Services and Projects

Wenatchee River Institute Programming

For a current list of events, please see our Events Calendar located at "Events."

Barn Beach Reserve hosts exciting, interactive, hands-on discovery programs for children and adults. Focused on nature, art, and environmental awareness, our programs include discovery classes, field trips and tours, discussion groups, and special presentations. You need not be a member of Barn Beach Reserve to attend our programs.

TRIPS & TOURS

Guided field experiences and tours explore the Reserve, nearby natural areas, regional environmental learning centers, and art and cultural history sites. Activities include guided walks, off-site tours, and birding events. We will lead bird walks (including late night owl walks) for you and your group by appointment--donations gratefully accepted.

CLASSES, WORKSHOPS & PRESENTATIONS

Art classes and other art-focused activities are hosted in collaboration with Icicle Arts. Lectures and video presentations provide interpretation of the environmental, artistic, and cultural heritage of Barn Beach Reserve and the Greater Wenatchee Valley. Activities include issue-oriented environmental programs and book discussions.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Wenatchee Naturalist Program

We invite any curious adult who enjoys learning about the natural world to become a Wenatchee Naturalist. The Wenatchee River Institute, formerly Barn Beach Reserve, is proud to announce this new program to be held in the Wenatchee. The course will feature the Wenatchee River watershed's diversity of life, with a focus on the shrub-steppe, low-elevation forest, and riparian eco-regions. You will join other motivated and interesting adults who want to learn together about our local native plants and animals, habitats, and current natural resource issues. The aim of the Wenatchee Naturalist program is to cultivate and launch a corps of well-informed citizens who will actively volunteer for stewardship and conservation education projects within our community. This class is modeled after successful Master Naturalist programs in over 40 other states.

The 12-week Wenatchee Naturalist I course consists of 50 hours of training including lectures, extensive handouts, expert guest speakers, hands-on labs, and 3 all-day guided field trips. Students will keep a field journal and complete a citizen science project during the class. Upon course completion, participants are required to give-back 20 hours of service during the next calendar year. Throughout the class, students will be introduced to local non-profits and agencies who welcome volunteers in the field. The class will run on Wednesday evenings, 6:00-8:30 p.m., Feb. 1- Apr. 18, 2012, at the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust office in downtown Wenatchee. The course tuition is $300 and scholarship opportunities are available. Free clock-hours and college course credit are available for teachers. The class is limited to 25 participants. Visit the Wenatchee River Institute website (http://barnbeachreserve.org/) to see the class syllabus and to read "frequently asked questions." Download the course application form and mail it in to reserve your spot!

Susan Ballinger is the course designer and instructor. As a biologist, naturalist, and educator, Susan Ballinger is respected for her depth of knowledge and ability to inspire. Raised in Montana, Susan developed a love of the outdoors that led to advanced degrees in Biology and Education and a career-long commitment to making science understandable to the non-scientist. Her passion for experiential learning is evident in her award winning Shrub-Steppe'n Up Saddle Rock and River of Power science curricula for regional school districts. She is the recipient of numerous local and state awards, and her original work has been published in scientific journals and human-interest magazines. An energetic volunteer, she serves as State Director of the Washington Native Plant Society, Board member of Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, and Field Botanist for the University of Washington. When not researching, writing and teaching, you'll find Susan in the foothills she loves, often joined by her husband Paul and their three young adult children. Susan will be happy to answer questions about the Wenatchee Naturalist program. Contact her at 509.669.7820 or Email:

 Poster,

 Reasons to take the course,

 Course Schedule,  Course Registration,  Scholarship Application,  Frequently Asked Questions.

Watershed Art Collection

In 2000, three local professional artists, Gretchen Daiber, Cynthia Neely and Gretchen Rohde, joined forces with Environmental Educator and sculptor, Tony Angell, to put on a series of artist for nature events in the Wenatchee River Watershed. Under the aegis of Watershed Art, fifteen internationally recognized nature artists and writers came to Leavenworth in 2001 to chronicle the watershed.

In 2002, Watershed Art organized two month-long shows in Leavenworth and Wenatchee to exhibit the artwork that was inspired or produced during the 2001 events, a total of over 200 pieces. After the shows, the proceeds from artwork sales were used to purchase 22 pieces of art representing each artist and discipline, creating the "Watershed Art Collection." This collection now hangs in its permanent home in the Lorene Young Audubon House at Barn Beach Reserve, 250-12th Street, Leavenworth. Donations in any amount are welcomed for gallery lighting to be installed in time for a Ten Year Anniversary Watershed Art Reunion that will take place in September of 2012.

E. Lorene Young Community Garden Slated to Open Spring 2012

When former Leavenworth Mayor E. Lorene Young passed away in 2007 at the age of 94, she donated her property to the Chelan Douglas Land Trust to be managed for education and stewardship purposes as part of Barn Beach Reserve. A portion of the property is a 50X140'vacant lot at the corner of 12th and Commercial, located in front of her little red house at 250-12th Street. Before she died, she told Jeff Parsons, Barn Beach Reserve's Executive Director, there was one thing she didn't' want the lot to become: a parking lot. It's fitting then that this lot is to be developed as the "E. Lorene Young Community Garden," where people from the community will be able to learn how to garden and raise their own fresh vegetables and fruit.

A Community Garden Committee was formed earlier this year to organize the project and is making great progress toward establishing the Garden by next spring. These volunteers have developed a site plan with 30 beds  Community Garden Site Plan

CITIZEN SCIENCE

Project FeederWatch

Barn Beach Reserve is a Project FeederWatch site for Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We monitor birds that come into a defined space at the Leavenworth Audubon Center (formerly the Lorene Young home)from November to April. If you would like to help us monitor birds, please call Naturalist Gail Roberts at 509.548.7584. For more information about Project FeederWatch, or to set up your own backyard survey site, please visit the website: Project FeederWatch.

Witnessing Change

Barn Beach Reserve is pleased to have been selected as one of 3 sites in central Washington for the Witnessing Change project. This program enables visitors to see landscapes through the eyes of land managers who are working to improve the health of their land. Visitors may visit these sites and follow a trail to photo-points that have been set up, where they can take a photo and upload it to the Witnessing Change website, and then compare the photo to others from years past and through the seasons. A map of our three photo-points is on the kiosk as you enter the parking lot. We invite you to visit our three photo-points and take a photo at each to upload. To learn more about Witnessing Change, please visit their website: Witnessing Change.

NatureMapping

Barn Beach Reserve is a Certified Learning Center of Washington NatureMapping. Find out more about NatureMapping.