The Land Trust is so thankful for our amazing corps of dedicated volunteers! Day in and out they help make the work of conserving and caring for the land possible. This month we wanted to send a special thank you out to two long-time volunteers: Ginny Elliott and Pat Green.

You may know Ginny and Pat from their efforts with the Land Trust’s Weed Warriors. These two wonder women have been at the helm of the group since 2017 leading a regular group of volunteers battling nonnative weeds at Land Trust Preserves. The Weed Warriors gather at our protected lands 2-4 times a month during the growing season to hand pull weeds. They focus on restored areas along Whychus Creek to help give new native plants a leg up, lend a hand pre-restoration to cut down on the weed seed bank, or just target problem weed populations as they pop up.

It’s hard to overstate the impact Weed Warriors and Ginny and Pat have had on the health of Land Trust Preserves! We wish we had a count of the bags, upon bags, upon bags of weeds they have pulled, but we know the number would be impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that they have single-handedly helped native plant communities at our Preserves thrive.

“It takes grit and a love of natural places to be a Weed Warrior. Pat and Ginny have led the volunteer group for many years with dedication and humor, rain or shine, and brought lasting improvements to our protected lands. We are forever grateful to them for this contribution,” commented Jen Zalewski the Land Trust’s stewardship manager.

Both Pat and Ginny were Land Trust Volunteers of the Year (in 2019 and 2014 respectively), and have volunteered with the Land Trust for many years. In addition to their leadership of the Weed Warriors, they’ve both helped out in countless of other ways with events, group work parties, walks or hikes, and more. Ginny and Pat you have made a tremendous difference in the future of Central Oregon, thank you!!

Learn more:

• About the Weed Warriors
• Volunteer with the Land Trust