Don't Miss Your Chance to Win $1,000
 Build a bird house, bath or feeder for the birds, and for the benefit of Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve. Your contest entries will be judged in a friendly competition by celebrity judges, including Grant McOmie. The grand prize is $1,000 and other cash prizes will be awarded in each category. Bird houses go on the real estate market in May, when they will be auctioned at our sixth annual Tweet of Dweams benefit auction.
Vote for the People’s Choice Award!
Contest entries will be on display at Washington Square mall from April 18th through May 15th during mall hours. Vote for your favorite one throughout the entire month-long display to determine the "Washington Square People’s Choice Award." Celebrity judges make their award presentations on May 11.
Avian Homecoming...
After five years on the road, the Tweet of Dweams auction is coming home to roost in our very own Jackson Bottom Wetlands Education Center. Save the date, May 20th will be an evening of fine food and wines, live music and of course the chance to own the fanciest bird houses in town.
Tickets are on sale now ($25 per person) by calling (503) 681-6206. For more on contest rules and details on dates and times, visit www.jacksonbottom.org.
Special Thanks to Our Event Sponsors!
$5,000: Title Sponsor - Portland General Electric
$2,500: Presenting Sponsors - Clean Water Services; Sanders Appraisal, PC; Tuality Healthcare; Hillsboro Argus; Washington Square.
$1,000: John L. Scott Real Estate
$500: Holden Mortgage Associates; Metro West Ambulance; Providence Health Systems; Shaun Pigott Associates.
In This Issue
Feature Photo
 This month’s feature photo was taken while we were testing the remote camera system after making some repairs. Early this year, an anonymous wetland animal chewed through the cable, requiring Environmental Monitoring Specialist, Frank Opila, and several devoted volunteers to venture out into the wetland to trouble-shoot.
In 2003, we deployed a remote camera system from SeeMore Wildlife Systems that provides video and still images. The camera is located at the north end of the Preserve in an area that is not open to the public, allowing us to catch glimpses of elusive wildlife. Until recently, those photos were only available as thumbnails on our website. In an effort to make those images more accessible, we have revamped the site.
Now, over one hundred photos taken by the remote camera system are on display for your viewing pleasure. Click here to explore the Preserve's remote camera system photo gallery.
Volunteer Spotlight
 In 1999, Tom Nelson started volunteering at habitat restoration workdays. After he retired from Tektronics in 2002, he has spent even more time at Jackson Bottom doing a variety of tasks. He has wielded weed whips and shovels in the Reed Canarygrass research plots, collected lichens, and helped move materials from the trailer into the new building. Tom put together a slide show on the Seasons at Jackson Bottom Wetlands and installed a winch for the water quality monitoring system. Special note from Frank Opila: “Tom, thanks for saving our backs!”
Tom is now in the midst of creating some water experiment exhibits for kids and is building a sifter and other equipment to use for the Camp Site Investigator Archeology summer camp. But so far, his most memorable job was photographing scat to accompany our wildlife scat collection! One of Tom’s favorite things to do is just mosey in the wetlands to observe plants and animals. Tom lives in Hillsboro married to Barbara who accompanies him to monthly Volunteer Meetings. He also volunteers at Farmington View Elementary doing science lessons and additionally assists with a Girl Scout group. He has been an excellent asset to Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve because of his creativity, flexibility, and reliability.
Thank you, Tom, for all your help during the last 7 years!
Scholarships Connect Kids to the Preserve
 If you are reading this newsletter, it is a good bet that you are interested in Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve and our mission of connecting water, wildlife and people. Many of us know what a special place this is, and enjoy visiting the Preserve to walk, watch birds and other wildlife, admire the native landscaping, and explore the exhibits and nature store.
For thousands of students in the Tualatin Basin (and beyond!) a traveling program or field trip to Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is a major event in their year.
A big thanks go to all of you who contributed to the Education Scholarship Fund! Due to your support, 1,117 students have been able to come to the Preserve - these kids would not have otherwise had the opportunity to visit this very special place. Our scholarship students come from schools in the Tualatin Basin with at least 50% of the student body qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program. For many of these students, this is the only field trip they will have during the entire year.
So thank you again for your generosity and commitment to our mission and goals. And thank you especially on behalf of the 1,117 students who visited the Preserve for Sensory Fun, Birds, Biodiversity and Science Inquiry programs! We couldn’t have done it without you.
Donors
Donations take many forms here at Jackson Bottom Wetlands. The generosity of community members may appear as a donation of time, professional services, materials and equipment, money, or a sharing of expertise and talents. Each newsletter will feature a different donor or group of donors.
Our great big THANKS go this month to Leupold & Stevens for their donations of 10 Yosemite 6X30 binoculars for the Hiker's Wildlife Survey Project. These will help our hikers to collect wildlife information, which will be considered as we make habitat restoration and management decisions at the Preserve.
Upcoming Activities
All activities meet at the Wetlands Education Center unless otherwise noted!
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
Is there an event or activity you would like to see offered at the Preserve? Special information to be included in our newsletter? Call (503) 681-6206 to make a request or suggestion or email your input to Julie Magers.
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