Polly Dyer – Seattle • Entered by Penelope Peterson on June 18, 2024
Stewardship Project
April 4, 2024 – April 4, 2024
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | |
| Post Admin hours | |
| Activity Hours | 3 |
| Participants | 1 |
| Total Hours | 3 |
Key Issue: Multiple apply
Activity Type: Stewardship (monitoring, sampling, planting, etc.)
Key Partners: Kate Bradley did this project co-sponsored by Trout Unlimited and Snoqualmie Tribe and Bellevue College
Short Description of Activity
One of our Broads, Kate Bradley undertook a restoration stewardship project and sent the following report to me:
“This morning I participated in a restoration project on the East end of Lake Sammamish, on the bank above Tibbetts Creek, which leads from Lake Sammamish to Issaquah Creek and onto the Issaquah Hatchery, where both Chinook and Coho Salmon are raised. It was the best restoration project I’ve ever participated in. I make this judgment because it is an ongoing project and the trees and red currant shrubs that were planted during the COVID pandemic years have been carefully tended since then. The project originated with Trout Unlimited, who partnered with the Snoqualmie Tribe, who then connected with the Bellevue College Office of Sustainability. I first heard of the opportunity to work on the restoration project while I was listening to KBCS.fm, the radio station that broadcasts from the Bellevue College campus. ” .
Reflection/Evaluation
Kate continues:
“We were advised to come prepared to work in mud. Numerous spades and pairs of gloves were laid out on the grass. Our task was to work with Doug Fir trees about 31/2 feet tall that were each surrounded by a strong wire fence braced by wooden stakes. A laughing worker from Trout Unlimited explained that when the potted trees were first unloaded a few years ago they were immediately attacked by beavers! Most of the volunteers were students who knew each other – I think it was a BC class whose teacher was giving credit for working on an Earth Week Event. I worked alone at the far end of the long rows of trees, pulling out morning glory and digging out Himalayan Blackberry shoots. At first I wished I’d brought a trowel from home but sonn found great satisfaction in digging into the clay soil with the spade and unearthing enormous old roots of blackberry. Most of the blackberry plants were small shoots, giving evidence of previous years’ work The volunteer work ended three hours after it began; Staff members and some stalwart volunteers were carrying wheelbarrows of mulch to pile around the bases of the trees. I noted that I could easily have spent another few hours pulling out morning glory vines from the wet clay soil, and the Trout Unlimited staff member remarked ruefully that the task is never-ending. As I drove home the grey clouds began to dump their hail and rain, and I gave thanks that the downpour had waited until the work was over!”