Pinchot Partners celebrated its 15th anniversary Aug. 10 in huckleberry restoration areas on the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
On Nov. 16, the Mount St. Helens Institute will hold a discussion on huckleberry restoration efforts within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest during a public forum in Brush Prairie.
The talk is part of the institute’s Views and Brews series and will be held at the Cedars on Salmon Creek Golf Club with pub food and drinks provided by Mill Creek Pub of Battle Ground.
The presentation is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. A casual open house with several display stations detailing ongong huckleberry habitat work will take place after the discussion.
A press release from the Pinchot Partners noted, “Traveling into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to gather huckleberries is a local summer tradition. However, over the last 50 years, many pickers have found fewer areas with fruiting bushes.”
The informative series has been coordinated between the Pinchot Partners and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Those entities have partnered together for the past eight years to restore huckleberry habitat in the forest, and the Cowlitz Indian tribe joined the effort in 2009.
The Pinchot Partners recently received two grants from the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation in order to develop a forest-wide strategy for huckleberry habitat restoration.
Children are welcome to attend the event and the door will open at 5 p.m. The Cedars is located at 15001 NE 181 St., Brush Prairie.
