Sawyer Park Field Trip

Join the High Desert Chapter in this leisure stroll through Sawyer Park led by Jill Welborn. We will explore one of Bend's favorite backyards, Sawyer Park. We will enjoy fall foliage (and hopefully good weather) as we visit three distinctive plant communities: the developed park landscape, where we will see urban trees such as European white poplar, black locust, and boxelder; Deschutes River riparian, where we will see chokecherry, Wood's rose, thinleaf alder, and willows; and dry Ponderosa pine forest with tall Oregon grape, gray and green rabbitbrush, bluebunch wheatgrass, and many others. Join us to spend some time in a new way with familiar places and familiar plant species, or if you're new to this, get to know this special area through the lens of the plant communities .We will walk through the immediate park area on both sides of the Deschutes River and then explore along the river trail as far as participants would like to go. Plan on easy walking for 2-3 miles, and a leisurely lunch in the field if the weather is lovely. Meet at the main parking area October 24 at 10:00 am at Sawyer Park, 62999 O.B. Riley Road, Bend. Comfortable walking shoes are appropriate. Field trip leader, Jill Welborn, is a local botanist based in Prineville. She has worked as a consulting botanist to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, East Cascades Oak Partnership, Western Beavers, and other local governments and organizations. She formerly served as a botanist on the Ochoco National Forest. She also serves on the board of the Crooked River Weed Management Area.