Communications and Learning Blog

For two days last week, a group of MMT staff and our five trustees traveled to the Hermiston and Pendleton area visiting grantees and other area nonprofits. This trip was the first of its kind for our foundation, to help us learn about the communities we serve that we don't get to visit as much as we'd like. We'll likely be getting out as a group to other communities in the future.

Carl Culham from the Pendleton Round Up taught
us the many uses of the Round Up slogan "let 'er buck"

The trip was a bit of a jam-packed educational whirlwind.  We immediately kicked things off by hearing from Glenn Lamb, executive director of the Columbia Land Trust and Scott Fairly, Eastern Oregon Regional Solutions Coordinator, on the bus ride from Portland. We also saw the new building that houses Blue Mountain Community College in Hermiston, heard from tribal community members at Wildhorse Resort, then toured the Pendleton Center for the Arts , where we heard from Ron Brown of Watermill Vineyards, Gary James, Fisheries Program Manager at Umatilla Tribe Fisheries and Pendleton Mayor Phil Houk. And that was just the first day!

On the second day we toured Pendleton and heard about the Pendleton Round Up, visited the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute, heard from a panel about arts organizations at Crow's Shadow and learned about human services work in the area from a panel at CAPECO. A community reception at the Prodigal Son brew pub ended the day's activites. We returned to Portland Wednesday morning much more informed about this part of Oregon. Not to mention exhausted.

Pendleton Center for the Arts

Water

One of the things this trip showed me is the importance of water in this area, especially given the increasing pressures we are putting on our natural resources. In Portland, we may forget how lucky we are to have so much water, but as we moved through the Columbia Gorge and heard from Glenn Lamb, he reminded us that the Portland metro area’s population is expected to grow to 2.9-3.2 million by 2030. One of the main reasons for this, he thinks, is our area’s abundance of water and other resources.

Leaving Hood River, the terrain quickly turned from green to yellow and brown and we heard from Scott Fairly about how water rights affect development in Eastern Oregon. As we drove by the out-of-place seeming forest tree farm along I-84 near Boardman, we learned that the reason this farm exists where it does is because the property has an old water right that allows for ample irrigation.

A brief stop in the Gorge at a new Columbia Land Trust site

First Foods

The water-centric theme continued with a talk we heard from Eric Quaempts from the Tribes' Department of Natural Resources about the “First Foods” lens that informs restoration activities of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Tribes use the serving order from their longhouse ceremonies to inform and prioritize their natural resource management. As you can see in the graphic below, the foods served fall into five main categories: water, fish, game, roots, and berries – and these are the resources the Tribes are trying to restore and protect. I really enjoyed learning about this program.

First Foods Graphic (Image: CTUIR Department of Natural Resources)

Housing

A clear problem we heard about from almost everyone was a lack of workforce/middle-income housing in these communities. These communities have had some low-income housing projects that have helped address needs for low-income workers, but as they are now looking to further their economic development, they are realizing the need for more workforce housing before they can lure new business to their area. We heard this theme in all three communities we visited, from Hermiston, the Confederated Tribes and Pendleton.

Printmaking at Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts

Community Reception in Pendleton

Thanks to everyone in these communities for their warm hospitality and kudos for all the hard work they are doing to make these places great!

And in case you're wondering, the title of this post reflects the phrase we heard often on our journey, the motto of the Pendleton Roundup that is often used in a variety of ways here as a rallying cry to get things done. And I've learned that Let'er Buck cologne is the official fragrance of the Roundup and can be ordered online.

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