The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership 12th Annual Dinner & Art Gala

Portland, November 5th. The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership held its 12th Annual Dinner & Art Gala at the Portland Art Museum.  Chris Hathaway, Deputy Director of the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership, Reed Waite, Board Member, and Tina Waite were among those who enjoyed the evening. Three hundred guests attended the fundraiser to help raise funds for the Estuary Partnership’s Outdoor Education Programs. (Photo Credit, Andie Petkus)

Guests were busy bidding on  art contributed by local artists during the Art Scramble reception. Proceeds from the event help the Estuary Partnership engage students, teachers, and citizen volunteers from Oregon and Washington through its Outdoor Education Programs.

The Estuary Partnership brings classroom lessons, field programs, service learning and experiences in its big canoes to over 16,000 students in 32 school districts from Astoria to Washougal each year.

The Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership restores habitat, over 50% of which has been lost, improves water quality to reduce pollution and gives students outdoor learning experiences on the lower Columbia.  It supports and augments local efforts within a regional science-based framework focusing on the entire ecosystem.  Its priority is on-the-ground results.  The Estuary Partnership was established in 1995 by the Governors of Washington and Oregon and the US EPA to create a regional entity to coordinate multiple efforts, advance science and to get improvements in the lower Columbia River and estuary.  The Partnership works from Bonneville Dam to the Pacific Ocean.