One Truckee River Fall Events Recap
Spending time with community along the Truckee River is one of our favorite ways to protect it. Thank you to everyone who made it out this fall for our volunteer days and educational walks! Together, we’ve been planting trees, learning about native plants, and identifying local wildlife.
This season, One Truckee River hosted 5 community events – and have already begun planning an even bigger event series for the warmer months ahead in 2026. (Plus, a special winter Bird & Wildlife Walk on January 10th!)
If you haven’t joined us for an in-person event just yet – we hope to meet you (or reconnect with you) in the months to come. Keep an eye on our events page for the latest details.
How did our fall events go?
Here’s a sum-up how we gathered together this season:
November 8th, Tree Planting Saturdays in John Champion Memorial Park
On a beautiful Saturday morning in John Champion Park, 44 volunteers joined us in planting trees and other native plants along the Truckee River, spreading mulch, and picking up trash. A large group from University of Nevada New Student Initiatives leant their many hands to our efforts.
Wondering what we planted? Native trees like American Plum, Mountain Mahogany, Ponderosa Pine, Blue Elderberry and Red Fir do well in our local parks. We also added other native plants, included Golden Currant, Hairy Arnica, Desert Globemallow, and Western Colombine.
October 25th, Bird & Wildlife Walk in Fisherman’s Park
Led by our guide, Lauren Whitenack from Lahontan Audubon Society, we spotted and identified a huge flock of 200+ Cedar Waxwings flying between junipers and cottonwoods on the river, an American Kestrel, a Belted Kingfisher, a Red Tail Hawk, a Killdeer, Mountain Chickadees and more. Lauren taught us how the Truckee River is essential habitat for all of these species - and why a healthy environment benefiting human and wildlife communities alike.
October 25th, Day of Service in Lake Park
Alongside our partners from the City of Reno, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, and Friends of Lake Park, we hosted a full day of service in Northwest Reno’s Lake Park. While Lake Park isn’t right on the Truckee River, it seasonally drains into it. It’s also home to the River-Friendly Living Demonstration Garden, which teaches greener yard care and landscaping practices to support our river and its water quality.
Our Day of Service was divided into two shifts. In the morning, our volunteer crew mulched the River-Friendly Living Demonstration Garden and installed a new park bench. In the afternoon, we planted trees throughout the park. The wide variety of native trees we planted aren’t just beautifying Lake Park: they’re helping the city test which species do best in our Northern Nevada growing environment.
October 11th, Tree Planting Saturdays in John Champion Memorial Park
Volunteers worked alongside the One Truckee River Workforce Program crew and supported their restoration work by spending a morning planting native trees along the Truckee River. Their planting efforts helped replace problematic invasive species like Tree of Heaven while creating healthy habitats for local wildlife and shade for our Northern Nevada community.
September 25th, Native Plants Walk in John Champion Memorial Park
Participants got to know our Northern Nevada native plants by joining OTR and Trash Panda Permaculture for a stroll along the Truckee River. Beginning at John Champion Memorial Park, local ecologist and homesteader Chris Mackessy guided the group in finding and identifying native plants - as well as learning about their significant cultural, medical, and edible uses. The group also learned how to respectfully and sustainably harvest and process a variety of plants, such as Wood’s Rose and coyote willow.