Mount Tabor Neighborhood Association
Environment Committee
Yard Certification Sub Committee
Meeting Notes


Meeting: January 12, 2005, 7:30 p.m.

Attending: Sue Staehli, Michael Schindel, Patty Cassidy, Tom Winkle, Sharlane Blaise, Don Jacobson

Printed material from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) was reviewed and discussed. It was generally felt that the NWF criteria for certification needed to be tweaked. Specifically, the option for a pesticide free yard should be mandatory, not optional as with the NWF. The committee felt the Neighborhood Association would be a good organization to sponsor the certification with the sub-committee doing the actual certification. Assistance to gardeners would be provided to help them be fully or partially certified.

A yard sign was an essential part of the program. Reference material would be gathered and made into a packet and made available to neighbors who were interested in the program. A tour of existing certified yards was suggested. Portland Nursery was suggested as a possible source of revenue to fund signs and/or coupons for certified yards.

Bill was queried about putting the information packet on the MTNA Web site. No response as yet. The MTNA Board will be asked to sponsor the Yard Certification Project.

Please submit any corrections or comments to me.

Reference material identified so far:

Naturescaping... published by Oregon Dept. of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), available in the library
Landscaping For Wildlife In the Pacific Northwest by Russel Link published by ODFW, available in the library

Native plants and Invasive plants: http://www.enature.com/native_invasive/natives.asp
Native Wildflowers: http://www.wildflower.org/
Native plant nursery: http://www.oakpointnursery.com
Naturescaping For Clean Rivers published by Environmental Services, Portland OR
Audubon Native plant sale list

Tasks:
Develop criteria for certification - Michael
Information packet - Patty/Michael/Sharlane
Signs - Sue
Field crew - Michael/Don/Sharlane/Others?
Cookies for next meeting - Sharlane
Native Plant Society of Oregon (NPSO) liaison - Don
MTNA liaisons - Don/Sharlane

Next Meeting: Wednesday March 2nd, 7:30 p.m. at Don & Sharlane's house.

Respectfully submitted,

Don Jacobson