Stream Team: News and Highlights

News & Highlights

Dig In to Fall Plantings

Throughout the hot months of summer, plans are laid for the planting of thousands of native trees and shrubs along local streams. During the cool, wet weather of fall and winter, these plants will have several months to establish their roots and adapt to their life out of pots before next spring’s growing season begins. So grab a friend, bring your family, or come as you are to help at any of the plantings described below.

Oct. 2, South Prairie Creek – Continued efforts to eradicate acres of knotweed from the District’s Bee Spit property near Orting mean there is more planting to be done! Nearly 500 native trees and shrubs will be installed along this important salmon tributary to the Carbon River. While you’re here, take a look at the previous plantings done in the fields and in the knotweed areas.

Oct. 9, tributary to the Carbon River – Part of a larger effort to keep farming viable in Pierce County, Stream Team joins with PCC Farmland Trust, Stewardship Partners, and the owners of Little Eorthe Farm to convert approximately 1,500 feet of stream bank near Orting from field to riparian buffer. A tour of the area, led by PCC Farmland Trust, is scheduled to immediately follow the planting.

Oct. 30, Ohop Creek – Last Halloween, over 70 volunteers helped with the first stage of plant restoration along a one-mile reconstruction of Ohop Creek near Eatonville. Work continued over the past year and culminated in the connection between the “old” channel and the newly realigned channel. Volunteers are needed to help plant more than 2 acres this fall.

Nov. 13, Mashel River – A string of successful salmon habitat projects along this tributary to the Nisqually River continued in 2010 with the construction of 11 engineered log jams near Eatonville. Planting of the construction areas around the log jams helps lay the groundwork for Mother Nature to create her own log jams for centuries to come.

	PLU students (shown in both photos) and community volunteers remove ivy, blackberries, and other invasive plants as part of a project to restore native oak-prairie habitat. (Photos courtesy of Emma Kane, PLU.)

PLU Urban Habitat Restoration Project
By Emma Kane

Last year, a Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) student began a habitat restoration project as part of a Sustainability Fellowship. Now, after several months, two grant proposals, and a lot of hard work, the PLU Urban Habitat Restoration Project is on track to becoming an Outdoor Learning Center for both the PLU and local Parkland community. Reed Ojala-Barbour is the student who applied for and received grants from the Green Partnership Fund and the Greater Tacoma Community Fund to begin this project. These grants have not only funded tools, plants, and supplies, but also provided for a paid student position to coordinate the project.

This restoration effort specifically aims to restore a portion of the original prairie oak woodland mosaic habitat that historically characterized much of the south Puget Sound region, including south Pierce County. This mosaic is comprised of prairie, oak woodlands, and conifer forest patches. The PLU Restoration Project hopes to restore this ecosystem through the eradication of invasive species, like Himalayan blackberry, and the addition of more native species to approximately three acres of campus grounds.

A primary goal for the next year is to involve more of the community surrounding PLU in the project. In doing so, the hope is to strengthen university-community relations by providing a green space that can be enjoyed by students, faculty, staff, and local residents. If you are interested in supporting this project, monthly work parties will be held the first Sunday of every month starting this fall. Please contact Emma Kane, Volunteer Coordinator for the Restoration Project (kaneee@plu.edu), or Christine Cooley, PLU Sustainability Resource Coordinator (cooleycs@plu.edu), with any further questions.

	Fifth grade students from Spinning Elementary in Puyallup learned about the many sources of stormwater pollution in our community (top); made observations about solutions to common yard, auto, and household practices that send pollution down stormdrains while on an “urban walk” around their neighborhood (center); and helped install a rain garden across the street from their school (bottom).

Rain Gardens – Past, Present, and Future

As more people learn about and become interested in low impact development techniques, rain gardens are frequently cited as an example of a relatively simple and inexpensive way to treat stormwater runoff and disconnect from the stormdrain system. In coordination with the Seattle based non-profit group Stewardship Partners, Stream Team has helped put on eight rain garden workshops this year throughout Pierce County.

We have also helped install several demonstration rain gardens, including a cluster of six in the neighborhood directly east of Spinning Elementary in Puyallup on June 12. One of the six rain gardens was completed the day before by Lynn Hamilton’s 5th grade class from Spinning. The students learned more about stormwater pollution by also participating in an Enviroscape activity and going on a guided “urban walk” through the surrounding neighborhood.

Additional grant money will allow Puyallup to conduct one or two more neighborhood rain garden projects in 2011. Also, the Gig Harbor rain garden project originally scheduled for September 25 has been postponed. The city is still interested in doing this project, and we will let you know when it has been rescheduled, likely sometime in 2011.

To learn more about rain gardens, visit www.stewardshippartners.org, or stop by the completed rain garden clusters in Puyallup (Spinning Elementary and 8th Ave. N.W.), Lakewood City Hall, and Narrows View Intermediate School in University Place. A full list of rain garden projects in Pierce County can be obtained from Stewardship Partners.

Puyallup will be hosting another neighborhood rain garden installation on September 18, near Clarks Creek Park. The event will also feature salmon-safe car wash kits, curb marking, and a live broadcast of Ciscoe Morris’ gardening show on KIRO 97.3. Volunteers are needed to help plant and mulch the rain gardens as well as mark 200 stormdrains. Please register with Stream Team to receive directions and other details.

Scout members from Cub Scout Pack 10 joined 14 other volunteers to mark 248 catch basins around Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.

Curb Marking Recap

This summer has been abuzz with schools, communities, Boy Scouts and individuals participating in curb marking events throughout Pierce County. Curb marking is a fun summertime activity for people to educate a neighborhood that the stormwater running off their roofs, driveways, and down their streets flows untreated through local stormdrains and into the closest body of water. Each volunteer team receives a curb marking kit that includes a map, plastic placards and glue, and each team completes their area at their own pace. It is as easy as that! And plenty of groups are helping this summer.

Lakewood:
On July 31, the City of Lakewood partnered with Stream Team to mark high foot-traffic areas in the Fort Steilacoom Park neighborhood.Seventeen volunteers marked 389 catch basins to help educate residents and park users about stormwater.

Lakewood held another event on August 14, and marked 66 catch basins in the Seely Lake neighborhood with five volunteers.

Pierce County:
Also on August 14, a Boy Scout earning his Eagle Scout badge will work to mark 410 catch basins in the Highway 512-Canyon Road area near Puyallup.

Throughout the entire month of August, two PLU students have committed to marking over 500 catch basins near the Brookdale Golf Course.

On September 11, Boy Scout Troop 53 has coordinated a curb marking event around the Pacific Lutheran University campus. The hope is to mark 452 catch basins in a 3-hour event. The Troop is looking for some help, so if you are interested in participating, contact Stream Team.

Pierce County has two targeted curb marking locations remaining: Spanaway Lake and the Highway 512-Waller Road area. If interested in coordinating your own event, please contact Stream Team.

Puyallup:
On June 12, the City of Puyallup hosted a rain garden and curb marking event in the Spinning Elementary neighborhood. At this event, volunteers were able to mark 129 catch basins, which educated nearly 900 homeowners in the area.

Not long after, 30 volunteers came together on July 26 and marked 382 catch basins around Wildwood Park which are seen by over 1,700 residents in the area.

Following that event, a single family checked out a kit to mark 320 catch basins in their neighborhood adjacent to Wildwood, which will educate over 600 neighbors.

On August 7, Boy Scout Owen Hunt received his Eagle Scout badge for coordinating a curb marking event in the Manorwood Park neighborhood. Three hundred eighty-six stormdrains were marked by 32 scouts and volunteers from Troop 525.

On August 15, a student from Clover Park Technical College coordinated an event out of Sam Peach Park with five volunteers. They placed placards on 69 stormdrains in northwest Puyallup.

And Stream Team will put on a curb marking activity during a rain garden cluster installation on September 18, near Clarks Creek Park, where 200 catch basins are set to be marked.

Tacoma:
On August 21, Citizens for a Healthy Bay, the City of Tacoma, the First Creek Neighborhood Group, and Stream Team partnered to mark nearly 400 catch basins in the First Creek Neighborhood. This area of Tacoma has shown great interest in improving their water quality and we are excited to help educate through this action project.

September is still a great time to curb mark. If you want to work to educate your neighborhood that only rain should go down a drain, please contact Melissa to check out a kit: melissab@piercecountycd.org or (253) 845-2973.

Isabel Ragland and Jayme Gordon accept the Cascade Land Conservancy’s Educational Achievement Award on May 6. Not pictured, Melissa Buckingham.
(Photo courtesy of Laura Marchbanks Photography)

For more information about the work the Cascade Land Conservancy Educational Achievement Award recognizes, check out the YouTube video.

Stream Team Receives Local and National Recognition Awards

For those of us working at the Conservation District, most days are spent nose-to-the-grindstone, working hard to develop projects and programs that will be interesting and informative to Pierce County residents. Our mission to educate and promote actions that protect our natural resources keeps us very busy! Every once in a while, if we do our jobs well, someone notices. This spring, Stream Team received not one, but two important awards. We are honored to have received this recognition, but also quite humbled, because none of this would be possible without the amazing volunteers who participate in and support our program. To you we give our heartfelt thanks. So please give yourselves a pat on the back, and continue to join us at any of the many activities available throughout the year!

Cascade Land Conservancy Educational Achievement Award
Since the spring of 2003, Pierce Stream Team has worked with the 4th grade teachers at Elk Plain School of Choice in the Bethel School District to introduce their students to the wonders of freshwater macroinvertebrates, remnant oak woodlands, prairie ecology, and salmon habitat. All of this learning has taken place in the outdoor classroom provided by the Clover Creek Reserve, a property owned and managed by the Cascade Land Conservancy (CLC) in Parkland, WA.

In recognition of the leadership and coordination required to maintain this relationship and direct the efforts of the Elk Plain students to the needs of the Clover Creek Reserve, Stream Team received the CLC’s John Stanford Educational Achievement Award on May 6. Held at the Washington State Convention Center, the CLC’s annual awards breakfast drew more than 1,900 people from the region’s environmental, business, and civic communities.

The award received by Stream Team, in honor of the late Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, celebrates the commitment to future generations and recognizes innovative projects that engender an appreciation for the natural environment through hands-on experience.

***Check out the YouTube video about this program!***

Earth Team Regional Volunteer Award
Last March, the Pierce Stream Team was awarded the 2009 Regional Earth Team Volunteer Award from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for its work in streamside habitat restoration, water quality monitoring, and storm drain stenciling.

“The Stream Team is one of only six groups nationwide to be honored with a regional award,” said NRCS State Conservationist Roylene Rides at the Door. Stream Team will officially be presented with the award at the annual Washington Association of District Employees training in Leavenworth on June 14.

Some of the activities by Stream Team volunteers that contributed to this award include the following:

Installing a 100-foot buffer along a tributary to South Prairie Creek. Fifty-one volunteers planted 700 plants in an area cleared of invasive blackberry shrubs.
Partnering with the Nisqually Tribe to plant 1,200 plants on five acres along Tanwax Creek. Fifty-three volunteers took two days to minimize the impact of reed canary grass and improve habitat diversity.
Stream Team volunteers worked with the Nisqually Land Trust and the Nisqually Stream Stewards at Wilcox Flats to enhance a riparian buffer along the Nisqually River. Thirty-eight volunteers planted 1,400 native trees and shrubs in an area cleared of blackberries and other weeds.
Open lawn space was planted with native plants on the Foss High School property in Tacoma to further enhance the Snake Lake watershed. Thirty-five student volunteers planted 145 plants.
Stream and lake water quality monitoring was conducted on an on-going basis by 90 volunteers on over 39 sites.
1,100 storm drains and catch basins were stenciled with “Dump No Waste – Drains to Stream” to educate the public about the problem of non-point source pollution caused by stormwater runoff.

Last year in Washington, Earth Team volunteers donated more than 5,700 hours to NRCS’ conservation efforts. “The monetary value of that effort is nearly $115,000,” Rides at the Door said, “but the benefit to the environment and to future generations is priceless. We’re delighted the Pierce Stream Team has been recognized with this prestigious award. And we’re delighted the Stream Team and so many other groups and individuals are helping us help the land as Earth Team volunteers.”

Additional information on the Earth Team Volunteer Program is available online at www.nrcs.usda.gov/feature/volunteers.

Coastal America Partnership Award
The Nisqually Land Trust and its partners are receiving a Coastal America Partnership award for restoration efforts at Red Salmon Creek. This honor recognizes the efforts of multiple partners, education groups, and many volunteers in restoration of the Land Trust’s property and its relationship to restoration of the Nisqually Delta, the largest estuarine restoration project on the Pacific Coast. The Pierce Stream Team is happy to have been able to work on this project and to have been a partner in the efforts to improve salmon habitat along this stream.

All those who took part in or assisted with the Red Salmon Creek restoration efforts are invited to the awards ceremony and celebration on June 4 from 1-3 p.m. at Red Salmon Creek. Please join us and accept our sincere appreciation for the work you did! For directions and to help us plan for the numbers of people who can attend, please RSVP.

RSVP for the Coastal America Spirit Award Celebration at Red Salmon Creek:

June 4, 2010, 1-3 p.m.: nltsteward@nisquallylandtrust.org or (360) 458-1111.

Fall Water Quality
Monitoring Schedule

Quarterly stream monitors: The summer monitoring window ends on September 14, 2010. The fall monitoring window will begin September 21, 2010, and ends on December 14, 2010. Bi-monthly volunteers are scheduled to monitor during September and November.
Don’t Forget! Late summer or early fall is the time to do the Streamwalk Assessment. No matter which monitoring schedule you follow, you should complete the Streamwalk in one of the following months: August, September, or October.

Stormdrain Stenciling
Did you know that your home is waterfront property? Yes, it’s true! Stormdrains carry surface water run-off along our neighborhood streets, directly into the nearest stream, lake, wetland, or Puget Sound. Water flowing through these stormdrains does not receive any sort of treatment before entering the receiving water body. This means that whatever we put down our stormdrains will wind up in these waterways as well. Stormdrain stenciling is a simple, fun way to prevent stormdrain pollution in your neighborhood. You can let everyone in your neighborhood know anything dumped in the street ends up in our waterways by stenciling the message “Dump No Waste” next to stormdrains.

Stormdrain stenciling is a great activity for many sorts of organizations such as neighborhood groups, scout groups, and school groups. Interested? Please contact Stream Team at (253) 845-2973 for information on checking out our stenciling kits.

For more current news and information, download a copy of our quarterly newsletter, the Tahoma View.