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| North Coast residents receive awards for stream, lake and watershed work | ||
| 10/30/2006 | ||
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17-06
News media contact: Monte Turner, 503-986-0195Spirit of the Oregon Plan Awards presented Oct. 27 in Seaside: Lee Cain, Astoria Lisa Phipps, Tillamook Lee Cain, Astoria, and Lisa Phipps, Tillamook, were among 11 people from throughout Oregon honored for their work to protect and improve streams, lakes and watersheds at a luncheon Friday in Seaside. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board presented the Spirit of the Oregon Plan Awards during the state agency’s biennial conference. “We are pleased to recognize the exemplary work and leadership of these dedicated people,” said Tom Byler, OWEB executive director. LEE CAIN Cain is a Young’s Bay Watershed Council member from Astoria. Lee mixes his volunteer activities as a long-time member and education representative on the Young's Bay Watershed Council with his professional career. Lee works as a science teacher at Astoria High School. Cain convinced the Astoria School District to build a high school science lab. The facility gives students the opportunity to study watershed health issues in both a classroom and laboratory setting. Students work alongside fisheries biologists and estuarine ecologists. Cain and his students have partnered with local watershed councils and fisheries agencies to study water quality issues, tide gates, fish presence and abundance, and restoration action effectiveness. “Lee has been tireless not only in his teaching, but also in acquiring funding for the equipment and materials necessary to provide his students with extraordinary opportunities to study issues important both locally and nationally,” said Tom Shafer, OWEB north coast program representative who nominated him.  LISA PHIPPS Phipps is a Tillamook Bay Watershed Council member from Tillamook. More than six years ago, when the Tillamook Bay Watershed Council was struggling to establish trust within its membership and to find direction, Phipps was one of three people who recognized both the council’s difficulties and its potential, according to Tom Shafer, OWEB north coast program representative who nominated Phipps.. Phipps took on leadership roles within the council’s board of directors—graduating from secretary to vice chair to chair. At times, she and another person supervised the council coordinator and then shared coordinator duties for five months. Phipps helped develop several of the council’s first, solid restoration projects. She serves as a liaison to two other watershed councils to coordinate land use issues. Phipps also helped OWEB with changes to statewide funding procedures. “It takes a lot of people to make something work,” she said. “A group of us were just able to keep the faith long enough to see that happen,” she added. OWEB projects support the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds that emphasizes private, voluntary actions to restore wild salmon populations. OWEB is a state agency led by a policy oversight board. The agency provides grants and services to citizen groups, organizations and agencies working to restore healthy watersheds in Oregon. Funding comes from the Oregon Lottery as a result of a citizen initiative in 1998, sales of salmon license plates, federal salmon funds and other sources.  ## OWEB ##
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