Written by Alice Elshoff, FOMR Vice President; Photos by FOMR
On Friday, Oct. 25, twelve amazing and stalwart Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (FOMR) volunteers gathered to get acquainted and prepare to tackle a Saturday full of projects. Since opening the Cranes Nest Nature Center & Store at its new location in the spring of 2018, FOMR has taken over stewardship of the entire Marshall Trail and Pond Observation area, including the viewing blind and the now-paved ADA-accessible loop trail. This trail encircles the location of where the late Refuge biologist Dave Marshall’s residence once stood.
Past volunteer efforts in this area have included the planting of many native and fruit-bearing trees and shrubs. It is one of many goals that we increase the presence of vegetation that would support the needs of migratory and breeding birds that visit Refuge Headquarters. In addition to planting, there is an ongoing effort to protect and irrigate in the hopes of increasing the chances of survival. Over the summer the Tribal Stewards crew removed old wooded exclosures from around many trees and shrubs while beginning the process of constructing new wires structures. This weekend we finished the job by weeding, mulching and fencing the remaining 11 plants.
Meanwhile, an additional contingency of our work crew set to the task of planting willows behind the existing willow wall. This wall is meant to reduce disturbance to wildlife utilizing Marshall Pond, but is currently in a state of disrepair. The long term solution to this is to grow willow tall and dense enough to create a living wall. Eventually the existing structure will be removed. The living wall will screen the pond from the adjacent Marshall Trail while providing nesting and resting habitat for a variety of birds.
Our team also transplanted clumps of beautiful native Great Basin Rye to the trail area. This bunch grass is expected to out-compete the existing non-natives that occupy the space. It will take repeated transplant efforts, but we expect that our annual fall work parties will chip away at this year after year.
Finally, a third team of volunteers set about installing new plant identification placards throughout Refuge headquarters. Earlier in the year residential volunteer John Roth, botanist and retired science teacher, set about identifying as many unique trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers as he could find! It was quite the task, but he came up with an extensive list from which 60+ placards were ordered. Following the census, volunteers Jeff and Liz Jones of Bend worked at placing numbered garden stakes and producing a GPS map that correspond with John’s list. Placing these ID placards was the final piece of this project that John began in June. A huge thank you is owed to everyone who was a part of this process. We see projects like this one as vital to the transformation of the outdoor space at Headquarters feeling more interactive and informative to visitors.
With so many people coming together from across the state to join us for this work party we are moved by the generosity and good nature of our Friends and Members. We look forward to spring when we can see the results of our hard work and come together again for our next work party!
Here we have Don and Dan overseeing Laura’s work putting the finishing touches on the mulch around this shrub. When she’s done they will wrap it’s new exclosure around it. 
Before you can plant the grass you need to harvest it. These grasses are growing heartily just outside of the pollinator garden! Alice Elshoff is a founding Member of Friends of Malheur NWR and we are lucky beyond belief that she is still an active member of our Board and the Project Committee. Here we have Viviane, Donna and Alice all planting Great Basin Rye Grass where they has removed some pervasive weeds. Our team is hard at work on many different tasks. Meet Martin. Martin is a current resident volunteer who has had his hand in all manner of projects around the Reuge over the last few weeks. Right now he is constructing an era-approprate ‘bin’ for our bird seed cans! Old plant ID signs were replaced with these new ones! These ID placards are now placed at the base of many plants at Refuge Headquaters. John, a botanist and retired science teacher, identified over 60 species of tree, shrub, grass and flower at Refuge Headquarters. This fence is in disrepair and our crew planted several large willows behind it. Eventually the willows will grow to create a living wall and the fence will be removed. This is the existing willow fence that acts as a disturbance shield between wildlife utilizing Marshall Pond and visitors walking along the trail. There is much work to be done in order to exclose 11 trees and shrubs in the area. The trees and scrubs throughout the Marshall Pond Trail area are still young and at risk of over browsing from our local friendly mule deer. These exclosures and the extensive irrigation system throughout the area is aimed at helping these plants grow big enough to support nesting and feeding needs of birds. The trees and scrubs throughout the Marshall Pond Trail area are still young and at risk of over browsing from our local friendly mule deer. These exclosures and the extensive irrigation system throughout the area is aimed at helping these plants grow big enough to support nesting and feeding needs of birds. A before shot of Marshall Pond Trail from the vantage point of the Observation blind.
