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Learn how you can help pollinators this spring and get acquainted with native bees in this two part presentation with Basey Klopp of the Bend Pollinator Pathway and Toni Stephan, Horticulture and Small Farms Instructor at the OSU Deschutes County Extension Office.

Get an overview of the Bend Pollinator Pathway, a new project launching this spring in our community. Pollinator populations around the world are in precipitous decline. That is the bad news. The good news is that we know exactly what we need to do to help them. We need to plant food and shelter that pollinators can use to replace some of what has been lost by development and loss of habitat. We also need to connect that habitat so that the vast majority of pollinators can move through our landscapes and find what they need to thrive.

There are well over 500 species of bees in Oregon and the high desert is home to many of them. Learn about and see photos of a few of the native bees in our local area. Short, home videos will be included to show the bees at work. A short list of native plants will be included with the bees to help the viewer identify what plants may be of importance to our native bees.

Basey Klopp is the founding member of the all-volunteer group that comprises the Bend Pollinator Pathway. She has been planting Central Oregon native plants for pollinators since she arrived in Bend in 2008. When she ran out of space in her home garden, she started looking for funding to plant for pollinators around the community. In 2014, she received a grant to install a public native pollinator garden, partnering with the city of Bend. She has continued to grow pollinator habitat around town, connecting with schools and various community organizations, sharing native plants whenever possible.

The Bend Pollinator Pathway is the first native pollinator habitat connectivity project in our region. Based on a successful program in the Northeastern United States, the plan is to grow to include all communities throughout Central Oregon and beyond.

Toni Stephan, Horticulture and Small Farms Instructor, Oregon State University, Deschutes County Extension Service. Toni has worked for Extension from 2000-2005 and again from 2012 to present. Her primary role is to assist in the Master Gardener Program but she has a small role with pollinators as part of the Oregon Bee Atlas - part of the Oregon Bee Project. In this project we have been collecting and curating bees throughout the state to build a more accurate record of the native bees within the state.

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