With the warmth of sun the Salamander Efts reunited at the edge of Connelly Creek for a day of service. Even before our opening meeting had started the boys were busy exploring the creek and getting to know Tim Massey who joined us for this outing in Dave’s Absence. The magic of Connelly creek and the surrounding willow thicket was strong and upon arriving the boys were totally engrossed in leaping the creek, wading in rubber boots, and bridge building. After a few pairs of wet shoes it was time to circle up for the opening meeting. Right from the start Greg set the challenge of working together. In this case it was task of hauling the service tools and all our personal gear to our service site. Laden with buckets, loppers, shovels and gloves the boys carried our equipment to our service site.
Upon arriving the mentors asked the boys to walk around the service site and do an assessment for the presence of the invasive species Himalayan Blackberry (Rubus armeniacus), and (Phalaris arundinacea). Additionally the mentors asked the Salamander Efts to look for any animal sign while they explored. The boys discovered that there was an abundance of Reed canarygrass and Himalayan blackberry, but we also found several willow and Red Alder saplings as well as some Black-Tailed deer antler rubs and scat. The Salamander Efts were eager to get to work, so Tim and Greg showed them how to properly uses the tools and where to begin their efforts.
Working alongside these young men the mentors were inspired by their eagerness to give back to the land we explore and play so hard in. There effort was incredible and our pile of Blackberry and Reed canarygrass grew rapidly. The boys cycled through digging out Blackberry roots with spades, trimming Reed canarygrass with hedge trimmers, and raking up and hauling out the grass and canes. Over the course of our outing we were able to free half a dozen saplings from the canarygrass, and we dug out a lot of blackberry roots. Several community members out for a walk in the park stopped and thanked the boys for their hard work. They were excited to see the boys working to restore balance to the landscape.
Several interesting discoveries occurred while serving this patch of land. The boys found many buried pieces of trash, including bottles, windshields and numerous plastic containers. Sadly this place was likely used as a dump when it was covered in Blackberry, but we were happy to haul out what we could safely remove. The second interesting discovery was when Greg accidentally dug up a portion of Red Alder Root while trying to remove a particularly stubborn Blackberry root. A few of the boys were fascinated to see the small nitrogen fixing nodules that the Red Alder uses to capture atmospheric nitrogen.
We closed the day with a sit spot in our service area and reflected upon the day’s accomplishments. In our closing circle we talked briefly about how our work is connected to a greater effort to restore Connelly creek as a spawning ground for salmon and how we would likely be returning to this spot in the Spring to continue our efforts and deepen our connection to this piece of land. We finished our closing meeting by giving thanks and sharing a challenge of the day before hauling our tools back to our starting point. Thank you Salamander Efts for your hard work and your service to Connelly Creek! Please have a look in the photo gallery for some images of the day. Dave and Greg are already looking forward to our next outingwhen we will be traversing along the forest and shore of Chuckanut Bay!
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