TIGARD, Ore. — In this week's "Let's Get Out There," we head to the Tualatin River. Community-led organization Tualatin Riverkeepers is hosting many Earth Week events from educational to recreational.
Water. We recreate on it. We rely on it. Tualatin Riverkeepers’ executive director Glenn Fee hopes people see it’s worth protecting. Fee launched his kayak from Tigard’s Cook Park this week on a gorgeous day.
“The Tualatin is such an accessible river. If you've never paddled before, this is really the perfect place to come,” he said. “Getting out and experiencing is so important. It really helps bring the blood pressure down. It helps you kind of be a better person and engage in other parts of your life.”
Tualatin Riverkeepers protects and restores not only the Tualatin River, but the entire watershed which essentially covers Washington County.
“We have volunteers that come out and do restoration work with us throughout the year,” Fee said. “That's a really great way to understand a little bit about water quality, why it's important for us to keep clean water in our watershed.”
Earth Day is on Monday, April 22. To celebrate, Tualatin Riverkeepers is hosting over a dozen events from restoration projects, educational programs, an annual boat show and yard sale, and paddle events.
“We sometimes take it for granted for being out here on the river almost every day ourselves,” said Fee. “But getting people here for the first time, they not only have an incredible experience, but they have more of a sense of ownership.”
Earth Day is close to the kickoff to their annual summer rental program. Tualatin Riverkeepers hosts a pop-up rental station at Cook Park beginning in late May and with Hillsboro’s Rood Bridge Park starting in June. They have all the gear to get you started on the river.
“We provide the boats, we provide the PFD (personal floatation devices) … we provide the paddles, we provide all the information to get people comfortable and out on a great experience,” Fee said.
Though recreation and advocacy are what the group is known for, there are many more moving parts below the surface.
“We work with … elected officials, we work with county officials, we work with community members to make sure that some of the development that's going on in our watershed is done really in concert with protecting clean water. And that's really the core of what we do,” Fee explained.
Since last year, Fee notices a lot more visitors to the Tualatin River. He hopes people enjoy the resource and commit to preserving it, too. If you want to volunteer or learn more about the watershed or rentals, you can find more information at tualatinriverkeepers.org.
“What we want is for people to understand that this is a resource,” Fee said. “And this resource is so critical for us in our region and for us to protect for the next generation.”
"Let's Get Out There" airs once a week on KGW's 4 p.m. newscast and "The Good Stuff," which airs Monday-Thursday at 7 p.m. We're including viewer photos for this series. You can text your photos to 503-226-5088 or post them on the KGW Facebook page.