Author: egronert

GET THAT GREY SHIRT MUDDY: Don’t just wait for the next disaster. Continue training and be prepared.

Posted on by egronert

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by Mae Hollister, Disaster Program Manager, Archie Creek Fire Long Term Recovery Group, Douglas County & Glide Revitalization

Image of Mae Hollister smiling in front of Team Rubicon trailer.

While packing my Go Bag for a mitigation operation in Southern Oregon this week, I reflect upon the first time I packed my bag for Team Rubicon disaster response, the “Sunshine Strong” operation in Florida for hurricane Ian in December 2023. I put a lot of strategy into that first packing bag. That was my inaugural disaster response experience, and my inner gear and preparedness dorkreally came out. I checked the Team Rubicon recommended packing list three times, added my domain knowledge of backpacking/camping, living in developing countries, and my Southern Oregon country girl roots. I was so confident that I had thought of ALL the things.

I slept in my car in the Eugene airport parking lot the night before my flight to ensure that I wouldn’t have any weather issues coming from Sutherlin for my 5 a.m. departure, only to promptly run into flight delays having a domino effect across the country. I narrowly made it to my connecting city where I would now have to spend Christmas waiting for the next flight out to Tampa. After hours of tracking down my pack in the Denver airport, navigating mountains of luggage and mobs of angry holiday travelers, I was getting a sinking feeling that the airline meltdown was going to be the only disaster deployment I would experience. As I stepped outside into below freezing temps and a fierce wind to await a local friend who graciously was rescuing me from the frontlines, I quickly realized that my Go Bag packing analysis had not accounted for Denver weather!

I got a hotel room, regrouped, borrowed a winter jacket, and trudged out in my work boots to a steakhouse with my friend, determined to salvage Christmas at a minimum. Amazingly I was able to catch the first flight out the next day, made it to Tampa and found some Team Rubicon Greyshirts at the rally point in the airport. I was greatly relieved that they were there to meet me despite all the changes and travel chaos. My arrival at the FOB (forward operating base) felt like I had landed in a foreign country speaking a different language. The logistics and processes were mind boggling! Did you sign the 211?  Nope, what is that?  A sign-in and sign-out sheet… Um, why can’t we just call it that?  Do you know what strike team you are on and who is your leader?  Negative, nobody told me. It is on the 204s, check them to see which team you have been assigned to.  Did your strike team lead give the safety talk to you swampers?  Um… still figuring out who my lead is and what exactly is a Swamper… that doesn’t sound like a fun term… wait, I’m a Swamper on this team!?  Don’t forget to be at breakfast and dinner in time for the debriefs. What time are those?  Meetings are part of the Battle Rhythm, check the sign… Argh, what is a Battle Rhythm!?  Where is the sign? There is usually one outside the mess tent and the C&G trailer… alright, I identified the “food” tent, as I will always know where to get snacks…  and I will just assume the other is something to do with “command.”

Image of banquet room with many people eating and seated around tables.

Thankfully there were several seasoned Greyshirts that helped translate this new world for me!  We had a few days in the field and then were informed that this FOB was demobilizing, another term I had no idea what all it involved. I now can attest that taking inventory of equipment and supplies after a 3 month response operation is an operation in and of itself!  Evenings were spent around the fire pit at “beer flag,” sipping our two allowed beverages and swapping TR stories. C&G (command and general staff) arranged for us to have some trainings at the end of the week, in which I learned all about the Reconnaissance and Advanced Onsite stages of mission planning and the Site Survey process for vetting and prioritizing work orders. A highlight was a night out at the local VFW Hall (veterans of foreign wars) with karaoke and several patrons coming up to me thanking Team Rubicon for our work, expressing how they would have been at a loss these past few months without Greyshirts helping clean up the damage to their homes and property. TR treated us to a dinner out on a beach for New Year’s Eve, complete with seafood, fireworks and a glorious sunset.  By the time I boarded my flight home on New Year’s Day, I felt that I had not only learned a new language and helped people in need, I had found a new TRribe.

Fast forward four months and I am now weaving my Team Rubicon service into my RARE service. After attending TR’s Pacific Northwest Leadership conference, I stepped up to be a membership leader in my Southwest Oregon region. I am building our bench of Greyshirts to help with regional wildfire mitigation operations. Through my RARE service I have identified a huge need for boots on the ground to do fuels reduction and defensible space mitigation work – Team Rubicon is built for this! In mid-April I served as Deputy Logistics on the C&G team for the Two Knights Defense Operation in Josephine County, which was a homeowner and parks mitigation pilot in the Grants Pass and Merlin areas. Not only did I learn all about planning and running a mitigation operation, I also got great insight into the community liaison and outreach needs to do a similar project in Douglas County, my homeland and RARE hosting community.

Image of Mae in a kitchen helping cook

One of Team Rubicon’s cultural principles is “GSD – Get Sh** Done.”. Supported by the mantra of “I looked at the divide and built a bridge.” This TRibe attitude goes hand in hand with RARE’s “Get Stuff Done” motto! I am on a mission to bring the two together for a mitigation operation on the North Umpqua in eastern Douglas County. When a grant opportunity cameabout for exactly this, I immediately set about building bridges.  I coordinated a multi-agency collaboration with the Archie Creek Fire Long Term Recovery Group, Glide Revitalization, Douglas Forest Protection Association, and Glide Rural Fire Protection District to seek funding from the Oregon State Fire Marshal Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant.

The future Umpqua Fire-adapted Landscapes and Safe Homes (FLASH) assistance program is being designed to help create defensible space around homes and property across Douglas County. Mitigation work orders and volunteer workforce crews will be prioritized to serve higher risk Douglas County residents, such as seniors, alter-able, veteran, and/or low-income residents unable to perform the work without assistance. All mitigation assistance will be provided at no cost to property owners. Program activities and offerings will include: Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) assessments and education, vegetation mitigation to create defensible space around homes, and volunteer operations in collaboration with Team Rubicon and the Northwest Youth Corps.

It is hard to believe that it has only been four months since my Team Rubicon journey began, and I am now laying the groundwork to incorporate this dedicated organization into my RARE projects and GSD in my own backyard! In my second year as a RARE member, I have found this work to be the most fulfilling of my career. As a third generation Umpqua Valley local, wildfire mitigation and building a fire adapted landscape to protect my homeland is near and dear to my heart. I feel blessed to have this opportunity!

Headshot image of Mae HollisterAbout the author, Mae Hollister: Originally from Umpqua, Oregon, and a first generation college student, Mae obtained her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of Oregon in 2004 with a focus on Cross-Cultural Communications and Latin America. After a series of apprenticeships in the fields of politics, business, government, and nonprofit, she fell into the world of small business and nonprofit start-ups and went on to complete a Masters in Sustainable Business Management at Marylhurst University in 2012. Mae wears the hats of Business Analyst, Team Rubicon Metro Leader, Digital Nomad and Servant Leader, with more than 15 years of experience successfully leading mission-driven initiatives and teams. Passionate about servant leadership and on her third round of AmeriCorps service, Mae is looking to bring together her organizational business expertise and passion for community resiliency to pivot her career into the field of disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

Interested in gaining environmental and sustainability planning experience of your own? Are you looking for a life changing experience in rural Oregon? Learn more about serving with the RARE AmeriCorps Program. Applications for Year 30 (2023-24) due April 30, 2023 by 11:59pm PDT.

Research to Resources: Understanding Rural Perspectives to Inform Program and Personal Development

Posted on by egronert

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by Alex Van Grunsven, Working Lands Program Developer, Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council 

Committing to serve in a rural community could not be more rewarding. Imagine meeting individuals who have lived on a single property for 30 plus years. They tell stories of the animals who frequent their woods, the water that meanders across property lines, the shift in cover crops that populate their pasturelands and, most importantly, the deepening of their connection to their environmental and local communities. These stories, in my eyes, are the reasons why opening your ears and heart to those around you helps to shape not only your understanding of a rural community, but also your entire being for the better. 

Going on my second year serving in rural regions, I’ve talked with numerous people about the barriers and gaps community members face regarding their connection to food and farming. My current term as Working Lands Program Developer for the Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council in Cottage Grove, Oregon has brought me a new perspective on how rural producers and consumers interact with their local food systems. I couldn’t have ever imagined to have learnt the valuable information I did in these past 4 months without having the opportunity to table at the South Willamette Valley (SVFM) and Lane County Farmers Markets (LCFM). 

The general scope of the Working Lands Program (WLP) is to provide a farmer-centered, free service aimed at tackling the barriers farmers, ranchers and foresters face and provide support to transition to more regenerative land management practices (Van Grunsven, Alex “Working Lands Program Farmer’s Market Outreach Report 2022” January 19, 2022.Working Lands Program, Report). Furthermore, the WLP is a brand-new program offering assistance to landowners beginning January 2023. The Working Lands Program relies heavily on the input of community members in the counties of Lane, Linn and Benton to provide context for program development and its evolution over time. That is why the WLP team identified the SVFM and LCFM as prime opportunities to gather community input and accomplish the following: 

  1. Raise community awareness of the Working Lands Program 
  2. Gather impressions of “regenerative agriculture” and associated practices from the public and market vendors 
  3. Gain an understanding of the expressed and perceived regional issues associated with working lands operations 

Now the background of why our organization decided to conduct on-the-ground outreach at farmers markets is an important piece to note. However, the how and what following such motives paint a better picture of what impact my position directly has on the local communities I aim to help. On three separate occasions, I stood through rain and shine at each market to welcome community members to engage in conversation, fill out a survey and answer topical questions about their local agricultural systems. I asked consumers at the LCFM to write or draw their response to the question: “What is the number one issue Oregon farmers face today?” Let’s just say – the range of answers written on that poster were vast and highly entertaining to reflect upon. Similarly, consumers at the SVFM were eager to discuss the nuance of farmer impacts on society and were thinking on a deeper level about the survey questions at hand. Back and forth conversations flowed as new understandings helped inform the place-based impressions my fellow community members believed in. Such responses were essential pieces to include in a comprehensive outreach report I wrote outlining community impressions and how they will inform further program development. Which as a little spoiler, the WLP will focus on increasing producer awareness for the term “regenerative agriculture” given the consumer support in the marketing realm and increased government funding for such practices. 

Documenting and analyzing the feedback of local peoples was not an easy task. Many community members came from all different backgrounds and ways of life, which posed difficult to apply a one-size-fits-all theme across the collected data. However, it only took one interaction with Tom Murray, SLO Farm Farmer and LCFM Board President, to shape my perspective on rural farming and food systems moving forward. As a farmer himself, Tom understands what it takes to run a farming business in this region. He shared thoughts of how success in agriculture does not come without time, effort and high amounts of sacrifice. What I gained from his insights was a chilling realization that all types of farmers, small scale, large scale, rural and urban alike, suffer from lack of mental health support in their communities. To be a rural farmer, rancher or forester takes a certain type of dedication and grit that superimposes your life with your livelihood. If there is one thing I will take with me from my experience chatting with consumers and vendors at both farmers markets, it is building relationships with your neighboring farmers will not only strengthen local food systems and peoples, but will also shift the very framework rural societies operate on forever. 

Thank you to all the rural farmers, ranchers, foresters, and landowners I’ve met for opening my eyes to the beauty and struggles of your livelihoods. I hope I can give you the support and attention you deserve during the rest of my time as a RARE member. 

 

Headshot image of Alex Van Grunsven About the author, Alex Van Grunsven: Originally from the dairy capital of the United States, Wisconsin, Alex made the trek to the Pacific Northwest in 2017 to attend school at the University of Oregon (UO). She pursued a degree in Environmental Science and Food Studies while working with UO affiliated programs such as the First Year Interest Group program, the Urban Farm on campus and Environmental Leadership Program. Her passions lie in creating and maintaining sustainable, accessible and local food systems and agricultural operations across regional communities. Looking at the year ahead, Alex hopes to connect with as many local farmers, ranchers and landowners of the Upper Willamette Valley as possible and is eagerly awaiting any and every opportunity to grow food and spend time in the soil. She also enjoys trying foods from different cultures and exploring the hidden lands of Oregon and beyond.

Interested in gaining food systems experience of your own? Are you looking for a life changing experience in rural Oregon? Learn more about serving with the RARE AmeriCorps Program. Applications for Year 30 (2023-24) due April 30, 2023 by 11:59pm PDT.