The Chetco Indian Memorial will protect the remains of an ancient Native American site that was unearthed at the Port of Brookings-Harbor, OR. We are constructing a historical marker at this place to tell the story of the ancestral Chetco People who lived there. A 140-foot berm structure was built to surround the memorial. The berm walls have been texturized, colored, and sealed for waterproofing. We have filled the structures with a native plant garden to help educate the public about Chetco plant uses for food, basketry, and tools. The planters have been set up with a drainage system, filled with soil, and an assortment of indigenous plants have been planted (Camas, Hazel, Oregon Grape, Wild Ginger, and more).
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Mountain yellow-legged frogs - found in Southern California and the Southern Sierras – are endangered and at risk from predation and habitat loss. An important aspect of species recovery is reintroduction, where animals are either raised or protected in captivity and then returned to their natural habitat. A critical aspect of a successful recovery program is the documentation of individual survival, and these frogs are apparently difficult to find, even by experts. The SFF supported the Institute for Conservation Research by funding the purchase of radio tagging equipment to help locate surviving frogs. The equipment allowed researchers to increase detections nearly four-fold and will be used in future years to monitor these populations.
Read MoreThe Schwemm Family Foundation assisted the Jacksonville Oregon Boosters Foundation in the creation of A Path Through Time walk which documents and permanently displays Jacksonville's history from the 1850's forward by etching historical information, into 13 granite sidewalk slabs. Portions of the sidewalk in front of City Hall (the original 1883 Jackson County Courthouse) were cut out so that the granite slabs could be inlaid in their place. The slabs highlight major events in Jacksonville’s history, such as the discovery of gold in the 1850's, and the construction of the county courthouse. Jacksonville’s population is approximately 3,000 but it is estimated that up to 100,000 individuals visit Jacksonville on an annual basis.
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Central Valley Vintage Baseball, based in Sacramento, has recreated the game as it was played over 100 years ago. Four teams play against each other and vintage teams from other parts of the country, wearing historic uniforms and incorporating the rules of the 1869s. Baseball was an important cultural event, used by early farmers of California’s Central Valley to bring towns together between the spring planting season and fall harvesting. The Schwemm Family Foundation supported the establishment of these vintage teams as a way to bring living history to the community. Play Ball!
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This project aimed to build a community garden for low-income and disabled seniors in Santa Paula, California. With help from the SFF, raised beds were installed and supplies purchased so seniors could participate in planting seeds and tending plants. Volunteers then assisted the residents with planting and helping the new gardeners learn how to tend their young plants.
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The 29-mile long San Lorenzo River runs from the Santa Cruz Mountains through downtown Santa Cruz and ultimately to Monterey Bay. As it goes through the city the river is channelized by flood control levees. But above and below the channels the river provides critical habitat for native plants, birds, and fish such as coho salmon, steelhead trout and tidewater goby. The Coastal Watershed Council works to protect and enhance the natural portions of the river. The Schwemm Family Foundation assisted this organization by supporting River Health Days, a volunteer effort to remove invasive plants, replant impacted sites and improve shoreline habitat.
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The Josephy Center for Arts and Culture in Joseph Oregon, in partnership with the Wallowa History Center, made an appeal to the community to go through their attics and photo albums to uncover lost treasures to help document the county’s history. Local newspapers and the public submitted about 100 historical photos which enabled the Center to host a local art exhibit and accompanying exhibit catalogue, as well as an online catalogue. This initiative insured that many priceless photos were digitized for the future, that would have otherwise been lost or tossed because the portraits or local scenes would have been unidentified and meaningless to future generations. Approximately 2000 people visited the exhibit, including many school groups. The Schwemm Family Foundation funds were used primarily to scan, print and mount approximately 50 photos, each with a corresponding short essay explaining the content and source. Highlights of the exhibit included photos of the Nez Perce tribe, Chief Joseph, Maxville loggers, and early settlers and ranchers.
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Since their inception in 2010, ACCESS Food Share Gardens have contributed over 370,000 pounds of organically grown produce to the ACCESS network of 50 emergency and supplemental food pantries, meal sites and other distribution sites in Jackson County of southern Oregon. With the help of a grant from the Schwemm Family Foundation in 2017, ACCESS was able to develop partnerships with new land hosts in Gold Hill and Rogue River, Oregon after their long-term garden sites in both communities changed ownership last year. ACCESS quickly forged relationships with a church/charter school in Rogue River and Moose Lodge #178 in Gold Hill and were able to develop two new productive garden sites in time for the 2017 growing season.
Read MoreAlong the Willamette River in Oregon, the Friends of Historic Butteville are working to restore Butteville Landing, a site that has connected the town with the river for as long as people have lived here. The project aims to increase public access to the site, improve shoreline conditions, and interpret the history of the Landing. The SFF supported the project by funding interpretive signage that will help visitors understand the important connections between the natural river and human enterprise in both historic and present-day Butteville.
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