Posted inOutside Features

Spring Birding Takes Flight in Redmond

Spring migrations and the city wastewater project transform Central Oregon into one of the regionโ€™s liveliest birdwatching stages for local birders

Spring has arrived in Central Oregon and with it comes one of the regionโ€™s most vibrant natural spectacles: bird migration. From waterfowl and shorebirds to raptors and songbirds, the Redmond area becomes a seasonal haven for both birds and birders. May and June, in particular, offer near-constant activity as species move along the Pacific Flyway. […]

Posted inOutside Features

Flag Football Offers Sports Pathway for Young Women Across Central Oregon

Six Central Oregon high schools are fielding flag football teams, while a local soccer club is offering programs for elementary-age players

Itโ€™s a perfect night for football. The air is crisp and cool as the sun sets and the lights come on at Mountain View High Schoolโ€™s varsity football field. Thereโ€™s a cross-town rivalry being battled out as the Cougars face off against the Summit High School Storm. However, this isnโ€™t your typical football game. There […]

Posted inOutside

The Summer Season Kicks Off with Big Acts & Baseball

May launches a busy season of festivities

Concerts & comedians take the stage The first show of the season kicks off at Hayden Homes Amphitheater on Saturday, May 16, with comedian John Mulaney and special guests Fred Armisen and Mike Birbiglia. So far, nearly 50 different headliners are scheduled into October, some of them performing multiple nights. Six of the performers are […]

Posted inNatural World

What We Risk Losing

The McDermitt Caldera offers ecological refuge for an extraordinary range of life

To witness the McDermitt Caldera is to be moved. Supported by the east-flowing McDermitt Creek, sloping hills of sagebrush cradle native wildflowers and bunchgrasses. In spring, paintbrush awakens in crimson bursts alongside winks of purple lava aster. Bitterroot emerges, first in succulent leaves, then in white flowers nestled close to the ground. In blooms of […]

Posted inOutside

The Green Team is a Leader in Sustainability

Manager Justin Alvarado and his team hustle to shrink the amphitheater and Old Millโ€™s waste footprint

The morning after every concert at Hayden Homes Amphitheater, employees known as the Green Team, show up to sort through the trash. They dump each bag into a plastic kiddie pool, pull on rubber gloves and meticulously pick out recyclable and compostable materials achieving a 93.5% landfill diversion rate. That accomplishment involves a multi-prong effort […]

Posted inOutside Features

Local Splitboarder was Passionate About Snow and the Environment

Stratton Matteson died in an avalanche in February, but his legacy of adventuring while also protecting the earth lives on

Stratton Matteson loved snow. As a child, heโ€™d zip around his familyโ€™s Vermont neighborhood, on his bike, in the snow. He built miniature ski areas in his backyard complete with chairlifts, lodges and little Lego characters schussing his makeshift runs. Flash forward several years and you might have spotted him climbing Bendโ€™s Century Drive, on […]

Posted inOutside Features

Know Your Home Waters

Upcoming lecture series to focus on Deschutes Watershed

In their book, โ€œOn the Loose,โ€ Terry and Renny Russell write, โ€œOne of the best-paying professions is getting ahold of pieces of country in your mind, learning their smell and their moods, sorting out the pieces of a view, deciding what grows there and there and why, how many steps that hill will take, where […]

Posted inOutside Features

The Butterfly Effect

Bend into Balance: Interviews with Petit Pinson, yoga instructor at Namaspa, and Kipp Wesslen, adaptive athlete and instructor with OAS

After listening attentively to the first episode with Cornelius Edison, my 10-year-old daughter said to me, โ€œMama, you forgot to say your name!โ€ Even though it was her first time ever listening to a podcast, she was completely right. I had forgotten to present myself. I humbly nodded and she immediately asked me, โ€œBut, why?โ€ […]

Posted inOutside

Create a Fire-Resistant Yard to Protect Your Home

Your yard could be the last line of defense in saving your home during a wildfire

The City of Bend is considering updating codes to require defensible space buffer zones around homes. The idea is to remove fuel sources near structures which can stop flames from advancing. There are three different zones around a home to consider when creating a defensible space: immediate, intermediate and extended. The National Fire Protection Association […]

Posted inOutside Features

Petersen Rock Garden Receives Some TLC

The museum will reopen April 4 after getting a much-needed makeover

The passion Rasmus Petersen felt as he began creating the Petersen Rock Garden in 1935 remains alive to this day in both the caretakers of the property and the visitors who flood the grounds daily. Petersen lovingly built the ornate rock sculptures over four acres on his rural property between Bend and Redmond, first sourcing […]

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