Gresham Butte Neighborhood Association will for a third time in four years be restoring more forest on public greenspace on Gresham Butte where blackberries have overtaken woodland due to the demise of many alders. Before planting trees in March we need to cut the blackberries back on about an acre of land. The area we’ll tackle this year is near the start of the Saddle Trail just off of SE 15th St. in the Dawncrest neighborhood (which is accessed on SE Elliott and Regner Rd.). Volunteers are requested at 1:00 on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Bring loppers or a machete to cut the blackberry vines. Wear solid footwear and outer clothing to avoid barbs from the thorny vines. Also bring your own water container. We will plan to work for two hours. Canes will be left to decompose on the ground as they will provide eventually some mulch for the young trees. We will dig some of the blackberry crowns when we plant about 300 trees next month. Thanks for helping out if you can.
