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Remembering our Last Field Trip from March Last Year

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It’s hard to believe, that it has been exactly one year since the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group’s last field trip with students. I remember this field trip well as it was with 8th grade Junior Stream Steward students from Edison School. We took them on a stewardship field trip to SFEG’s Native Plant Nursery. This field trip was memorable, as my son just happen to be one of the students on this field trip. It was a great field trip for me to be on, as I knew most of the students from outside of the Junior Stream Stewards world. My son has attended Edison School since Kindergarten, and this field trip involved all the 8th graders at Edison, many of which he had been in school with since Kindergarten. It was fun to be on a field trip and be on a first name basis with so many of the students.

It was a beautiful day, and the students were having a wonderful field trip to our Native Plant Nursery potting up new seedlings for future habitat restoration projects. Students were applying what they learned in the classroom, they were giving back to the greater habitat restoration effort in the Skagit Valley, they were working hard, they were working together, and they were having FUN! Students were crowded around potting tables (something that two days later would be unheard of!) getting their hands dirty learning about the native species they were potting.

Once a collection of potted plants started to accumulate, the students quickly learned that creating a human “conga line” to pass the plants was the best way to get the new plants into the nursery beds. Students passed each plant down the line “inspecting” it to make sure it was planted properly with enough soil and calling loudly out “good” as it passed down the line of students. If a seedling wasn’t planted satisfactorily, the student conga line rejected the pot sending it back up the line to a waiting “ambulance” (AKA wheelbarrow) where the plants needing more care were transported back to the potting benches for emergency treatment, before being placed into the nursery beds. It was wonderful to see them all working as a team to make hard work easy and fun.

The 8th graders were very efficient in their planting of hundreds of seedlings, so many students started weeding some of the older plants that were already in the nursery beds. Again, being 13-year-olds, they quickly turned this mundane activity into fun by turning on some tunes from someone’s phone, and singing and dancing as they weeded the native plant beds. 

When they were all said and done, we gathered all the students together to talk about the field trip and how it connected back to what they are learned in Junior Stream Stewards. In addition to the learning experience, they talked about what a fun field trip it was. I believe this was because it was all 8th graders from the entire school working together to make good work happen in our community.

We gathered them together for a photo…all 40 of them. And again, they had fun trying to capture of photo of them jumping and suspended in mid-air. Who knew at that time, that it would be their last photo together as Edison School students, likely the last time they were all together in one place. The next day, all schools were closed, Friday March 13th. Yep…Friday the 13th was the last day that these students attended school. That group photo from their Junior Stream Stewards field trip was used as their “class photo” for 8th grade and shared for their 8th grade “moving up” ceremony at the end of year. Because as you all know, there were no end of the school year celebrations last year. These 8th graders, now freshman in high school, have yet to return to school. They have yet to set foot at Burlington-Edison High School. We hope it happens soon. And Skagit Fisheries hopes to return to offering these fun and educational field trips to local school students again. While we don’t anticipate this happening soon, our staff and volunteers are looking forward to the day when we can interact with live students again, learn their names, and engage them in hands on activities in the field. While our staff is doing an amazing job creating interactive “virtual” lessons, like our school teachers we can’t wait to see students again in person!



 

Stewardship Partnership by Bengt Miller, SFEG Stewardship Coordinator | Project 5 of 30

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Bengt during a June 2020 stewardship visit to Gilligan Creek.

On a recent visit through the Skagit watershed, the weather was crisply cold after a snow event. The further upriver we went the deeper the snow was. This was a blessing in disguise.  We were getting out into the field to steward a couple of conservation properties owned by Seattle City Light (SCL).  Stewardship visits involve visiting these conservation properties and making sure everything is above board. Usually, the visits are a snapshot in time of goings-on at the site. The frozen ground provided the opportunity for a longer snapshot since comings and goings were solidified in the snow.  On this particular day, no nefarious activities were encountered and we saw evidence of coyotes, deer, elk, and various winter resident birds.

Because the land is owned by the City of Seattle, through SCL, it is public and visitors are welcome. Given the conservation designation on the properties only passive activities are permitted, such as bird watching, hiking, photography, picnicking, etc. If you choose to visit a property be aware that hunting and fishing are allowed within designated seasons with the requisite licenses. I recommend wearing an orange vest, regardless of the season.

Unnamed stream flowing through the Granstrom property

 

If you are familiar with the Skagit watershed you know that it contains 5 electricity-generating dams. The two on the Baker River are owned by Puget Sound Energy. The three dams upstream from Newhalem are owned by Seattle City Light and provide electricity to Seattle. Since the SCL dams have an impact on salmon populations within the Skagit River SCL compensates for this by purchasing lands with good habitat value and giving them a conservation designation.  I intentionally didn’t say ‘mitigates’ because that implies a legal requirement. The properties SFEG stewards for SCL are managed by the ESA Lands Program. This is a voluntary program within SCL. There is also the Wildlife and Mitigation Lands program, which SCL is required to operate as part of their Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license.

The partnership between Skagit Fisheries and SCL began in 2010. Since that time SCL has continued to acquire parcels and SFEG has conducted restoration activities on the ones that require it. If you have attended a volunteer planting party with SFEG it’s likely you have planted trees on a SCL conservation property.  If you recognize the names Anderson Creek, Iron Mountain Ranch or Granstrom you are a truly dedicated volunteer. To date SFEG has installed about 90,000 native plants on 265 acres owned by SCL.  Funding for this has come from SCL, Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Washington Department of Ecology.

SCL properties are managed for multiple use, like this one along the Skagit River that combines grazing and wildlife use.

One thing that makes the SCL ESA Lands program unique is the multi-use nature of some of the properties. Traditionally ‘mitigation’ lands are designated for wildlife and all other use is prohibited. In developing the ESA Lands Program SCL wanted to be conscientious stewards of the land as well as continue to promote local use of land. The solution to this was allowing multi-use opportunities on properties where it was feasible. The Skagit Valley has a long and proud agricultural tradition. There are a number of SCL owned properties where conservation and agriculture co-exist. These properties are prime examples of cooperative multi-use.

In the 10 years that SFEG has been stewarding some SCL properties, we have seen dramatic changes from acres of land lost to bank erosion to the early stages of forest establishment. One thing that excites me the most is when I notice a native plant on site that was not planted. This generally happens at about year seven or eight, when planted trees become large enough to be self-sustaining and exert influence in their local environment. This natural recruitment is something that happens constantly in mature forests and seeing the first stages on a restoration site gladdens the heart. It is felt even more strongly when I know that it is happening under trees that I have planted. If you want to experience something similar attend a SFEG planting event and then visit the site periodically over the coming years and observe changes. I look forward to many more of these experiences over the next 30 years.

michael kirshenbaum

Meet Michael Kirshenbaum | Conservation Director

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Michael Kirshenbaum, the Conservation Director of Skagit Land Trust, tells us about his work with SLT, the Cumberland Creek Land Trust property, why he loves salmon, and the importance of protecting lands for habitat preservation and recreation.