CHANNELING COMMUNITY
McKenzie River Trust volunteer coordinator Elizabeth Goward connects people with nature while restoring our land and water. Jadzia Engle
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rown and yellow Western Meadowlarks darted up and down through the clear, blue sky just over McKenzie River Trust (MRT) volunteer coordinator Elizabeth Goward’s head. The bare, straw-colored ground of the vast habitat stretched behind her until it connected with vivid, green pine trees that thrive in lowlands neighboring the waterways of Green Island. Goward shared her knowledge of the conservation property with a class of 16 high school volunteers. Green Island has been under the care of the MRT for the past 17 years, and now partially acts as a classroom for Goward, who readily reveals her love of the outdoors with visitors. “We found gray fox footprints out here where you were working last time, not that long ago, and they’re an ancient fox that actually climbs trees and nests in tree cavities rather than burrowing and denning in the ground. They’re more cat-like in that way,” said Goward, beaming at her volunteers. “Oaks can also be a critical habitat for the really cute, cat-like foxes. So if nothing else drives you to plant your oak really well today, hopefully that will.” Growing up in Salem, Oregon, Goward spent most of her time as a child engaging with nature and water, specifically
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Sarah Karr
the Willamette River. Due to years of degradation that the waterway endured as the river was manipulated to fuel urbanization and industrialization, this was not the easiest feat. “I grew up on a river that you didn’t get in as a kid,” and not always heeding the rules, “I’ve had giardia twice because I got in the river,” says Goward. As a little girl, Goward developed a deep connection with nature alongside her family. She used to spend time at Clear Lake, bonding with her now late grandfather. She now hopes to share that connection. “My brother lives on the East Coast, he’s in the military, and we got him and his kids out on leave and got them on the lake and were able to pass that place on,” says Goward. Goward often finds it hard to fathom how other people don’t have an intrinsic connection to the natural world around them, expressing that she “really feel[s] like people and land aren’t separate.” Reflecting on her early years out on Clear Lake and her experiences working out in the field with volunteers from various communities, businesses, organizations, or schools, she views “being out on the land, being out with water, [as] a very completing experience.”
