A Cease-Fire in the Blackberry Wars

October 14, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

by Charly Kearns | October 2016

I will try not to get too deep into military analogies, but as those of you who have spent any time controlling Himalayan blackberry can attest, it often feels like a battle. This is one of our most fierce invaders, not submitting quietly to control. Rather, this plant fights back.

We tend to spend a lot of time controlling blackberry in the summer and early fall. It is too dry to plant trees, ivy control is best saved for winter when the native understory plants are dormant, and spring is the perfect time to pull Scotch broom before it blooms. For our regular weekly volunteers, they understand that summer is filled with scratched arms and tiny thorns stuck in their hands. It is really a wonder that anyone volunteers to help with such a task. We salute everyone who is willing to help!

I actually really enjoy the struggle of blackberry control. The outcome is never known – some days we win, and others we lose. This plant is truly a worthy opponent! And there is a certain satisfaction that can only come from getting into the thick of it and emerging victoriously.

This year, our all-star volunteers have helped us to clear blackberry from 13.5 acres of Land Trust property! In many cases, we’ve removed these invaders from sites where restoration plantings were getting overwhelmed. We’ve freed young plants from the constricting canes and they are able to see the sun again.

Of course, the job is not done, and the blackberry will be back, but so will we! Over time, as our native trees begin to mature and the canopy closes in, the blackberry will die from lack of sunlight. Our native shrubs and shade tolerant species will have a chance to thrive.

This is the long term perspective, but it is one that gives me a great deal of hope. I know that there is an endgame, and that we can win.

For now though, as fall makes itself abundantly present, we will hang up our loppers for a sort respite. We’ll call a truce, and allow our wounds to heal. But we’ll be back at it next summer. Come join us!

Sometimes You Have to Poke the Bear

August 30, 2016October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

Candi Tobin, Philanthropy Coordinator

by Candi Tobin | August 2016

Administrative Assistant, Land Steward, Philanthropy Coordinator – I’ve worn many hats at the Land Trust. This story is from my days as a Land Steward in the spring of 2013. I was doing what I thought was a routine monitoring visit at the Wilcox Flats Protected Area when I was reminded that the properties that we protect and restore can be wild and unpredictable places.

As I was skirting the river to check for invasive plants, a large, narrow hole came into view about 15 feet inland from the river. This hole was directly in the path that I was taking along the river and after considering my options I decided to leap over it to avoid thick shrubs on one side and the undercut bank along the river. I was mid-leap across the opening when I was startled by movement below and I suddenly started to think about the wildlife that might be using this hole as a burrow. By the time I landed on the far side of the hole, I was convinced—to my horror—that there was a flesh-and-blood, teeth-and-claws black bear asleep beneath me!

The shoreline has a fair amount of large woody debris at this stretch of the river.

As soon as my feet hit the ground I flew, stumbling, through the woods, not stopping until I was some 50 feet away. By some stroke of luck the bear was still asleep. I couldn’t see the bear itself, but the steady rise and fall of the clumped vegetation that covered it told me it was there alright. I stood there for awhile gawking at the rhythmic rise and fall of the bear’s breathing and waiting for my heart to slow down.

I don’t know if it was courage or stupidity – more of the latter, I suppose – but whatever I had I mustered it and after several long minutes decided that I needed to see the bear for myself. I picked up a very short, rounded stick and chucked it toward the hole because in life, sometimes you just have to poke the bear.

Beaver activity at the Tatrimima property is hard to miss!

Beaver activity along the Nisqually River is hard to miss!

I braced myself to flee for my life through the woods or jump into the cold river to escape an angry, groggy bear, but my little piece of raining debris hadn’t fazed it. I crept closer to the burrow, adrenaline pumping, to get a better look. The bear didn’t stir; it’s breathing wavered only slightly as I approached. Finally, hovering on the edge of the den, I peered in… and it dawned on me that what I had spent the last twenty minutes panicking over wasn’t a bear.

It was the remnants of one of the massive cottonwood trees that pepper the shoreline! There is significant beaver activity on the property and the tree had been wrenched from the earth by the river and was wedged beneath the undercut bank. The “breathing” that had scared a solid five years off the end of my life was a gently rocking subterranean log; the protruding end of which was my “sleeping black bear”. Well played, Nature. Well played!

This property encompasses a beautiful riparian forest along the Nisqually River on the outskirts of Yelm – you should join us for a Nature Walk there sometime.

Wildlife at Mount Rainier Gateway Protected Area

July 27, 2016October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

by Charly Kearns | July 2016

Charly Kearns, Land Steward

Many people are surprised to hear that summer is a bit slower for land stewardship activities. Once the weather turns hot and dry, our task list dries up a bit as well. Tree planting takes place in the wet fall and winter months and the bulk of our weed control activities occur in the spring and early summer. Of course, our volunteers’ bloody arms and legs tell you we are in the middle of blackberry control, but overall we have a little more time for fun projects. This involves some wandering in the woods, and some time at my favorite swimming holes. Another one of the projects I am really enjoying this summer is documenting wildlife presence and use of our Mount Rainier Gateway Protected Area.

Deer at Mount Rainier Gateway Protected Area

Over the years that I have been exploring this protected area, I have been astounded at the amount of animal signs visible along the roads and trails. I have had my share of close encounters on the property as well. I was snowshoeing a few years ago, and surprised a sleeping herd of elk, bedding in the deep snow. I have seen a half dozen black bear and cubs, usually foraging on distant slopes or high tailing it down the road as I approach in my truck. I even got to see two bobcat kittens playing in the ditch. When they noticed me, they leapt nearly 6 vertical feet into a tree and scrambled away. Nearly every time I visit the property, I flush a ruffed or sooty grouse. It is apparent that animals use these roads much more than people and now we have an opportunity to get some images of these forest residents. The Nisqually Indian Tribe has graciously allowed us to borrow several motion sensor wildlife cameras. So now the hunt begins.

Elk at Mount Rainier Gateway Protected Area

I installed the cameras in places where I have observed wildlife signs in the past, mostly on decommissioned forest roads. The Land Trust has been abandoning unnecessary roads on this property in order to reduce habitat fragmentation and the need for maintenance. These roads are quickly becoming forested, but they are still used by the animals. The cameras have been up for close to two months, and I recently collected them and downloaded the photos.While there are no big surprises, we did get a few good photos of some of our common residents. One camera location in particular seems to be a regular hang out spot for deer and elk. We also captured some pictures of two different black bears.

Black bear at Mount Rainier Gateway Protected Area

I’ve moved the cameras into some new spots to see if we can document any other species, so stay tuned for more pictures in the coming months!

Trash Fishing On The Ohop

May 18, 2016October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

by Charly Kearns | May 2016

Charly Kearns, Land Steward

April marked the trash fishing opener on Ohop Creek. If this seems like an odd statement to you, let me explain. This past winter saw several flood events in the Lower Ohop Valley. This is to be expected, considering that most of the valley is a floodplain and it is not unusual for the creek to over top its banks during heavy winter rains. However, one unfortunate consequence is the garbage that ends up in Lower Ohop Creek, including many large chunks of Styrofoam from floating docks that wash downstream from Ohop Lake. The recently installed engineered log jams in Ohop Creek act like giant colanders and strain out a significant amount of trash. Since trash in the stream doesn’t sit well with me, it was time to find some remedies.

Tools of the trade: Trash fishing with “chopsticks”

So, our trusty interns Hannah and Julian joined AmeriCorps member Claire Cook and me for an afternoon of trash fishing. While I could have created better tools, given unlimited time and resources, this was done on the fly. I grabbed all the long-handled, sharp objects I could find lying about, and we got to work. These tools included a tree pruning saw with a long wooden handle, a long PVC conduit pipe sharpened into a spike, and an iron hanging plant stand with decorative hooks.

Wrangling Styrofoam

It didn’t take us long to develop our technique. For the most difficult to reach objects, the far-reaching pruning saw was the best choice. For any objects with a handle or an opening, the “Shepard’s hook” plant stand did the trick. For smaller pieces of foam, the PVC spike could skewer like nothing else. We even used the saw and the PVC tube like chopsticks to grab small plastic bottles from the creek. The whole situation started to feel like we were playing one of those coin-operated claw games you find at arcades, only we hoped to catch an empty beer can instead of a stuffed animal.

Charly lands a chest freezer in Ohop Creek

Conversation inevitably turned to how to create the perfect trash fishing tool. It would have a lightweight, telescoping handle with a grabber, a spike on the end, and a hook that could be cast out on a piece of rope. We have not submitted a patent on this tool yet, so feel free to create a prototype of your own (just let me be involved in the testing stage).

At the end of the afternoon, we had landed at least a dozen large chunks of foam, a tire, a pile of bottles and cans, and the pièce de résistance: a compact chest freezer. We removed an impressive amount of debris from Ohop Creek, but I’m still kept up late some nights thinking about the one that got away.

We’ll just have to go back another day and try our luck again.

Ohop Creek flooding_upstream at Hwy 7 Bridge - Brian Combs photo

Winter flooding in the Lower Ohop Valley (photo: Brian Combs)

An Eagle Takes Flight

April 12, 2016October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

By Charly Kearns | April 2016

Charly Kearns, Land Steward

A few months ago, I was contacted by a very polite young man from a local Boy Scout troop. He introduced himself as Tristan and explained that he was looking for a location to complete his Eagle Project, a project that culminates many years of hard work and is the highest honor in the Boy Scouts. As an Eagle Scout myself, I was excited to help another individual achieve this distinction. Tristan told me that he was an avid fisherman and he wanted to help restore salmon habitat by organizing a tree planting event.

Tristan met me at the Land Trust’s Yelm Shoreline Nature Preserve, where I am Caretaker. As we discussed logistics, Tristan revealed that five years earlier he had come to that same site as a student with the Nisqually River Education Project to help with the property’s very first restoration event. This experience had a lasting effect on him and gave him the idea for his Eagle Project. The site has had great success and phenomenal growth in subsequent years, with a few areas of patchy survival. This seemed like a great opportunity to come full circle; Tristan would organize a planting event at the same site where he was introduced to habitat restoration.

Students planting the Yelm work site in 2010

I recommended that we diversify the restoration by adding several new species of native shrubs, as well as some additional conifers in areas of lower survival. We agreed on the planting location, number of plants and an event date, then he headed out into the community to raise money for the plants.

Tristan and a newly planted tree

On the day of the event, Tristan showed up with a big group of scouts and leaders. The troop had just come back from a rainy night of camping, and everyone was cheerfully prepared to spend a rainy and muddy day planting trees. After showing everyone how to properly plant bare root trees, I turned the event over to Tristan. He did a wonderful job of keeping the group organized, and was constantly checking in to make sure that the trees were planted correctly. By the end of the day we had planted all 300 trees and shrubs, with a break halfway for pizza.

Boy Scouts reporting for tree-planting duty!

This experience was very special for me. It reminded me of all the moments in my life that have driven me towards a career in conservation. Of course my parents were pivotal, and my experiences growing up on a small farm largely shaped my worldview. However, my time with the Boy Scouts was also influential. It was an outlet for my exploration of wild places, and instilled in me the self-reliance and preparedness that I prize. It makes me very happy to see young people having these experiences and developing a deep respect for the earth. I’m glad that Tristan will be able to look out at this rapidly growing forest, and watch it mature. I hope that he will someday bring his grandchildren to this site and see the forest teeming with wildlife and the salmon running plentifully in the river.

The pasture after the first season of planting, January 2011

Planting area in January 2011

The pasture under restoration, February 2016

Planting area in February 2016

Ruffed Up By “Oscar The Grouse”

January 31, 2016October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

by Cris Peck | January 2016

Cris Peck, Outreach Coordinator

Naturally, we have wildlife encounters while conducting monitoring visits and stewardship activities. We’ve seen elk (wapiti), black bear, bobcats, coyotes, and the occasional cougar signs. Generally, we don’t feel threatened by wildlife on our properties; they’re just part of our work environment. The big mammals are seldom seen and, if they appear, they promptly turn tail and run. But this is a story about an encounter that made us all nervous and put us on edge. We had to protect volunteers as well as ourselves from this wily animal: a Ruffed Grouse. Yes, you read that correctly.

Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) are small, pheasant-like birds that live in forest-interiors, feeding on insects and seeds. If you’re hiking in the summer and hear what almost sounds like an engine trying to start, that’s likely the ‘drumming’ of an enamored male grouse. It’s a deep, guttural noise that starts slow and progressively gets faster and faster. The drumming is created by a rapid beating of the wings and, in grouse culture; the loudest drummer is most likely to attract a female. Male Ruffed Grouse are also fiercely territorial. Now this is where the story begins.

The infamous Ruffed Grouse

The Yelm Food Bank and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters have donated 30 bales of burlap coffee bags to the Land Trust—almost 30,000 bags! Each bale weighes about a ton and contains anywhere from 800 to 1,000 bags. We employ these as a biodegradable weed block for new tree and shrub plantings. In the summer, vegetation grows aggressively and, unaided, young seedlings face fierce competition for sunlight and nutrients. In a way, burlap serves as a bodyguard to our plantings until they can establish themselves. We also use the bags for control of Reed Canary Grass – a non-native invasive grass that can grow over 6 feet tall and dominate riparian areas. When placed on the young sprouts, the burlap bags can be really effective in managing this problematic weed.

You may be asking, “How do we install the bags?” Well, it took us a while to figure this out. We eventually went with gardening staples, but for the first work party we used wooden stakes. We cut holes in the corners of the burlap and, using rubber mallets, drove the stakes into the ground to secure everything in place. We may have literally ruffled some feathers through all this commotion because that day we met our friend, the Ruffed Grouse.

A young seedling enjoys some extra protection from competing vegetation

Burlap buys new plants some extra time to get established

Volunteers helped us install 30 bales of burlap as weed-block!

The grouse spent the morning following volunteers around—a harmless, cute spectacle. While the group was there he wouldn’t come too close, but once the volunteers went home that day, all bets were off. Suddenly confident in his authority, the grouse charged us, biting our heels and pants, chasing us down the trail and chest-bumping our legs. This was his territory and we were unwanted visitors. The stake pounding must have resembled the male’s drumming because this little 8 inch tall bird was not happy, and he wasn’t backing down. In fact, we were backing down. He chased our work truck all the way down the access road. He won that day.

Fast forward a few weeks to one of the largest planting events we’ve ever hosted. We had over fifty volunteers at this site, and the grouse was on full alert. We had to plant in pairs: one person on guard against the grouse while the other planted. If you stooped down to plant, the bird would lunge at your face or attack your legs. No one was hurt, but by the end of the event everyone was aware of our feathered friend. Hardy volunteers backed down when confronted by a flurry of flapping wings and Charly and I took on a new role that day – Grouse Coordinator.

We came to call our grumpy planting companion “Oscar the Grouse”. He participated in several work parties that winter and accompanied a group of NatureMapping volunteers in the spring. We haven’t seen Oscar in several months, but if you’re out in Yelm be careful; you may find yourself in Oscar’s territory.

“Oscar the Grouse”

Hardy staff and volunteers in grouse territory

New Plantings Have Deep Roots

December 30, 2015October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

By Cris Peck | December 2015

Early on a cold and blustery November morning crew members from the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Washington Conservation Corps and I prepared to host forty third-grade students at the McBride property at Red Salmon Creek. They were helping us install native plants in an open field and they were the first group to help out at this site this fall, so we were a little anxious. We organized work gloves, moved shovels, checked plants, and sipped hot beverages as we awaited the boisterous group of students. The chatter and joyful yells traveled ahead of the group as they made their way down the forested gravel road toward the pasture. They were here!

Leading the pack was Sheila Wilson, decked out in all yellow rain gear and grinning from ear to ear. It was obvious that she was in her element. Each fall she brings student groups out to Land Trust properties to help with plantings and this was the second site this year. Earlier in the fall she coordinated school groups to help with plantings in the Ohop Valley. Sheila is the program director for the Nisqually River Education Project, whose mission is to connect students in the Nisqually Watershed with the environment around them. What better way to do this than to get on the ground and get your hands dirty?

Upon arrival, students proclaimed, “Wow! Look at all of the plants!” and asked “Do we have to plant all of them today?”

Our answer: “Well, of course not! We take it one step, or one plant, at a time. We always have at least two people working to plant one tree.”

When it was all said and done, we had planted 1,750 native trees and shrubs in two weeks. Twelve school groups from eight different schools, a University of Washington class, a Boy Scout Troop, and a a bunch of other volunteers helped out. Teamwork makes the dream work and the collaborative spirit of the Nisqually Watershed was very much a part of completing this step in habitat restoration at this site.

Bear in mind, the weather didn’t make those two weeks easy – we had torrential downpours that created a creek through the pasture and frozen mornings that turned the ground into concrete. Regardless, spirits were always high and every day was a blast. You can’t help but smile when you see a kid covered head-to-toe in mud yelling “This was the best school day ever!”

The trees and shrubs planted this fall will grow up around a memorial tree planted for Bud McBride in 2012. Bud was a great supporter of efforts to protect the Nisqually River and Delta. About 15 years ago, he wanted to be sure that his family’s land would be permanently protected and transferred the property to the Land Trust. In 2014, the Land Trust transferred the property to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The Wildlife Refuge invited the Land Trust to continue habitat monitoring, maintenance, and restoration activities at this site and we are glad to have the opportunity. We think fondly of Bud and his partner, Richard Schneider, every time we’re on the property. Without them this project and its legacy would not be possible.

The conifers planted this fall could live over 1,000 years. The assortment of native seedlings planted will improve water quality for the vast wetlands that provide habitat for a wide variety of critters, including salmon. This is a beautiful legacy we all work to protect – it’s the future beyond ourselves.We have another 1,250 plants to install in January and we hope that you’ll join us for one or more of those volunteer events. Check out our event calendar for more information.

Volunteers of all ages help plant at Red Salmon Creek

The new planting at Red Salmon Creek

A frosty morning at Red Salmon Creek

Volunteers work diligently to install native plants at Red Salmon Creek

Nisqually River Education Project coordinator, Sheila Wilson, gets down in the dirt with students to plant native trees

A Soggy Start to the Planting Season

November 23, 2015October 27, 2016 Kim Bredensteiner

By Charly Kearns

Charly Kearns, Land Steward

For the past seven years, Halloween has come to mean something special to many in our watershed – it’s the official kickoff of the planting season. Since 2009, it has been a tradition to host a volunteer planting in the Ohop Valley on October 31. Now that construction on the new channel of Ohop Creek is wrapped up for the foreseeable future, the reforestation effort takes center stage. The Nisqually Indian Tribe’s restoration crew has taken the lead on the planting project, installing the majority of the nearly 100,000 native trees and shrubs throughout the valley. However, local students and volunteers are playing a big role too!

Since we’ve planned the annual volunteer event to fall around Halloween, naturally we’ve had a number of ghouls and goblins come out to help. This year was a little different – most volunteers came out in their best drowned rat costumes. A powerful “Pineapple Express” system arrived just ahead of the event and the valley received close to 3” of rain over the weekend. Combined with high winds, planting conditions were less-than-ideal. The event was almost cancelled, but we decided to follow through and anticipated many volunteers would opt-out. Much to my surprise, we had a total of 60 hardy volunteers come out for the day, helping to plant 750 trees and shrubs!

This is a great example of how incredible our volunteers are. Seemingly unfazed by torrential rains and high winds, volunteers young and old went to work in the floodplain, the sounds of their laughter and conversations carrying across the valley. When the creek topped the bank and water started flowing across the floodplain, everyone helped to move the remaining potted plants out of harm’s way.

Next year, after eight years of effort, we will host the last major planting season in the Ohop Valley. The entirety of the floodplain on the Land Trust’s property will be filled with young trees and shrubs. Walking through the rapidly growing forest, first established by those early plantings, it is thrilling to think about what this place will look like in twenty or thirty years. I know that many in our watershed share this excitement. I just met a young man who remembered helping to plant trees in the Ohop with the Nisqually River Education Project when he was in middle school. He is now graduated from college and pursuing a job in the environmental field.

This experience sticks with people. Many of our regular volunteers still talk about the first Ohop planting, and the impact it had on them. I feel very lucky to have played a part in this effort. We’ll be out planting trees throughout the watershed this winter, so be sure to check out our volunteer calendar for upcoming events.