The Mayfly Festival is an event sponsored by the Coos Watershed Association and other local partners designed to shed light on connections between community, the environment, and water. This festival draws together two of our brightest hopes for the future – local youth and the incredible watershed in which we live. It's an activity based event with local students and volunteers leading the way and sharing their own watershed expertise with the public through interactive displays, games, and art. The mayfly was chosen as the central symbol of this festival due to its underappreciated but highly valuable place in the food chain. Once they reach maturity, mayflies only live for a few hours! However, throughout their whole life cycle, mayflies are a food source for hundreds of other types of animals. They also signal healthy water quality (bioindicators) and remind us how fragile our aquatic ecosystems are--and what we can all be doing each day to protect them.
Through hands-on science and stewardship activities at the Coos Watershed Mayfly Festival, we aim to educate our community about watershed wonders and threats while fostering leadership skills in Coos Bay youth.
Background
For over 25 years the Coos Watershed Association has worked to help landowners and policy-makers determine how to best manage and restore natural resources in the Coos watershed. This effort involves monitoring, on-the-ground restoration projects, and, of course, education. Although our education and outreach have taken many forms since our organization's beginning, for the past 10 years we have engaged in programs focused around getting students out in the watershed to experience science, leadership, and civic engagement through hands-on activities. Our programs have reached hundreds of Coos Bay students, some of whom have even gone on to pursue careers in natural resources.
The idea for the Mayfly Festival was developed over multiple conversations about how we could best connect these past and present students and convey the importance of their collective impact on Coos Bay and beyond. With the help of friends and community leaders, the Mayfly Festival emerged. The festival is important to us because of how it will highlight the present, but also because of how it will help us take the next steps in responsible resource management. Through us, students are connected to hands-on science and non-traditional educational opportunities. Through them, we are connected to the future.