On March 16, 2015, I went with the Streamkeepers group to help them plant Oceanspray next to Valley Creek at river mile 1.0 (GPS coordinates: 48.10459, 123.44798). According to the book “Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast”, the wood of this shrub is very hard, SO hard in fact that people used oceanspray Pegs before nails were invented. Planting these shrubs today will hopefully have a very beneficial impact on Valley Creek in just a few years. When we first showed up we talked about the rock layers around the stream and how that effects plant and salmon life. We also talked about how the native tribes moved logs around the outside of the stream in hopes of causing more sediment build-up and that we usually plant trees there so that in a few hundred years they will be old and fall over, causing there to be logs alongside the stream.
While digging holes for the Oceanspray to be planted, we found all sorts of interesting rocks and even a few worm eggs! We planted about 20-25 shrubs in total all around the area. Whenever we chose a spot for the new shrubs to be planted, we tried to get rid of an invasive species of blackberry and plant a native shrub in its place. Overall, going with the Streamkeepers crew was exhausting, they do a lot of work to keep our streams healthy for generations to come.
While digging holes for the Oceanspray to be planted, we found all sorts of interesting rocks and even a few worm eggs! We planted about 20-25 shrubs in total all around the area. Whenever we chose a spot for the new shrubs to be planted, we tried to get rid of an invasive species of blackberry and plant a native shrub in its place. Overall, going with the Streamkeepers crew was exhausting, they do a lot of work to keep our streams healthy for generations to come.
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