Earth Day

HISTORIC PROJECT ALERT!!!! In 1970, San Francisco activist John McConnell and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson separately asked Americans to join in a grassroots demonstration. McConnell chose the spring equinox (March 21, 1970) and Nelson chose April 22 (the Old's Farmer Almanac). Millions of Americans, each year celebrate Earth Day, not only as the opportunity to appreciate nature but also to actively engage in outdoor activities to preserve and protect the environment and the planet earth. European and Native American cultures once converged at this Columbia River site, where the Hudson's Bay Company stood as the first European trading post in the Pacific Northwest. Lewis and Clark camped here, and Fort Vancouver was built here 20 years later. Today, the site features an earth-covered pedestrian bridge that arcs over State Route 14, reconnecting historic Fort Vancouver with the Columbia River, which helped extend the fort's influence from Mexico to Alaska and across the Pacific Ocean. "The land bridge is a real link connecting back to the Klickitat Trail, Lewis and Clark, and the development of the Northwest. It completes a circle that's been broken". -Johnpaul Jones And now, we are getting the extraordinary opportunity to help extend that history. We will be getting our hands dirty, laying down some sod, planting some new indigenous plants and conducting an overall cleanup of this area. We will be working alongside the City of Vancouver and Confluence during this project. Confluence is a community supported nonprofit with the mission to connect people to the history, living cultures and ecology of the Columbia River system through Indigenous voices. They work in collaboration with Northwest tribes communities and celebrated artist Maya Lin through six public art installations, educational programs, community gatherings.

Type

Service Project

What To Wear

TMC Blues, closed-toes shoes/boots

What to Bring

2 slightly used or new books (Kinder-Garden - Elementary ages) to donate to Portland's Children Book Bank

Inclement Weather

N/A