Refuge "behind the gates" tour & stay

WINNER: JANET LAMBERSON

This raffle is for one overnight stay for you and up to 3 of your friends in the historic P-Ranch guest house, on Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and a 5 hour “behind the gates” tour of the Refuge. The tour will be led by Portland Audubon’s Eastern Oregon Field Coordinator, Teresa ‘Bird’ Wicks, ornithologist, wildlife and nature enthusiast, and lover of sagebrush and juniper scented hillsides. On this tour you’ll get to hear about the collaborative wetland conservation and Malheur Lake restoration work being conducted on the Refuge and in the Harney Basin. All proceeds from this raffle will go toward restoration and visitor experience improvements at Benson Pond, a birding hotspot and birder favorite on Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. These efforts include a reed canary grass control study, experimenting with using water birch to create riparian habitat that will shade out reed canary grass, invasive weed species removal efforts, and an ADA accessible trail.

The guest house at P-Ranch is a 3 bedroom, fully furnished house. As part of this tour package, you will be greeted with a welcome basket of Benson Pond Blond beer from Steens Mountain Brewing, coffee from Elevation 4148 (a roaster from Burns, OR), and your own Silipint cups for enjoying your local coffee and beer.

TOUR DATE: May 18, 2019

OVERNIGHT STAY: One night at P-Ranch on either Friday, May 17th or Saturday, May 18th

TICKETS: 1 for $20, 3 for $50, an arm's length for $200

***Can be purchased on this site, at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce prior to festival weekend (April 11-14, 2019), or at Bird Central in the Burns High School Gymnasium during festival weekend.

exploring malheur lake via airboat tour

WINNER: karen jacobs

Experience Malheur Lake with a safe, exciting and educational airboat ride! View wildlife on the Refuge’s 4-passenger airboat and learn about the important groundwork of the Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative (HBWI) with Ecological Coordinator Benjamin Cate to protect the most important wetland habitat for migratory birds in the Pacific Flyway.

HBWI partners have identified invasive common carp as an issue that is currently threatening migratory birds and are focused on achieving healthy aquatic systems by adaptively managing carp. Ben will provide a rich opportunity to view birds and educational experience to learn the next level of carp management with new exciting studies.

Proceeds will support needed groundwork to help the HBWI partners and biologists to achieve a healthy aquatic system for migratory birds.

TOUR DATE: Late spring (TBD)

TRIP LENGTH: 2 – 3 hours

TICKETS: 1 for $20, 3 for $50, an arm's length for $200

***Can be purchased on this site, at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce prior to festival weekend (April 11-14, 2019), or at Bird Central in the Burns High School Gymnasium festival weekend.