Eastern Washington Riparian Planting Symposium
The Eastern Washington Riparian Planting Symposium began in 2017 as a one-time conference, and was so popular it has been held every year since.
The goal of the symposium has been to bring together riparian planting practitioners, learning from each other’s projects, and creating space for discussion.
Populus: The Columbia Basin Riparian Planting Partnership
In 2019, it became apparent that there was a need for additional learning opportunities related to riparian planting, particularly in Eastern Washington.
This led to the creation of Populus: The Columbia Basin Riparian Planting Partnership in 2021. Populus started slowly by expanding the symposium to include additional activities.
Reid Camp will be continuing the discussion begun during our 2025 Eastern Washington Riparian Symposium sponsored by the Populus Committee on March 25, 2025. This event will be hosted by Drew Schuldt, Conservation Coordinator, Palouse Conservation District.
Reid recently joined the Snake River Salmon Recovery Board as their Science and Technical Coordinator. A fluvial geomorphologist who has worked on projects throughout the northwest, Reid specializes in watershed assessments, river restoration design, and effectiveness monitoring. On this field trip:
We will meet at the Palouse Conservation District Offices in Pullman, where we will circle up to look at printout maps of the area and give an overview of the landscape and projects and then caravan to project site(s).
We will walk the site and pause at locations to discuss morphological features and flood height indicators and note riparian species present and other interesting things that tie back to the presentation and goals of the projects.
Pause at low-tech structures and discuss their intent, current functionality, and ideas for adaptive management where needed. Part of this would include a discussion of geomorphic trajectory and how the structures are putting the stream on a positive trajectory.
Watch the 2025 Eastern Washington Planting Symposium on YouTube!
Site Tours
One way of creating space for riparian planting practitioners to share information and discuss challenges is by getting folks out on the ground to see projects. Over the past 5 years, Populus has hosted a variety of site tours targeted around riparian planting projects. Subscribe to the Populus email list to stay up to date with current events!
BDA Workshop and Tour with Okanogan Highlands Alliance
Workshops/Volunteer Events
In October of 2019, Populus co-hosted a Beaver Dam Analog volunteer event and workshop. Practitioners got hands-on experience in weaving and placing BDAs and Okanogan Highland Alliance’s project benefited from volunteer labor.
Fast forward to 2023, and Populus is now facilitating online webinars and in-person events for enthusiasts and professionals in riparian restoration. This June, Populus hosted a Virtual Training with the Washington Native Plant Society (read the agenda HERE!) as well as an in-person Grass ID Workshop at Wenatchee Valle College with Jennifer Hadersberger.
Classes
In July of 2019 Populus co-sponsored, with Department of Ecology’s Coastal Training Program, a class on Riparian and Wetland Identification in Central and Eastern Washington. When the class went to a waiting list minutes after being posted, we realized there is a strong need more of these kinds of learning opportunities. In September 2019, we hosted a class taught by Jennifer Goodridge on Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of Eastern Washington.
Although additional classes were scheduled for 2020 they have currently been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Group on a Fall 2019 Site Tour
Photo Credit: M. Norman
Webinars
One way we hope to creatively adjust to new work requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, is by offering more virtual learning opportunities. In April 2020, we co-sponsored with Washington Salmon Coalition, a webinar on, “Incorporating Climate Change Data into Riparian Restoration”, led by Meade Krosby, UW Climate Impacts Group and Greer Maier, Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board.
In fall of 2020, we hosted a webinar on the basics of grant writing led by Heather Simmons and Jill Scheffer, Department of Ecology.
In coordination with Okanogan Conservation District Populus is hosting a multi-part webinar on streambank bioengineering, led by riparian planting experts, Julie Vanderwal and Chris Hoag.
These webinars can be found on YBFWRB’s YouTube Channel.
2019 Fall Site Tour
Photo Credit: M. Norman
Stinger Demonstration
Photo Credit: Dale Meck
