Salmon Creek is healing slowly, and salmon are returning slowly. “We see a few each year,” said Ashley King, volunteer coordinator for Clark Public Utilities’ StreamTeam. “It’s slow, but our conservation efforts are working.”
That’s a far cry from the stories longtime county residents such as Gene Ritter tell about the fishing there, but it’s a change in the right direction. Ritter watched his father and uncle spear a 50-pound salmon in the creek and carry it home. The main cause for the destruction of Salmon Creek was digging and dredging that occurred for decades at a rock quarry. Healing it may take even more decades.
This is the twenty-fifth year the StreamTeam has been involved in planting native trees in the Salmon Creek and East Fork Lewis watersheds. For the last eighteen of those, the planting occurred as part of an Earth Day Fest in partnership with Clark County Vegetation Management.
A core team of four utility employees and six AmeriCorps volunteers keep the program running. “We couldn’t achieve the kind of community outreach we need without our AmeriCorps volunteers,” King said. “Each year they help us recruit hundreds of volunteers for our events, including our Earth Day planting.”
StreamTeam is part of the utility’s larger community service watershed restoration program that plants 50,000 trees, stabilizes eroding streambanks and installs large woody debris for salmon habitat.
Preparation for the annual event starts in November, King said. Among other activities, volunteers begin preparing for the event by taking cuttings, then pot them and planting bare root plants at the Clark Public Utilities’ nursery at its 117th Street location.
This year the event runs from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with volunteers planting dogwood, willow, fir, pine and ninebark shrubs. Pulling garlic mustard, a noxious weed, is also an alternative King said.
Each volunteer gets a T-shirt and a free lunch. Anyone wishing to volunteer can fill out the form on the utility website under “StreamTeam.”
“The day isn’t all work and no play,” she said. “The fun part of the event is open to the community.” It runs between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. near Klineline Pond and is free for everyone who wants to attend.
The family-oriented event includes games, music by the Recycle Band, and nature demonstrations. This year the Audubon society will show birds of prey.
As part of restoring Salmon Creek watershed, each year more than 1,000 volunteers put in 3,500 hours working on StreamTeam projects. To help bring back habitat for salmon, reduce erosion, and improve water quality, they plant thousands of native trees each year. Volunteers also work with Clark County to survey water quality and wildlife in along the watershed.
They’re not so generous to all plants, however. Volunteers work hard to clear out invasive species by removing Japanese knotweed, Himalayan blackberry, Reed canary grass, garlic mustard, and others.
StreamTeam also sponsors a seven-week Stream Stewards class. Where volunteers learn more about the ecology, hydrology, wetland habitat, wildlife, water quality and stream restoration of the watershed.
Stewards gain a deeper understanding of the crucial interaction of a healthy environment, including what makes a healthy habitat and how societies affect habitat. Within their first year after completing the program, these volunteers need to complete 45 hours of volunteer time through various work with the Stream Team or program partners.
Besides the Steam Stewards program, other StreamTeam partners include the Salmon Creek Watershed Council, Clark County, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Clark Conservation District, NW Wild Fish Rescue, and the Department of Ecology.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98668.
