Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe

&

The Yakima River Canyon Bird Fest

with Online and In-Person Activities

May 7-9, 2021

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Co-Sponsored by KEEN, Kittitas Audubon, and Kittitas County Field & Stream

All current COVID 19 Guidelines will be followed. Masks are required to be worn and social distancing guidelines followed.
KEEN will request that members of the public or event volunteers who are not following current guidelines to respectfully
leave the event. If you feel you cannot follow guidelines, please do not join us in person and enjoy online presentations instead.

Event schedule

FRIDAY MAY 7th

12:00 noon - Online via Zoom

Audubon Washington Presents: Columbia Plateau Healthy Lands Initiative: building a roadmap for birds and people to thrive. 

1:00pm - Online via Zoom

Rocky Relationships in the Shrub-Steppe: Explore the relationships of plants, animals, and habitat in the shrub-steppe. What are the interactions that sustain and hinder survival in this semi-desert environment? Join Laura Busby, Parks Interpretive Specialist, for a virtual adventure into the dynamic Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park backcountry.

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SATURDAY MAY 8TH

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PRE-REGISTERED FIELD TRIPS (click to register)

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7:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Birds of the Teanaway Forest

8:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Soils, Geology & Wildlife of the Wenas

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Birding by Ear

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Birding for Kids (6-12 year olds)

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Blue Bird Field Trip 

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Terroir of the Yakima Canyon (Wine Tasting) 

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EDUCATIONAL AND INTERACTIVE BOOTHS

9:00 am to 1:00 pm

Yakima Canyon Interpretive Center @ Helen McCabe Park 

• Kittitas Environmental Education Network

• KEEN's Native Plant Sale Pick-Up Day

• Yakima Canyon Interpretive Center 

• Kittitas Audubon - Wildflowers for Birds

• Conservation Northwest 

• Washington State Department of Parks & Recreation 

• Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group

• Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife

• Puget Sound Energy - Shrub-Steppe habitat restoration

• Central Washington University Department of Biology with

  • Bats biology

  • Snakes & Reptiles - live 

  • River Bugs & Fish - live 

• Washington Falconers Association with live raptors

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SUNDAY MAY 9TH

PRE-REGISTERED FIELD TRIPS (click to register)

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10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Birds of Prey of Kittitas County

8:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Birds of the Shrub-Steppe

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park

PERMIT REQUIRED: Self-Guided Wildflowers @ Wild Horse Wind & Solar Facility

KEEN Connects - Looking Back on 20 Years of GISS

In case you missed the amazing online presentations by Dr. Trina Bayard from Audubon WA and Ranger Laura Busby from WA State Parks
- here they are!