The EE Specialist will be utilizing nationally recognized U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) environmental education programs for grades K-12, including the Nature of Learning Program, the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program, and the International Shorebird Sister Schools Program.  In addition, the EE Specialist will work with other agencies and conservation groups in Tillamook and Clatsop counties to provide a positive, consistent and unified message to school children about their role in conservation.  The EE Specialist will also assist other groups conducting EE programs in the area, including the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and the Haystack Rock Awareness Program.

The EE position for 2006 has been filled by Amanda Gladics, a Pacific Northwest native with an extensive resume covering both E.E. and bird ecology.  She has worked as a raptor center assistant and educator at the Glen Helen Outdoor Education and Raptor Center presenting formal programs to children and adults about raptor behavior and ecology, and the local flora and fauna of the area.  She also worked with Aplomado Falcons as a hack site attendant for The Peregrine Fund in Kent, Texas.  In addition, Amanda worked as a group leader for Advocates for Women in Science where she planned, organized and led science based after school meetings for middle school girls in Portland, Oregon.  Amanda is also no stranger to AmeriCorps as she served an 11 month position through the VISTA program at Camp Stevens in Julian, California, where she planned and implemented experiential EE for middle school students.  

Establishment of the Columbia River Estuarine Coastal Fund dates back to spring 2004, when the owners of the marine vessels named Spring Drake, Hoegh Minerva, and Agia Erini were charged with violating federal pollution laws. As part of these settlements, the courts ordered $1,300,000 in community service payments to be made to NFWF to be invested in conservation projects in the area of environmental impact. Together with USFWS, NFWF used the funds to establish the Columbia River Estuarine Coastal Fund as a grant making program to be used to finance: a)  on the ground habitat conservation, restoration and management projects in and along the Columbia River below the Bonneville Dam and the adjacent coasts of Oregon (up to and including Tillamook Bay) and Washington (up to and including Willapa Bay)  that may be affected by estuarine flows to benefit the fish and wildlife resources and the habitats upon which they depend; b) landowner outreach and incentive programs for restoration and management of natural resources in the same geographic area; c) public use and natural/cultural projects that benefit the Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System; d)  collaborative projects from local communities seeking environmentally and economically sustainable solutions to natural resource problems; and e) applied research that is directly related to improvement of natural resources management in the same geographic area.