
Gathering the Seeds of Change: native plant habitat restoration
In partnership with Rhianna from Verdant Phoenix, we will gather native plant seeds and discuss Indigenous gardening and land tending context.
Public Events: Join as a volunteer, a student, a community scientist, an artist, and get involved at the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve. All are welcome to attend, space is limited/ all participants must RSVP in advance.
Partnership Events: These private events are reserved only for participants associated with partner organizations, schools, Tribes, or others noted in the event description.
In partnership with Rhianna from Verdant Phoenix, we will gather native plant seeds and discuss Indigenous gardening and land tending context.
Guided by an ethic of reciprocity and nurturing human-land connection, our seed collection events offer a chance to support our continuing 6+ years of restoration efforts .
Jeanine Moy of Vesper Meadow will share fantastical but true stories from several years of community organizing for biocultural restoration, and personal anecdotes from growing a close relationship to a special place. You might just want to ask a beaver about his feelings of returning home after 20 years away from the creek he has loved... or find yourself intrigued by a rare local butterfly the size of your fingernail. And for sure you will want to talk to the fields of Camas lilies who have waited patiently for over a century for their tenders to return….
Come spend a summer morning in the meadow, collecting native seeds for First Foods by hand and helping restore this unique high-elevation ecosystem.
Calling all artists, writers, creatives! Join us for and informal day of inspiration and art making in midsummer…as the most beautiful (and least hot!) time of the day.
A Healing Landscapes Program event in collaboration with Southern Oregon Land Conservancy. "As we heal the land, the land heals us." Join us for a day of giving to the land and restoring the self.
Join special guests from Pollinator Project Rogue Valley, and VM Program Director Jeanine Moy and spend a day during the peak of wildflower season to collect seeds of species that are larval host grasses and nectar flower plants for the Mardon Skipper butterfly.
Southern Oregon Indian Education District (SOESD) hosts an annual Native Games event for SOESD families, youth, and community. This year Native Games is at Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve!
Join Red Earth Descendants and Vesper Meadow Education Program for a fun native plant identification walk. Bring a dish to share for RED's seasonal gathering potluck at the meadow!
Following the Friday May 23rd evening talk, we will get out on a field trip to Vesper Meadow and a couple different nearby meadows in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. We will caravan to the CSNM for a hybrid walking/ driving tour of different Mardon Skipper habitat meadows; taking care to not impact sensitive sites. Participants will be treated to a diversity of spring wildflower viewing, early season butterflies, and breeding birds. We will get a good picture of how the state of the Klamath Mardon Skipper is reflected in the land, and learn about the history of people, plants, and water that have shaped the overall health of their meadow habitats.
Join Jeanine Moy as she brings you along through the native bunchgrasses and seablush flowers for a butterly-eye view of the Monument. Hear the story of a rare and imperiled species, and learn about our chance to come together and protect the land that both the Mardon and our communities rely on. Participants will gain opportunities to become involved and take action for meadow habitat conservation and restoration.
Enjoy the beauty of the Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve and experience the heart of our healing programs - for both humans and the more-than-human neighbors. Breath deep with a movement and meditation practice in the dense forest before crossing into the expansive meadow to help remove invasive yellow star thistle. This program is in coordination with Vesper Meadows’s Healing Landscapes "As we heal the land, the land heals us"
Join Coalicion Fortaleza and Vesper Meadow Education Program for a day of family, fun, and sun!
Come learn practical and low-cost strategies to restore natural hydrology, improve biodiversity, and enhance ecosystem function. This hands-on workshop will explore low-tech, process-based restoration techniques for waterways and wetland meadows. Emphasizing practical approaches like soil erosion control, and plant community restoration, and natural water flow management, this workshop is ideal for landowners, restoration practitioners, students, and anyone interested in ecological restoration.
Calling all artists, writers, creatives! Join us for and informal day of inspiration and art making in the early summer. We’ll explore the day’s theme “water, restoring the flow for all life." Participants will tour the creek restoration demonstration site and have thoughtful discussion of the meaning of restoring waterways during current times.
Volunteers needed! All are welcome to join in this community effort with the BLM, Friends of CSNM, KSWild - an effort to protect some of the most sensitive Mardon skipper meadows of the Cascade-Siskiyou. No experience necessary, and those experienced in fence work are encouraged to participate. Drinks, snacks, and gloves will be provided.
Join a local learning cohort of community leaders and organizers in skill-building towards cultivating respectful and meaningful partnerships with Tribal communities.
As a thank you to our Spring Fundraiser supporters at $250 or more, we are hosting a unique experience during one of the greenest, sweetest, most lovely times of the year!
Join Vesper Meadow Education Program Director Jeanine Moy and Board Member Stacy Tauber for a bird walk through Vesper Meadow followed by a delicious brunch spread. We'll see some charismatic Sandhill Cranes as well Hermit Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Grosbeaks, Western and Mountain Bluebirds, various sparrows including the Vesper Sparrow, Cliff and Tree Swallows, maybe an elusive Hermit Thrush, and many others!
Volunteers needed! All are welcome to join in this community effort with the BLM, Friends of CSNM, KSWild - an effort to protect some of the most sensitive Mardon skipper meadows of the Cascade-Siskiyou. No experience necessary, and those experienced in fence work are encouraged to participate. Drinks, snacks, and gloves will be provided.
Join us on Friday, April 25 for an afternoon of hands-on activities, local vendors, and engaging experiences that highlight the science of sustainability. Earth Day is a call to protect our planet for future generations—come learn, explore, and take action for a more sustainable future!
Calling all educators and local organizations!
In collaboration with The Crest at Willow-Witt Ranch, we’re co-hosting an open house day for you to get to know the land and people behind the Highlands Connection programs. We welcome educators & partner organizations, old and new, to come out for short walking tours and a brown bag picnic lunch.
Some of the most pressing issues of our time: wildfire, how to build resilience communities, and climate change…. are challenging topics to discuss with children. Through utilizing our “Fire Ecology and Human Relationship” curriculum guide, we’ll showcase resources and lesson plans to explore these issues and provide hands-on learning materials for the classroom and beyond. This workshop features a presentation by Joseph Scott, Culture keeper and Indigenous educator who will discuss traditional ecological knowledge and relationships with fire, as well as several choose-your-own lesson demonstrations. We’re inviting all educators and community organizers to join this free event.
All are invited to our first Mini-Fest for some relaxation, community, and merriment. This fundraiser is celebrating the end of the season, 5 years of Vesper Meadow programs, and most of all… you! You will enjoy the fall season at the meadow, hear about our last five years of biocultural restoration, and partake in both healing and celebratory activities (read more for details)
This community collaboration is for the restoration of an upland meadow to enhance water resources, fish and wildlife habitat, and an imperiled pollinatior speces, the Klamath Mardon skipper. After the creation of beaver-based restoration structures in Hoxie Creek earlier this year, the Bureau of Land Management is teaming up with local conservation organizations to build a fence that will help this meadow habitat come back after years of of damage from free range cattle.
All are welcome to join this effort to restore native plants to the meadow which will also benefit a diversity of native bees and butterflies. We’ll learn about restoration techniques, spread some seed, and enjoy the meadow in fall.
All are welcome to join this effort to restore habitat for the endangered Klamath Mardon Skipper and will also benefit a diversity of native bees and butterflies. We’ll learn about restoration techniques, spread some seed, and enjoy the meadow in fall.
Join us for our fourth year of transforming the meadow from stands of invasive pasture grass to diverse native grasses and flowers, aka pollinator habitat (like restaurants for pollinators!). All are welcome to join, no experience necessary.
Calling all volunteers to help harvest conifer bows and willow stakes, and plant willows along headwater creeks of the Rogue River using restoration techniques to restore the creek channel previously eroded by grazing and down-cutting associated with lack of vegetation.
Calling all artists, writers, creatives! Join us for this early autumn event: Take a field trip out of the studio, help steward native plants through seed collection, and exercise your creative side.
Spend the day with fellow Queer Indigenous people repairing beaver-based restoration structures in the creek. We will share in good company and conversation about land restoration as healing for native queer and 2-spirit people.
Join us in collaboration with the Public Lands Store to ‘behave like beavers’ and help restore Latgawa Creek at the scenic Vesper Meadow Restoration Preserve. You will stay cool walking in the meadow and the creek, and learn restoration skills with some fun folks!
Join Aiyanna Brown, our Healing Landscapes Intern, and Stasie Maxwell for an evening of beadwork and native plant seed collection!
This public event is being held in collaboration with Red Earth Descendants R.E.D. Learn more about our Healing Landscapes program in this recent blog post.