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Benton SWCD Logo Benton Soil & Water Conservation District
456 SW Monroe Avenue, Suite 110, Corvallis, Oregon 97333 • (541) 753-7208
Enter our office from 5th Street.
Note: This is our new, permanent location. Our phone number has not changed.

Projects

Native Plant Sale

Native Plant Sale

TEEN WEED SPOTTERS

Teen Weed Spotters is a cooperative program between Benton SWCD and OSU Extension Services, Benton County 4-H. It is designed to target teens in grades 10-12 to participate in a series of hands-on training sessions to learn about invasive species that threaten local habitats in Benton County. Youth who participate do not only gain knowledge of invasive plant species that occur in various habitat types on private and public lands in Benton County, but they learn about the environmental and economic impacts of weeds and discuss techniques for prevention, maintenance/management and eradication.

The pilot Teen Weed Spotters took place this past year in Alsea. The Alsea Watershed Council, with support from Benton SWCD, received a State & Private Noxious Weed Grant Administered by Oregon Department of Agriculture. The Alsea Weed Removal, Awareness and Prevention (AWRAP) project was designed as the pilot Teen Weed Spotters program to educate select high school students on invasive plant identification, have them perform manual removal of Spanish Heath, and also mapping and some removal of Meadow Knapweed and False Brome. The high school work project took place July 2011 and the students followed up their work by creating brochures for Landowners and Hunters, making display boards and presenting their work at the Alsea School homecoming dinner, to the Alsea Watershed Council, the Alsea School Board, and the County Commissioners. Additional support for this project was provided by OSU Extension Services, Benton County 4-H, Alsea School, USDA Forest Service, and Benton County.

Fish Passage Program

Benton Fish Passage Improvement Program: Currently, the program is compiling all available fish passage barrier and fish habitat inventory data in Benton County into one GIS database with the goal of identifying, prioritizing and planning fish passage and stream restoration projects throughout Benton County.

Philomath High School Compost Project

The Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Benton County Health Department an Environmental Justice Grant in 2004. One goal of the grant was to increase high school students' awareness and knowledge of local environmental issues. Benton County Health Department recruited Philomath High School juniors for a compost research project. The students selected topics, wrote literature reviews and contacted professionals in the community to serve as their mentors. Research projects designed around the students' interests became the foundations for their senior project presentations in May 2007.

Visit the Philomath High School Compost Project page!

Last updated: 29 Nov 2011 6:09 PM PST
The Benton Soil and Water Conservation District is an equal opportunity employer, providing services to the public without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status.