Behind the Waterfall

A NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF SILVER FALLS MEMBERS

Table of Contents:

Birding & Wildflower Festival
North Canyon Day-Use
Tree Climbing at Silver Falls
Ransom Notes
Moon Party Led by Jan Dobias
Peregrine Falcons at South Falls
Nature Store Water Fountain
Upcoming Events and Invitations

Birding and Wildflower Festival 2023

By Kim Maley, Park Interpreter

Sunny skies and a post-pandemic culture brought large crowds to this year’s Birding and Wildflower Festival! Returning fan favorite activities included:

Guided Hikes

Steve Shunk of Paradise Birding led 6 walks for the public and added a special pre-event walk for staff and volunteers! A big welcome to all the new “bird nerds” as a result of Steve’s enthusiasm and vast knowledge!

Six Plant walks led by Patti Lindquist, Earl McCollum, and John Savage were well attended and enjoyed by all.

Native Plant Display

Visitors were welcomed into the cool theater to view the many native plants found at Silver Falls. Thanks are extended to Rex for once again spending hours collecting and labeling!

Native Plant Sale

A record year for this popular fundraiser! Almost all of the plants found good homes, and a few of them have been purchased to add to the Native Plant Garden at the Historic South Falls Lodge. Come by and check out the Native Plant Garden next time you are at the park! And if you feel the urge to prune ferns or pull weeds, be on the watch for the next landscape volunteer workday!

A big thank you to Champoeg Nursery for always providing an amazing assortment of native plants!

Alina and the Raptors

Yes, it does sound like a band name! In reality, Alina is far cooler than a rock star! She once again brought her rehabilitated “working birds” and regaled the audience with amazing facts and interactions with live hawks, owls, and falcons!

To learn more about Alina and her raptor rehabilitation work, visit Perch Wildlife Education.

Discovery Tables & Displays

Botanical illustrator Aislinn Adams and volunteers from Marion County Soil and Water Conservation provided interactive displays for visitors to learn about native birds and wildflowers.

Park staff shared their knowledge of native plant and bird species at Discovery Tables, and had a spotting scope stationed at South Falls for viewing the peregrine falcon nest.

New This Year

William Sullivan, speaker and author 23 books including the well-known “100 Hikes” guides to Oregon trails, Oregon’s History, and historical fiction novels. Sullivan joined us this year and offered presentations and a book-signing table. His presentation on fire ecology inspired many of us to visit post-wildfire forests with new eyes!

Thank you to all of our partners and volunteers!

North Canyon Day-Use

By Chelsea Sims, Administrator

Last month, our board of directors and staff got a sneak preview of the new North Rim Trail and the North Falls Viewpoint. Our board worked with park management to fund and plan this new view of North Falls. Our hope is that it will alleviate some of the visitation/impact seen in the South Falls Historic District.

This project began in 2021 and has grown significantly since. It has been incredible to see so many organizations come together to make a project of this magnitude happen and we are very proud to be a part of it.

Park staff is working hard to get the final stages complete and ready for visitors to enjoy this summer!

Tree Climbing at Silver Falls

By Leo Rosen-Fischer, Owner of Tree Climbing at Silver Falls

Tree Climbing at Silver Falls, the new recreation program started in 2021 has passed the trial period and renewed its contracts with the Oregon Parks! In only two years it has also become one of most well regarded adventure experiences near the Portland area. According to TripAdvisor and Google, it is one of the only 5-Star rated experiences in Oregon and also rated #1 of 124 Outdoor Activities in the Portland area.

The uniqueness of climbing giant trees 200-300 ft high has definitely left its impression on people and it is about to become even more unique this year! After review by the Oregon State Parks, Tree Camping was approved to start in May 2023! So travelers and visitors to Silver Falls State Park now have additional options for camping inside the park. The opportunity to sleep in the trees, with the participants choosing to sleep between 25-280 feet high, will give some incredible views and will definitely be one of the most unique sleeping experiences in their lives. As far as we know, tree camping at Silver Falls State Park will be the first tree camping program in the nation at a state park. People can choose to sleep in personal hammocks or in a two person tent called a portaledge. Guides will be in the tree with the tree campers 100% of the time through the whole night to provide safety, at the same time maintaining privacy for the clients.

Also, based on feedback from the previous years, most groups only got the chance to climb one giant old-growth tree during the 4 hour half day adventure. Thorough training takes around 1.5 hrs to complete before participants begin to ascend one of the giant trees. Climbing each old-growth tree takes around 2-3 hours on average for first ascents. That often leaves most groups with only enough time to climb one tree. In response to that we gave people the additional option, to add on extra trees to climb to their experience for an additional $99, extending their group experience by 2-4 hours.

We look forward to an amazing 2023 season!

Ransom Notes

By Susan Ransom, Board President

Spring has sprung and Summer is Sensational!

After what seemed like a very l-o-n-g winter the sunshine and the visitors have returned to the Park. Memorial Day weekend here was the busiest ever!

I hope you had a chance to attend our Mother’s Day Birding and Wildflower Festival; it was so much fun! That Saturday I worked in the Nature Store, but Sunday I attended with my husband and daughter as just a ‘regular visitor’ and not a volunteer. We had a picnic lunch and saw the raptor presentation – which was amazing! (Did you know that a Peregrine Falcon is the fastest creature on earth?! Even Faster than a Nascar??) We also went on a wildflower walk and got to see many of the Park’s flowers.

The picture of me above shows me holding one of the recent additions in the store: a stuffed banana slug! I could not resist getting one of these; and I took it on the plane trip to North Carolina to meet my new grand-niece for the first time. The slug made a wonderful neck pillow on the plane and then it was a perfect gift for my niece. 😊

This newsletter has several articles about what has been happening here in the Park, and what you can look forward to. Hope you enjoy it!

Keep an eye on our website: friendsofsilverfalls.net for updates, activities and articles. Hope to see you all up at the Park soon! And if you visit on a Saturday be sure to come visit me in the Nature Store. 😊

Let me leave you with this quote:

‘The Human Spirit needs places

Where nature has not been rearranged

By the hands of man.’

Moon Party Led by Jan Dobias

By Kim Maley, Park Interpreter

Friends of Silver Falls volunteer Jan Dobias has taken volunteering at Silver Falls to new heights! With his skills and experience as a retired astronomy and physics professor at Cal State University in Northridge (CSUN) and director of their planetarium, Jan is ready to jump in to teach us all fun moony terms like waxing gibbous and Mare Tranquillitatis during a presentation at Silver Falls’ first Moon Party!

Jan began volunteering in the Nature Store earlier this year, and has been a valuable addition to the team. His off the charts intelligence combined with a friendly demeanor and ready smile has resulted in many happy park visitors and coworkers. We are grateful for all our wonderful volunteers and Jan fits right in!

Jan was born in Prague, then Czechslovakia but has lived in Los Angeles since his family immigrated to the United States in 1968. He holds a PhD in astronomy from UCLA and spent 41 years as a professor at CSUN in addition to presenting bi-weekly programs at the Planetarium for 20 years.

After retiring in May of 2021, Jan and his wife followed their only daughter and son-in-law to Oregon and they are very much looking forward to becoming a grandparents for the first time in July of this year.

Peregrine Falcons at South Falls

Two nestlings observed by Richard and Debbie Niemeyer on April 27, 2023.

by Chelsea Sims, Administrator

Nestling turned fledgling! Image by Ranger Matt Palmquist June 1, 2023.

Two peregrine falcons were first seen near South Falls in the spring of 2022. Park staff and volunteers were thrilled when nestlings were spotted by Richard and Debbie Niemeyer in April 2023. Richard and Debbie clocked numerous hours cataloguing the development of the nestlings. We are so grateful for their regular updates and videos!

Pictured here are a few highlights, including a great moment when the fledgling landed at the viewpoint of South Falls merely feet away from visitors and staff.

For more images and videos, visit our Peregrine Falcon page.

About Peregrine Falcons

The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in existence. When they hunt, they dive at great speeds to kill or stun prey on impact. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, a peregrine falcon was clocked at 242 mph in 1999.

These birds of prey were on the endangered species list from 1973-1999. Peregrines were nearly extinct due to egg-shell thinning caused by organic pollutants like DDT.

Though the population of peregrine falcons has risen with the decline in DDT use, new threats to wildlife habitats are a current cause of concern. This includes drone use near the nesting areas, which can interrupt feeding times during sensitive stages of development. Park staff has installed “No Drone” signage at the top and base of South Falls.

Thank you Business Sponsors!

Nature Store Water Fountain

by Chelsea Sims, Administrator

The Nature Store water fountain is operational! A big thank you to park staff for getting this project completed before the 4th of July weekend! This water station will surely get a lot of use, and we hope it will decrease the amount of single-use water bottles in the park.

Upcoming Events & Invitations

by Chelsea Sims, Administrator

Be sure to check the links below for updated information regarding events, guided hikes, campground presentations and Junior Ranger programs. Member invitations are on the portal.