View our latest posts: From the Field

Vegetation Will Be Monitored

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If 2020 were a normal year, we would have a team of interns and volunteers heading out amongst the conifers and shrubs to monitor the plants at our restoration sites. However, this year is anything but “normal”, so to make up for that, our team of Washington Service Corps members have begun monitoring instead!

Washington Service Corps members monitoring at Riverfront Park in Sedro-Woolley

Two sites were accomplished during their first week, Riverfront Park in Sedro-Woolley and Skagit Land Trust’s site Utopia. Everyone wears a mask at all times, and social distancing protocols are adhered to.

WSC Members monitoring at Utopia

The plants are checked for species, height, mortality rating, and anything else of note, including insect damage and whether they have protectors. We miss our volunteers but SFEG is still getting important work done!

One of the plots at Utopia

Sunny Day Stewardship

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On a recent cool sunny day, SFEG staff visited a few Seattle City Light-owned properties upriver.  Hydroelectric dams, of which Seattle City Light (SCL) has three on the Skagit River,  impact salmon and to compensate for (or offset) this SCL buys lands and puts them into a conservation trust.

Bengt Miller, Stewardship Coordinator, along the Skagit River at the Illabot Creek property

SFEG stewards about 2,500 acres for SCL. These lands are managed for multiple use by wildlife and humans, though regular check-ins are required to ensure plants are growing and human use is light and as intended.

Some of the new trees planted at Illabot Creek

At the sites known as Illabot and Carefree Acres, staff assessed the growth of newly planted native species, planted a few additional plants, and documented some new and existing human impacts. 

A dilapidated outhouse at Carefree Acres hints its former homesite days

Along the way we scared up a ruffed grouse, and saw ample evidence of deer and elk using both properties.  Songbird houses have been installed too, since habitat restoration is about WAY MORE than just salmon!

Birdhouses made by volunteer Jack Middleton and decorated by local youth provide nesting habitat for a variety of birds at Carefree Acres

Making a Difference, One Plant at a Time.

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Written by WCC crew member Emillie Shistle

 

WCC crew member Mio Mitchell

Seeing the impact six people with brush cutters can have on a piece of land is fantastic. Seeing the impact an enhancement group can have on the ecosystem is even more thrilling. When the Washington Conservation Corps crew showed up at the site in Hamilton, it was somewhat overwhelming. Tall grass was hiding the trees that were planted by an earlier crew, and the rest of the field was a monoculture of grass.  Our crew spent a good amount of time whacking the grass down, being careful to mind the trees and plants doing their best to grow. Once we whacked all the grass down we spent some time staking out where the next set of trees and shrubs will be planted. All the stakes needed to be spaced 8’x8’ in order to give them adequate room to grow into mature plants, as well as giving enough room to mow down the grass that is bound to grow back.

WCC Assistant Supervisor Nathan White

Once the trees get taller they will shade out the grass and it will mature into a beautiful, abundant, and native forest, no longer requiring much maintenance. Skagit Fisheries volunteer planting parties, along with our Washington Conservation Corps crew, are going to get 3,500 plants into the ground at this specific site in Hamilton. Volunteers at this site will also be building a trail, putting in a picnic table, and putting in informational signs. These plants will provide habitat for native animals and insects, as well as providing a buffer for the slough that is connected to the Skagit River. This will naturally filter out things we don’t want in our watershed. The plants will aid in water quality and provide more shade for the slough, lowering its temperature to a happy level for salmon. People, plants, and our overall ecosystem will benefit from the hard work we are putting in at the site in Hamilton.

In the short term, turning a grass field into a field of tiny, baby trees might not seem like it’s going to have much of an impact. However, helping the natural cycles break through the suffocating grass and reform a native forest is going to be an impact felt for many decades into our future. It will be a visible and tangible impact for current and future generations. That is the reason we do what we do.

WCC crew member Natalie Cumiford