Late 2019/early 2020: Joshua Meyers and Ezra Cohen are avid birders. Given Oaks Bottom’s accessible location near where they both live, and the plethora of birds–both migratory and resident–that utilize the varied habitats of the refuge, they both found themselves spending increasing amounts of time at the refuge. Probably due to this near-constant presence in the refuge, they began taking note of what seemed to be increasing amounts of trash throughout the refuge, and more importantly (to them), the high numbers of off-leash dogs. This latter observation was particularly concerning because the South Meadow (site of a former landfill) is a fragile, grassland/meadow habitat, which provides critical habitat for various species of birds during both migration and nesting season. The high numbers of dogs off-leash in the area, meant more dogs tearing through the meadow, trampling it, and harming the habitat in general. They wanted to start a group that would have the connections and infrastructure to solve both of these problems: the off-leash dogs and the trash.
Ezra and Joshua begin emailing with the then-Stewardship Coordinator responsible for Oaks Bottom, David Grandfield. They explain their ideas to him, and invite him to the neighborhood meeting they would be presenting at on March 4th.
March 4, 2020: Joshua and Ezra present their idea to the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League (SMILE). They explain the problems they’ve observed, and their desire to start a group to protect the refuge. In the manner of similar groups they had researched, they wanted their group to be called the “Friends of Oaks Bottom.” They decide that, at that point, with two committee members and almost no knowledge of how to proceed, they couldn’t immediately become a non-profit. The idea is floated to become a committee/sub-committee of SMILE.
At the meeting they meet David Grandfield. He was to be their contact at the refuge going forward.
June/July 2020: Since the off-leash dog problem had arisen as important from the beginning, Joshua and Ezra make it a priority. They create signs and place them around the meadow, with permission from David.
August 2020: Ezra becomes a certified event leader for SOLVE (quite easy, through the website), and exchanges a long series of emails with Monica Kelly, an event coordinator at SOLVE.
Although Ezra and Joshua’s original idea was for an invasive species removal, after talking with and zooming with Monica, they decide to hold a trash cleanup on September 26th.
Early September 2020: They run the idea past David Grandfield, and he approves the event.
September 26th 2020: FOOB’s inaugural event is a success! Fifteen people attend, as they clean up trash on the south side of the refuge, down by the railroad tracks below the old church. They pick up 110 pounds of trash.
October 2020: Someone from SOLVE reaches out to let Ezra and Joshua know of an event taking place on the refuge on October 31st. The leader is Stuart Dyer. Joshua and Ezra attend this event, with the hope of incorporating Stu’s efforts into their already existing idea of a Friends group. Stu becomes the 3rd member of our core committee. (Stu departs from the committee a couple of years later.)
November 2020: At one of FOOB’s first official meetings we discuss goals. Long-term goals are as follows:
● Become a non-profit
● Establish a Board of Trustees
● Become a leader who gets things done at Oaks Bottom
● Fundraise money to pay for projects
Mid-term goals include:
● Organize work parties/trash cleanups
● Do tabling to gather support
● Put up signs about keeping dogs on leash
● Get garbage cans for the meadow
● Revegetate the South Meadow with native plants.
For the short-term goals, we list:
● Create a logo
● Create a mission statement
● Build a website
● Grow our email list
● Gather a dedicated group of people to help lead the group
● Host a “Friends of Oaks Bottom Night,” through SMILE, which would include a history of Oaks Bottom (Mike Houck), presentations about birds and birding in the refuge (Ezra/Joshua), and information about our group.
December 2020: Joshua, Stu, and Ezra draft ideas for mission statements. In the end, we decide on Stu’s, which incorporates aspects of both Joshua’s and Ezra’s. It follows:
“The Friends of Oaks Bottom represent a broad and diverse, community-led coalition of stakeholders committed to holistic stewardship of the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge. The Friends group seeks to: expand educational outreach through refuge-based activities, maintain the innate natural beauty of the refuge as a green space via habitat restoration events, and to improve on existing facilities and trail systems. As the largest remaining natural wetland within the lower reach of the Willamette River, Oregon, Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge is an incredibly important resource. Through community engagement activities, the Friends of Oaks Bottom aim to protect habitat and wildlife, while increasing opportunity for community exposure to the wonders of Oaks Bottom.”
December 11th, 2020: Marianne Nelson, who has lived in Sellwood since 2006, who walks Oaks Bottom often, and who remembers writing a check to the then-collapsing former Friends of Oaks Bottom when she first moved to the neighborhood, emails with interest to join the group. Ezra meets with her soon after, and invites her to the core committee.
December 19th, 2020: We have a meeting with Stu, Joshua, Ezra, Marianne, as well as the newest committee member, Heather Katcher, whom we’d met at one of Stu’s events. A Sellwood resident, and an active leader with SOLVE, Heather becomes the newest addition to the Friends group.
Then, we have a special meeting with many of the original members of the old Friends of Oaks Bottom, as well as former parks naturalists and Portland Audubon employees and activists. Attendees include Mike Houck, Mark Wilson, Jim Sjulin, David Anderson, and Bob Sallinger, as well as Joshua, Stu, and Ezra. The goal of this meeting is to decide how to record a “History of Oaks Bottom,” and we decide on a series of videos in which each of these people instrumental in creating Oaks Bottom as we know it today would speak for about 30 minutes on the area of their greatest expertise. While this never comes to fruition, it sets the stage for the documentary (see next section).
Early February 2021: Cathy Ingram, local artist and friend of Marianne, finalizes our logo. It looks incredible. Additionally, SMILE votes to make FOOB a sub-committee of the Sellwood Natural Amenities Committee (SNAC). Lastly, Ezra reaches out to Taggart Siegel, award winning documentary-maker. After much discussion, he agrees to create a film about the history, wildlife, and changes to Oaks Bottom. As of 2024, this project is nearing its final stages.
Late February 2021: Joshua and Ezra present before SMILE again. The main focus of the meeting is letting people know that FOOB has become a sub-committee of the SNAC. This means that, while not technically a full committee (and therefore required to give monthly reports, and generally be quite involved in SMILE), FOOB can put in budget requests, and can fundraise under SMILE’s status as a 501(c)(3) organization.
April 27th, 2021: In what was a destructive and concerning act, the South Meadow is illegally mowed. A unnamed Sellwood resident went rogue and drove his tractor-pulled mower into the South Meadow, proceeding to mow about half of it (including areas where huge amounts of camas and other native plants had recently been planted) before he was stopped by the collective efforts of the Portland Police, Laura Guderyahn, an urban ecologist for Portland Parks, and Ezra. This sets the stage for an exclusion act for the man, as well as an article in The Bee.
November 7th, 2021: John Sparks, former Board member for Trailkeepers of Oregon and retired instructor at Portland Community College, joins the committee. Anne Marie Santos is the new Stewardship Coordinator for Oaks Bottom, and FOOB begins coordinating events with her.
December 2021: FOOB’s website is finished! It is largely the same website we have today.
February 2022: John contributes the first of many blog posts to the FOOB website. He continues to add several posts a year.
March 2022: With Anne Marie’s help, for the first time FOOB has almost a year’s worth of events scheduled in advance. This pattern of one event every two months would continue to the present.
Earth Day 2022: FOOB has its collaboration with Friends of Jackson Bottom. Jackson Bottom is a nature preserve in Washington County. FOOB has a table at their Earth Day celebration at which we have games, and information about Oaks Bottom.
June 2022: FOOB starts posting to its Instagram account.
March 2023: John Sparks begins recruiting crew leaders to assist with work parties in the Bottom. Andrew Cohen joins the committee.
April 2023: Mike Liggett joins the FOOB committee. He produces a drone video of the Bottom that we display on our website. (Mike leaves the committee in 2024 due to work commitments.)
August 2023: Friends of Oaks Bottomhas a table at Sundae in the Park, held in Sellwood Park.
February 2024: Joshua Meyers and John Sparks lead FOOB’s first nature walk around the Bottom. Each walk takes about three hours, and the plan is to offer four tours per year.
June 2024: FOOB has its first photo contest, with a lot of hard work done by Marianne Nelson and Mike Liggett. It is very successful, involving 93 entries, and the winning photos are hung at Blue Kangaroo Coffee Roasters in Sellwood.
August 2024: Second Sundae in the Park. Crew Leader Wayne, attends.
October 2024: Mikky Cecil and Ruth Howell join the FOOB steering committee. Mikky is already a crew leader and spends a lot of time in the Bottom.
November 2024: Laura Guderyahn, urban ecologist responsible for Oaks Bottom, attends FOOB’s nature walk and contributes much information. Aaron Campbell, a local nature educator, joins the FOOB steering committee.
January 2025: Friends of Oaks Bottom protests the proposed construction of a new 135-foot high Drop Tower at the Oaks Amusement Park by writing a letter to The Bee. Later, FOOB joins the Bird Alliance of Oregon and the Urban Greenspaces Institute to focus on the lighting plans for the attraction. As a result of the appeal, a few concessions and modifications were made, inadequate for wildlife safety in our opinion.
April 2025: Friends of Oaks Bottom signs a letter of intent to lend assistance to the Llewellyn Elementary School Playground Revitalization Project, funded by a Metro grant. The idea is to create a more natural space for educational purposes.
June 2025: Friends of Oaks Bottom holds its first retreat. Several local luminaries associated with the development of Oaks Bottom as a public natural space are present. These include Mike Houck, Urban Greenspaces Institute; Mark Wilson, Portland Parks (retired); Marc Peters, Bureau of Environmental Services, Portland; and Jim Sjulin, Portland Parks (retired).
July 2025: Friends of Oaks Bottom makes a round of the refuge with Portland Parks’ new urban ecologist for the area, Josh Seekatz. Other guests include Mike Houck, Marc Peters, Mark Wilson, Kelly Rosteck (Portland Parks educator), and Colin Park (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service).
August 2025: Third year in a row tabling at Sundae in the Park.
October 2025: One of FOOB’s founders, Joshua Meyers, leaves the steering committee after five years of dedicated service.
November 2025: Rosalind Jackson joins the Friends of Oaks Bottom steering committee.
December 2025: Matthew Cooper, who was the original creator of this website, joins the Friends of Oaks Bottom steering committee. Friends of Oaks Bottom participates in the first underplanting party designed to mitigate the effects of the emerald ash borer (EAB) scourge. The first meeting of FOOB’s Communications subcommittee is held.
January 2026: Jenna Garmon joins the steering committee. John Sparks interviews Mike Houck about the early history of the activism involved in creating the wildlife refuge.