About Us

Our Committees


The 4-County CWMA has four active committees that work on various aspects of collaborative weed management. We welcome and encourage new members to participate. See below for more information and email info@4countycwma.org if you are interested in joining one of our committees. 


Steering

The Steering Committee is the governing body that provides support, guidance, and oversight to guarantee the steady functioning of the CWMA. Steering Committee members are represented by our stakeholders and are elected into their roles by CWMA signatories. The Steering Committee will convene as needed to administer CWMA tasks and projects, but will meet a minimum of 4 times a year.

Goals and Objectives

  • Ensure smooth operations of the CWMA

  • Seek stable, adequate funds, staff and other resources to carry out CWMA priority tasks and programs

  • Assist committees in carrying out their work to advance CWMA initiatives


Steering Committee Members

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Aaron Shaw
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
2023-2024
Steering Committee Chair / Washington County Representative
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Sam Leininger
Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation District
Ex Officio
Steering Committee Vice Chair / Fiscal Administrator
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Michelle Delepine
West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
2023
Technical and Scientific Review Committee Chair
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Mitch Bixby
City of Portland - Bureau of Environmental Services
2023-2024
At-Large Representative
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Tyler Pedersen
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
2023
Mapping and Data Committee Chair
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Andrew Felton
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
2023-2024
Education and Outreach Committee Chair
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Justin Collell
Clark County Noxious Weed Control Board
2022-2023
Clark County Representative
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Chris Aldassy
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
2023-2024
Multnomah County Representative
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Adrienne St Clair
Metro
2022-2023
Clackamas County Representative
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Courtney Gattuso
Western Invasives Network
Ex Officio
WIN Coordinator

Outreach & Education

The Education and Outreach Committee coordinates outreach efforts among weeds
practitioners from all four counties, co-creates outreach materials, and provides a space for sharing outreach techniques and learning from one other.

Goals and Objectives

  • Facilitates information sharing outside the CWMA, with respect to new findings about priority, location or treatment of invasive species

  • Creates online and print materials

  • Establishes and staffs public outreach events

  • Supports Coordinator in creating agenda/content for event

Projects

  • Planning and execution of the annual Pull Together symposium

  • Coordination of annual Field Day event

  • Facilitation of outreach booth at the Portland Spring Home & Garden Show

  • Curation of CWMA Urban Weed Fact Sheets

  • Management and design of CWMA website, trifold display, feather flag, etc.

We meet 4-5 times per year and maintain an email list to coordinate our activities. The email list has a message archive available for review should you desire to get up to speed on our activities.

We welcome you to join our efforts!

Request to Join

If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out to our Education & Outreach Committee Chair:

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Andrew Felton
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
2023-2024
Education and Outreach Committee Chair
Email Andrew Felton

Mapping & Data

The Mapping & Data (M&D) Committee puts YOUR invasive plant inventory, survey, and treatment data to work! Our ultimate goal is to help reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of invasive species management in our 4-County region through coordinated prioritization, analyses, implementation, and communication.

Mapping and data goes way beyond plotting weed infestation points on paper… it’s an important step for understanding the biology and impacts of invasive species in a deeper, richer way. We envision a data stewardship network made up of CWMA committees, partners, and other stakeholders, working together to provide increased access to invasive species data and maps relevant to your EDRR work.

We share information about new technologies and evolving trends in invasive species data while also promoting data standardization and the use of reliable online/mobile data collection platforms and e-mail reporting systems, such as iMapInvasives Oregon (if you’re new to this platform, we highly recommend these training videos). 

We have defined goals and objectives focused on:

  • Information and resource sharing

  • Improving data platform(s)

  • Increasing data contributions

  • Promoting data quality

  • Improving data access and usage

We are always encouraging partner collaboration, feedback, and idea sharing!  We are actively working on the following projects:

  • Priority Weed Coordination (data review, map creation, and management coordination)

  • Call-for-Data Weed Species (annual project)

  • Maintenance and updates to CWMA Weed List

  • Promoting and refining our Data Standards

  • Supporting iMapInvasives Oregon and cross-state and -county data integration

  • Hosting information sharing forums for field data exchange and management (check out 2020 Mapping & Data “Poll Together” Survey Results)

We meet 4-5 times per year and maintain an email list to coordinate our activities. The email list has a message archive available for review should you desire to get up to speed on our activities.

Please join us!

Request to Join

If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please feel free to reach out to our Mapping & Data Committee Chairs:

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Tyler Pedersen
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
2023
Mapping and Data Committee Chair
Email Tyler Pedersen
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Eli Staggs
Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District
2023
Mapping and Data Committee Chair
Email Eli Staggs

Technical & Scientific Review

The Technical and Scientific Review Committee continues to watch for new invasive species, discuss management concerns, and provide a variety of technical insights from across the Portland region. We also develop informational resources to assist land management professionals and cooperators in using the most effective, efficient, and least harmful management strategies.

Goals and Objectives

  • Develops, reviews and updates CWMA invasive species lists

  • Provides best management practice information

  • Researches, discusses, and informs members of emerging scientific issues

  • Advises planning committees on event planning topics and speakers

Projects

  • Curation of the CWMA’s Plant List, a compilation of targeted plant species from around the Portland Metro area (A searchable list is also available for download)

  • Creation of the Catalog of Weed Lists database

  • Review and update of Metro’s Integrated Weed Maintenance Calendar

  • Content development for CWMA Best Management Practice information sheets

We meet 4-5 times per year and maintain an email list to coordinate our activities. The email list has a message archive available for review should you desire to get up to speed on our activities.

We welcome you to join our efforts!

Request to Join

If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out to our Technical & Scientific Review Committee Chair:

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Michelle Delepine
West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
2023
Technical and Scientific Review Committee Chair
Email Michelle Delepine