Join the Oregon Dunes Restoration Collaborative work party to remove Scotch broom, Sunday, June 21 from 10AM to Noon at Douglas County Park’s Umpqua Dunes Day Use and ATV Staging Area. This is at the Umpqua Dunes riding area, so there will be ATVs in the parking lot and near where we will be working. There is no fee for parking at the staging area for volunteers. It is a short walk to the work site.

We can have a maximum of 20 people who can attend, and a maximum of 10 people working in a group. We may need to adjust the start and end times dependent on how many people will be attending. So to work out the logistics, it is important for you to email Brian Saunders, ODRC staff person, at brian@eugenecascadescoast.org if you plan to attend and let him know how many people are in your group. If you cannot make it, there is no need to respond.

After you respond to Brian, he will email you a parking pass and the county’s release of liability form. Please sign and bring it with you to the work party. If you are bringing children, let him know. There is a separate release form for children. Print the parking pass (in color if you have a color printer) and place it on your dash when you arrive at the parking area.

Please Note: We will need to stay at least 6 feet apart while working and wear face coverings. Wearing face coverings will be especially important at the parking area since there will be a number of recreationists there. It may be that once we start working and away from the parking area, the face coverings won’t be necessary as long as we stay at least 6 feet apart.

Bring: If at all possible, bring your own tools and gloves. The best tools for this work party will be hand saws, and shovels to remove the sand from around the stems. A reciprocating saw will work too. Loppers will work for the smaller broom plants. A hat, long pants, and sturdy, closed-toe boots or shoes are recommended. Bring your own water and hand sanitizer.

If you don’t have tools or gloves, let Brian know. ODRC has a few hand saws, weed wrenches, loppers, and shovels, washable gloves of various sizes, and work glasses for eye protection. The tools were wiped down with Lysol wipes after they were last used and will be wiped down after the work party. Please don’t share tools.

Directions: From Winchester Bay, take Salmon-Harbor Rd. Stay on Salmon-Harbor Rd. until you reach the Umpqua Dunes Day Use and ATV Staging Area. Turn left into the parking lot. You will see a Douglas County Sheriff’s building on the left. We will be meeting on the right or south side of the parking lot. If you reach a sign for the Siuslaw National Forest, Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, you have gone too far.

Please do not feel obligated to attend if you have underlying health conditions or don’t want to take any health risks. Since we are outside and taking the above precautions, I am hopeful there is very minimal to no health risk. Please do not attend if you are not feeling well.

Hope you can make it to the work party. It will be great to get back out on the sand and remove some Scotch broom.