Blue Zones Project–Healthy Klamath
Blue Zones Project–Healthy Klamath

Healthy Klamath is a coalition of organizations working together to support a wholistic approach to community health in and around Klamath Falls, Oregon. The Blue Zones initiative included a project to increase signage that directs people to local trails and walkways, and the SFF contributed to this effort. Data collected as part of the initiative indicate that signs and trail maintenance are particularly important tools for increasing citizen trail use and improving overall community well-being.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2020, Thriving Communities
California Native Plant Society
California Native Plant Society

The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) has developed a program called Re-Oak California. This effort focuses on reintroducing oak trees to areas where they have been lost and specifically to areas where fire has destroyed oak habitats. Volunteers collect acorns which are then grown to seedling size then transported and planted at appropriate sites throughout the state. The SFF supported this project which in 2020 grew 2,500 seedlings and distributed nearly 1,700 of those for planting by volunteers.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, Environment
The Crest at Willow-Witt
The Crest at Willow-Witt

Western pond turtles are native to much of the Pacific coast region but have become more rare as wetlands are lost to development and climate change. Willow-Witt Ranch has enhanced and protected a wetland that supports one of the highest elevation breeding populations of these turtles. The SFF funded a project to improve the conditions of the turtles’ habitat by constructing basking platforms, removing non-native plants, and creating a blind so that researchers could observe turtle behavior without disturbance.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, Environment
St. Paul Mission Historical Society

The French Prairie region of central Oregon includes a rich history of Native American, Canadian, and European experiences. The SFF funded the St. Paul Mission Historical Society to develop a digital collection of writings, photographs, and other records of family histories in the region during the 1800s. This project digitally preserved these items, and the collection is now available for public search on the SPMHS website.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, History
Lord & Schryver Conservancy
Lord & Schryver Conservancy

Lord & Schryver Conservancy undertook a project documenting the incredible careers of landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver. These landscape architects worked in Oregon from 1929 - 1969 and designed over 200 gardens throughout the region. With help from the Schwemm Family Foundation, the Conservancy created a digital map (link) where visitors can explore the designs, locations, and rich history behind their gardens.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, History
Urban Rivers
Urban Rivers

The Schwemm Family Foundation was proud to support Urban Rivers’s project to create a floating ecosystem along the Chicago river. Urban Rivers piloted their concept of installing floating trees by first testing different species of native trees and protecting them from beavers. This pilot program was successful and organization looks ahead to expanding and planting more floating trees.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, Environment
ACCESS
ACCESS

ACCESS has been dedicated to helping residents of Jackson County Oregon break the cycle of poverty since 1976. Through their Food Share Gardens, Access volunteers grow and harvest an abundance of food that is distributed locally. In an effort to extend the growing season and propagate their own starts, Access has built two new greenhouses at their Central Point garden location. Schwemm Family Foundation funds have helped with this effort, which will ultimately result in an increase in fresh, nutritious food being provided to local low-income community members.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, Thriving Communities
Friends of Historic Butteville
Friends of Historic Butteville

Friends of Historic Butteville (FOHB) is an organization dedicated to the preservation, documentation, and presentation of the history of this town, which sits alongside the Willamette River in northern Oregon. Butteville was once a major loading point for agriculture being shipped into Portland, and today, one of FOHB’s main projects is to restore the historic Butteville Landing so that the general public will once again have access to this portion of the river. A grant from the Schwemm Family Foundation has helped support this work, which will provide visitors with areas to picnic, learn about the history and Butteville, and dock their kayak or small boat along the Willamette River, all at no charge.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 2, History
Wolf Creek Community Alliance

The Wolf Creek Community Alliance works to protect the natural and cultural history of the Wolf Creek Watershed in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. For this project the Schwemm Family Foundation supported the design and construction of two interpretive panels that were placed along a public stretch of the creek. The signs describe the geography of the watershed as well as the history of the Nisenan tribe, whose ancestors occupied the region for thousands of years prior to the Gold Rush era. Displaying signage at this well-traveled location will help more people understand the history and culture of the watershed.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2018 - 1, History
Chetco Historical Memorial Project

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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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 1
Institute for Conservation Research
Institute for Conservation Research

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.

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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 1
Jacksonville Boosters Foundation

The 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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Annie SwankGrant Cycle: 2019 - 1, History