Salamander Efts introduce the Pine Martens to Service with BEC

Bright fall colors are not just for leaves; slime molds too!

Exploring is what we do in BEC, and we are constantly grateful for the wild spaces that we get to play, romp, grow and learn in.  We are all earth keepers and we work hard to Leave No Trace while we are out in the woods.  But, try as we might, it is impossible for us to explore in these places without leaving some sort of an impact. So, through our service outings, we can give something back to these woods that we need so much and take so much from.  

Putting in some good work on the Reed Canary grass.

Last Saturday the Salamander Efts and the Pine Martens met at our BEC service site in Happy Valley Park on Connelly Creek.  Once per season, each BEC group gets to spend one of their outings working to further the restoration of our service site at Connelly Creek.  This gave the older group of the day, the Salamander Efts, a chance to share their knowledge of service work and this site with the younger group, the Pine Martens, who were having their first service outing ever.

Older boys get a chance to be leaders to some of the Pine Martens

Being that this was the first BEC service outing of the season, we had some "cleaning up" to do, namely removing the reed canary grass.  We have been battling this invasive grass at the site for a while now and it consistently proves itself to be a worthy adversary.  In light of this, we took extra care to remove the roots of each stalk of grass.

Connor (mentor) clearly approves of the work getting done today!

As we were working diligently to remove the grass, we were excited to find a couple different types of slime molds! These organisms were once thought to be in the Fungi kingdom, but it has since been discovered that these are not true fungi. Their bright colors were striking to behold and we appreciated seeing them active at our service site.

More slime mold colors!

Along with good work, our day also allowed us with some time for play in the form of a few games of Fire in the Forest out in the field in the middle of the park.  We got to stretch our legs and move our bodies during this welcome break from the relatively tedious work of pulling grass roots.

The boys enjoy a well earned break to rehydrate and nourish their bodies.

By the end of the day, we were able to get a lot done. In addition to pulling up reed canary grass, we freed some of the young native plants that we planted previously on the site from strangling vines including ivy and blackberry.  It was encouraging to see the Salamander Efts come into a leadership role not only by teaching the boys about tool safety and technique, but also by modeling teamwork and a good work ethic.  The progress that these boys made pulling grass laid the foundation for the rest of the service outings this season where other BEC groups will work to spread mulch over the areas where we pulled out the grass in an effort to eliminate it once and for all!

Freeing the cages from vines.

Lots of grass removed; look at all those bags of grass and roots!

Make sure to check out ALL of the photos from this outing by clicking here.