will focus on the history of the reintroduction and ongoing restoration efforts to support these fish, which also benefit resident fish and other wildlife.
Speakers:
Megan Hill – Natural Resources Manager, Portland General Electric
Kris Knight – Executive Director, Upper Deschutes Watershed Council
Jacob Kimiecik – Program Manager, Deschutes River Conservancy
Lisa Seales (Moderator) – Program Director, Deschutes River Conservancy
Learn More and Register.

Bend COTA Work Events
2023-03-02, 2023-03-09, 2023-03-16
When: Thursday Aug 11, Tuesday Aug 16, Tuesday Aug 23 and Tuesday Aug 30, 5:15 to Dusk
Where: Meet at the old Ray’s parking lot, NE corner of Simpson Ave and Century Drive in Bend
Worksite: Varies
There’s only one thing better than mountain biking in Bend, OR and that’s riding in Bend, knowing that you helped build and maintain the trails you love.
Please bring a hydration pack with water and a snack.
Be sure to bring appropriate layers to accommodate whatever the weather may be.
Questions? contact@cotamtb.com
All COTA trail work events require the following safety measures:
All participants are required to have the following protective clothing and equipment:

Sturdy shoes or boots
Gloves
Eye protection with clear or light colored lens
Long pants

Due to COTA’s insurance requirements and the inherent dangers of trail work, we must implement the following policy regarding children at work events:

For anyone 14 years of age or younger, we require one parent, guardian, or responsible adult for supervision of every four kids attending any COTA trail work events.
All minors under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian available to sign our waiver.

Anyone who arrives for a work event may be turned away if he/she cannot meet the above requirements.

RiverFeast 2023
2023-03-04
River lovers, it’s time to gather again to celebrate this beautiful watershed we call home. On Thursday, May 4th, join the Deschutes River Conservancy to learn about their latest restoration initiatives, uplift diverse perspectives, and spend quality time with fellow river champions.
Enjoy passed appetizers and a signature cocktail as you mingle in the beautiful Great Hall, followed by a three-course dinner with fine wine and a carefully selected offering of live auction items. They also have a few new elements planned throughout the evening to engage donors of all levels, so bring your colleagues, family, and friends to show your support for the river we all love!
Buy tickets here!

Community Conversations: Emerging From Our Homes with Facilitator LeeAnn O'Neill
2023-03-06
The Conversation Project Programs are sponsored by Oregon Humanities. They bring people together to talk about their beliefs and experiences around timely and important issues and ideas.
For most, the pandemic meant spending more time in our homes. As we emerge from our homes, our sense of safety and vulnerability moving through our communities may be different if we are walking, biking, rolling, taking public transit, or driving. Join facilitator LeeAnn O’Neill in a conversation that asks, how does the way you move through your community affect your sense of safety and vulnerability? What else affects your sense of safety and vulnerability? How might you change the way you interact with others as you move through your community to create a greater sense of safety for everyone? This conversation is a chance to reflect on our personal roles in creating greater safety for all as we move through our communities.
Madras COCC
Room 117
Monday, March 6
5:30-7:00 p.m. PST
Registration: Madras-Emerging From Our Homes

March Community Pint Nights at Deschutes Brewery
2023-03-07, 2023-03-14, 2023-03-21
We are the designated nonprofit beneficiary for Deschutes Brewery’s Community Pint Nights in March. Join us on Tuesdays in March at the downtown Public House or Tasting Room and Deschutes Brewery will donate $1 from every pint sold to The Environmental Center. Mark your calendars—we hope to see you there! March 7, 14, 21, and 28. Many thanks to Deschutes Brewery for being supporters of our work!

Happy Hour in the Garden Kickoff
2023-03-07
Join us in our Kansas Avenue Learning Garden for our ongoing volunteer work party series. In 2022, volunteers contributed over 200 hours to help keep our learning garden maintained over the growing season. We couldn’t do it without you!
This event is open to all ages and gardening abilities! No experience or tools required. Beer and non-alcoholic beverages are provided for all who volunteer. Each event includes seasonal ongoing tasks as well as special projects as needed throughout the growing season. Volunteers are welcome to pop in for an hour or stay the whole time. No need to RSVP or commit ahead of time. (Pro tip – put the following dates in your phone calendar now – then when it pops up you can decide if it works out for you or not!)
In 2023, Happy Hour in the Garden will once again run twice a month from March through October. This schedule throughout the extent of the growing season offers meaningful volunteer experiences for all who come, and deeper care for the garden when it needs it.
For Spring 2023, our Happy Hours will be 4-6pm, on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of the month.
March & April Happy Hours sponsored by Wild Ride Brewing

March 7 & 21
April 4 & 18

May & June Happy Hours sponsored by Worthy Environmental

May 2 & 16
June 6 & 20

Stay tuned for confirmation of dates for July through October, as these might switch to the 2nd & 4th…)
Contact Denise, Garden Program Manager, if you have any questions about getting involved.

Energy Trust New Buildings Net Zero Fellowship Trainings
2023-03-08
Join Energy Trust of Oregon to learn from Jessy Ledesma as she presents research on the potential to move toward a Path to Net Zero approach for affordable housing by clustering units, centralizing mechanical and hot water systems and optimizing multi-family development scale for solar microgrids. The research analysis focuses on the Milwaukie Courtyard Housing Project, which seeks to prototype cottage cluster housing at an infill scale utilizing mass plywood panels and solar microgrids to meet community energy, affordability and resilience goals.
Register here!

Downtown Bend: Landscape Painting & the Conservation Movement
2023-03-08
Explore the connection between art, conservation and National Parks.
This is an in-person program. Masks are optional at all in-person library events.
This presentation examines the long association between art, conservation, and National Parks, focusing on a group of landscape painters led by a young English immigrant named Thomas Cole that came to be known as the Hudson River School. The talk covers the birth of the American conservation movement, its expression in national parks, and the role of landscape painting in advancing conservation in the United States. It seeks to answer the fundamental question, “Why do we conserve?” In addition to Thomas Cole, the presentation describes the impact of other artists on American conservation and national parks, including Frederic Church, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and Asher Durand.
James Gramann is a Professor Emeritus of Park and Conservation Policy from Texas A&M University. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he retired to Redmond, Oregon, in 2017. From 2002 through 2010, while on leave from Texas A&M, he worked full-time in Washington, D.C., as the visiting chief social scientist for the U.S. National Park Service. In this capacity, he directed a national social science program providing usable knowledge about people and parks to national park managers, planners, and policy-makers. In 2010, his program received the Department of the Interior’s Unit Award for Excellence of Service. In 2015, the George Wright Society honored him with its Social Science Achievement Award for advancing the application of social science to the management of protected areas and cultural sites. He has a strong interest in the history of American conservation and national parks and has authored over 100 articles, book chapters, and technical reports on park-related issues.

Make Your Voice Heard at the State Capitol
2023-03-08
Learn about our priorities that will help us decarbonize our community during the 2023 legislative session in Oregon. This event will include training on how to write an effective testimony or letter to legislators, give you time to write and workshop, and ask questions of our expert coalition partners. All written testimony can be submitted for public hearings in the following days and weeks! You can help us get these bills over the finish line!
Register for this virtual event

SheJumps | OR | Empowering Women Through Adventure Speaker Series
2023-03-08
SheJumps, AdventurUs Women, & Crow’s Feet “Empowering Women Through Adventure” Bend Women’s Speaker Series featuring Janel Spilker with “Women in Cycling: Riding into a Female Future”
Dec 14th – Chelsey Magness – “Adventure Racing: Empowering Women to Embody Adventure”
Jan 11th – Janel Spilker – “Women in Cycling: Riding into a Female Future”
Feb 8th – Ingrid Granlin – “Women Who Ski: Exploring the Joy of Winter on Nordic Skis”
March 8th – Jennifer Miles – “Your Pelvic Floor: Strengthening Your Adventures from Within”
April 12th – Kirin Stryker – “The Oregon Timber Trail, Cog Wild, and Life on Two Wheels”

March Green Drinks with Oregon Shines
2023-03-09
March Green Drinks with Oregon Shines at Humm Kombucha Taproom
Oregon Shines is excited to co-host Green Drinks with Humm at the Taproom on Thursday, March 9th from 5:00-7:00pm.
Lower your electric bill, reduce your carbon footprint, and enjoy some Kombucha! Join Humm and enroll in the Oregon Community Solar Program. You no longer have to install solar panels or own a home to enjoy the benefits of solar energy. Just sign up and save! Bring a copy (or photo) of a Pacific Power bill with you to Green Drinks to sign up, and as a thank you, receive a $40 Humm Taproom gift card. As an added bonus, TEC will receive a $25 donation for each new subscriber that signs up on the night of Green Drinks.
Humm Taproom is located at 1125 NE 2nd St, Bend.
Please register in advance!
We ask that you please bring your own cup and consider carpooling, walking, biking, or using transit to get to the event!

Relationships for Resilience with Facilitator Christina deVillier
2023-03-09
In a time of intensifying social and ecological crises, in a cultural context of individualism, the pressure to practice “self-care,” build “personal resilience,” and “transform oneself” is pervasive. While “doing your own work” is important, we overemphasize the individual to the detriment of our human communities and the rest of the living world. The deep transformations we need will be co-created, and the deep resilience we must develop will be relational. In this conversation, we will explore the dynamics of our strongest relationships, seeking to name the qualities and practices that underpin resilience. How can we bring our insights more intentionally and broadly to bear in our human relationships and in our relationships with our homelands, waters, and ecosystems?
Prineville COCC
Room 119
Thursday, March 9
5:30-7:00 p.m. PST
Registration: Prineville-Relationships for Resilience

Landscape Painting & the Conservation Movement at Sisters Firehouse
2023-03-11
Explore the connection between art, conservation and National Parks.
This is an in-person program. Masks are optional at all in-person library events.
This presentation examines the long association between art, conservation, and National Parks, focusing on a group of landscape painters led by a young English immigrant named Thomas Cole that came to be known as the Hudson River School. The talk covers the birth of the American conservation movement, its expression in national parks, and the role of landscape painting in advancing conservation in the United States. It seeks to answer the fundamental question, “Why do we conserve?” In addition to Thomas Cole, the presentation describes the impact of other artists on American conservation and national parks, including Frederic Church, Sanford Robinson Gifford, Albert Bierstadt, Thomas Moran, and Asher Durand.
James Gramann is a Professor Emeritus of Park and Conservation Policy from Texas A&M University. A native of the Pacific Northwest, he retired to Redmond, Oregon, in 2017. From 2002 through 2010, while on leave from Texas A&M, he worked full-time in Washington, D.C., as the visiting chief social scientist for the U.S. National Park Service. In this capacity, he directed a national social science program providing usable knowledge about people and parks to national park managers, planners, and policy-makers. In 2010, his program received the Department of the Interior’s Unit Award for Excellence of Service. In 2015, the George Wright Society honored him with its Social Science Achievement Award for advancing the application of social science to the management of protected areas and cultural sites. He has a strong interest in the history of American conservation and national parks and has authored over 100 articles, book chapters, and technical reports on park-related issues.
Sisters Firehouse Community Hall:
301 S Elm St, Sisters, OR 97759

Community Conversations: Emerging From Our Homes with Facilitator LeeAnn O'Neill
2023-03-13
The Conversation Project Programs are sponsored by Oregon Humanities. They bring people together to talk about their beliefs and experiences around timely and important issues and ideas.
For most, the pandemic meant spending more time in our homes. As we emerge from our homes, our sense of safety and vulnerability moving through our communities may be different if we are walking, biking, rolling, taking public transit, or driving. Join facilitator LeeAnn O’Neill in a conversation that asks, how does the way you move through your community affect your sense of safety and vulnerability? What else affects your sense of safety and vulnerability? How might you change the way you interact with others as you move through your community to create a greater sense of safety for everyone? This conversation is a chance to reflect on our personal roles in creating greater safety for all as we move through our communities.
Redmond COCC
Building 3, Room 306
Monday, March 13
5:30-7:00 p.m. PST
Registration: Redmond-Emerging From Our Homes

State Transportation Electrification Strategies: Best Practices
2023-03-14
Forth’s New Webinar Series.
Mark your calendars – Forth’s 2023 webinar lineup is live! Forth’s free monthly webinars take a deep dive into the most relevant themes in clean transportation.

A Prototype for Affordable Cottage Cluster Housing - Bend
2023-03-14
Worthy Brewing continues its mission to put the local community at the forefront by supporting eco-friendly non-profit organizations dedicated to conserving and protecting our beautiful Northwest region. Worthy Brewing will host the Net Zero Fellowship research presentation for Central Oregon.
REGISTER NOW

The Inflation Reduction Act and You!
2023-03-14
We’re kicking off 2023 Power Hours with Neighbors for Climate Action! Come learn about the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.
Come Learn About New Federal $$$ Available for Home Energy Upgrades
The IRA includes $369 billion in financial incentives to help local communities reduce energy costs, improve energy efficiency, build community resilience, shift to clean energy in our homes, buildings and transportation infrastructure, and develop our local workforce for the clean energy economy.
There are billions in federal funding available for homeowners as well as businesses, non-profit organizations, local governments, schools and faith-based organizations.
Learn more at this community conversation about how individuals and organizations in Bend can benefit from this new federal funding!
We will share the latest info available about federal IRA incentive funding. We will encourage conversation, surface questions, identify opportunities for Bend, and invite community members to get involved and take advantage of this opportunity.
Register for this event
Who should attend:

Homeowners, landlords, and tenants

Anyone who is interested in increasing reducing their monthly energy bills, improving energy efficiency, building community resilience, reducing carbon emissions, and meeting Bend’s climate goals

What you’ll learn:

Which energy improvements may be eligible for tax credits, rebates or other federal incentives

How to get started on an energy efficiency plan

How to schedule an energy assessment and plan improvements to take advantage of federal incentive funding

How to get involved with local community efforts and educate your friends and neighbors

Bring your questions!
Neighbors for Climate Action is a group of local residents in Bend promoting home and building electrification in order to save money, reduce carbon emissions and help meet Bend’s climate goals. Let’s work together! Email us at: neighborsforclimateaction@gmail.com
Register for this event

Know Underwater: What Can Algae Tell Us? at Redmond Prof. Academy
2023-03-14
Explore the future of aquatic ecosystems with algae research.
This is an in-person program. Masks are optional at all in-person library events.
Algae come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from single spherical microscopic cells to forests of giant kelp that can extend up to 60 m. Collectively, this diverse array of aquatic plants fuel food webs and are a key part of the global carbon cycle. Researchers have a wide range of technologies (from satellites to remotely operated submarines) that they use to observe microscopic algae called plankton that live in the surface waters of lakes, rivers, and oceans. This allows them to study how plankton respond to changes in their environment and what that could mean for the future climate and health of aquatic ecosystems. Macroalgae (seaweeds) could also play an important role in our future as part of a more sustainable diet or as a tool to combat the increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
James Fox is a research associate in the department of microbiology at Oregon State University. He received his doctorate from the University of Essex in England where he studied marine science and is currently involved in projects ranging from the monitoring of toxic algal blooms in Oregon lakes to the impact of global climate change on ocean biology. Recently he started working with an Oregon-based start-up to help grow seaweed that can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in cattle and provide an alternative source of protein to meat and soy.
Presented in collaboration with The Roundhouse Foundation, a private family foundation based in Sisters, Oregon that supports creative solutions to the unique challenges associated with rural culture and the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. For more information visit their website at http://www.RoundhouseFoundation.org.
Redmond Proficiency Academy – Glacier Building:
657 SW Glacier Ave #2710, Redmond, OR 97756

Our Common Ground: America’s Public Lands as a Political and Conservation Success Story
2023-03-14
Join professor and author John Leshy at the Tower Theater in Bend for ONDA’s event in the High Desert Speaker Series as he discusses his new book, Our Common Ground: A History of America’s Public Lands. Professor Leshy will offer some lessons that history suggests for future public land policy, such as how, as he writes, “decision making about public lands demonstrates our ability as a people to work together and find genuine common good.” He will explore contemporary challenges such as climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and escalating visitation, sharing insights and perspectives important to ONDA’s conservation work across Oregon’s high desert.
Tickets go on sale in early February. Stay tuned for more information via email.

Geoengineering - An overview of potential earth cooling technologies
2023-03-15
Learn about the Earth cooling technologies being researched and how they fit with other climate strategies with Dr. John Perona.

Register here.

Beers, Books, and Belted Kingfishers
2023-03-15
A Benefit for Greater Hells Canyon Council
Join Bend’s Marina Richie, author of the award-winning book Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher, for a lively photo and story-filled evening of natural history, myth, memoir, and conservation. She will have books to sign and sell before and after her presentation.
Marina is on the Board of Directors of the Greater Hells Canyon Council. There will be fun “swag” from this grassroots group based in Northeast Oregon for those answering quiz questions during her talk.

MEER - Mirrors for Earth's Energy Rebalancing
2023-03-17
Learn how surface-based solar reflectors could provide localized cooling benefits and stabilize Earth’s temperatures to prevent overheating.

Ride About Bike Parade
2023-03-18
Good Bike Co. is celebrating Springtime the best way they know how – by bike. Join for a kids duathlon and the tipsy leprechaun slow race. It’ll conclude with a bike parade from Pioneer Park to Good Bike Co. All are welcome.
Join the Parade »

Spring Clean-Up Day at The Museum At Warm Springs
2023-03-18
Spring Clean-Up Day at The Museum on Saturday, March 18, 1-5 p.m. with Reception to Follow from 5-6:30 p.m.
In honor of The Museum’s 30th anniversary, which is being celebrated throughout 2023, The Museum At Warm Springs is planning a Spring Clean-Up of its grounds. Everyone is invited. Bring your rakes. Garbage bags will be provided.
The Clean-Up will be from 1-5 p.m. with a reception to follow from 5-6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served, and participants will have an opportunity to mix and mingle with members of The Museum’s Board of Directors and members of the Warm Springs Tribal Council.
Please RSVP by Friday, March 10 to Museum Operations Manager Sunmiet Maben at officemanager@museumatwarmsprings.org, as they will need to get a head count for the caterer.
See you on March 18th!

The EVOLVE Experience
2023-03-19, 2023-03-20
COCC’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Afrocentric Student program presents The Evolve Experience on March 19 and 20 at the Tower Theatre. The Evolve Experience is a unique arts-based performance that explores the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color through monologues and past interviews with police officers.
The Evolve Experience was created by award-winning, Portland-based non-profit Red Door Project, which seeks to use the transformative power of storytelling to challenge, connect, and co-create the world we all want to live in.
FREE and OPEN to the public. Two performances to choose from:
Register here for Sunday, March 19 – 2 p.m.
Register here for Monday, March 20 – 6:30 p.m.
