Overlooking Ohop Valley

Day 53: If you park at the Nisqually State Park trailhead and start to walk toward the river, you'll see another path shearing off to the right in about a hundred feet. If you follow it, you will come to property owned by the Nisqually Land Trust in about a mile. I participated in a frosty-cold winter planting there three or four years ago, and had not been back until today. I was dismayed to find that not a single one of our saplings had survived. I hadn't expected a high survival rate, not in the rocky, thin soil clinging to a previously clearcut hillside, but neither had I thought to find 100 % failure. It was a sorry testament to the long-lasting havoc logging operations can inflict. Having shed a few tears for the mother of us all, I returned to the main trail and explored it somewhat further before returning home, stepping over blackberry vines and brushing aside Scotch broom in what may develop into a jungle of invasives if not checked.

Yelm Shoreline Planting

Day 16: After roughly eight months of being on the injured list with a hip issue, I finally felt sufficiently recovered to join one of the Nisqually Land Trust's work parties. Oh, it felt good to be back on the end of a shovel again! We couldn't have asked for better soil in which to plant: friable, rockless, eminently easy to dig once you got through the sod of canary grass. Therein lies the problem. Canary grass is an invasive which takes hold in open areas and quickly proliferates. The best way to eliminate it is to shade it out. Admittedly, this solution takes years, but it is the most effective for the long term.

Forty-three volunteers (about half of them Cub Scouts) put 150 Douglas firs and shore pines in the ground in three hours. A few of us (the diehard core membership) stayed behind to install protective sleeves around each seedling. The white plastic tubes will prevent rodent damage, one of the major reasons for die-off among newly planted trees. They will be removed two or three years from now after the trees are fully established.

Planting Season

Day 55: The last several Nisqually Land Trust events have seen me absent from the ranks of scotch-broom pullers and tree-planters through the unfortunate circumstance of an irritated nerve in my right leg. On my doctor's advice, I have been wrapping it in a pressure bandage which after a few days seems to relieve the pain, but a day or two out of it, and I'm right back to square one. Consequently, he's taken me off shovel detail on the premise that over-shovelling was probably how I got into this predicament. After all, I did dig up most of my yard last spring, and I'm not as young as I used to be. That said, it has upset me that I haven't been able to participate in work parties at my former level, so Charly (pictured here) suggested that I could do duty as official photographer. Thus I could be found on this 25° morning atop Ohop Bluff with five other stalwart souls, having lugged a pair of shovels down a mile of trail while the stronger members of the planting team carted planters' packs filled with bare-root Doug fir seedlings. While they put 100 of them in the ground, I took pictures and ran around sticking pink flags beside each one to mark them for the later addition of protective plastic sleeves. I am grateful to Charly for having found a small job I could do in addition to my photographic work.

Planting Crew

Day 19: If each of us planted as few as twenty trees today (and I know I planted at least two dozen), Ohop Valley is richer by no less than 600 young saplings representing 8-10 different species of wetland-loving plants destined to provide future habitat for critters of all sorts. This was one of several planting events which will be held on the former Burwash property, and is just a single facet of a multi-tiered restoration program which also includes reestablishment of the creek's natural meander. Portions of the creek have already been reditched, adding a mile or more of shoreline, improving drainage and controlling erosion with engineered log jams.

Thirty volunteers turned out for the Nisqually Land Trust's annual Hallowe'en event, some in costume and others not, but all willing to get down and dirty in the mud for the occasion. Many were returnees back for a second, third or fourth year on this long-term project. They came prepared for any weather, with smiles on their faces and shovels in their gloved hands. For three hours, they dug holes and filled them with plants, lovingly packing the soil around the roots and often giving a final word of encouragement to their charges as they moved on to the next in line: "Grow up tall, little snowberry!" and conversations flew all around as they laughed and shared their experiences.

As always, it was a delight to work with such a dedicated crew. Thank you all for your work today.