Adopt-a-Stream Foundation holds restoration project as part of its ‘Streamkeeper Certification’ program
On a recent sunny, warm, pre-spring Saturday, 30 volunteers from Bothell and the surrounding areas gathered at the base of the iconic bridge over the Sammamish River to the Park at Bothell Landing to remove invasive blackberries from the area between the Burke Gilman Trail and the river.
The restoration project was the first part in an effort to bring native plants back to the riparian zone along the river to provide shade for fish and other wildlife. The project was held as a part of a “Streamkeeper Certification” program presented by the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation, and consisted of three classroom modules and three outdoor modules, covering subjects such as stream ecology, wetland importance, invasive plant removal, encouraging native plants and monitoring and maintenance.
Jennifer Adams, of the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation, seemed very pleased with the amount of blackberries being dug out, joking, “Have you seen the mountains?” referring to the piles of brambles measuring several feet in every direction.
She was also happy to have so many volunteers interested in learning, saying they had asked “a lot of really good questions … about the impact of invasives.”
Janet Geer, Surface Water Program coordinator for the city of Bothell, noted another positive being “the project as a whole … getting people to pay attention and value our resources.” It also got people out from all over Bothell to meet each other, Geer noted, referring to “people talking who don’t even know each other.”
Loren Brokaw, an ecologist for Adopt-a-Stream, said his favorite part was how the program “combines learning in the classroom and the field and having volunteers come out and work,” adding, “the students get a free lesson out of it and we get hard work out of it.”
Each of the volunteers was eager to put in hard work and each had great reasons for doing so. The project saw several local students who came out for the educational value and also the community service benefits.
Jordan Yu from Inglemoor High had “done a lot of things outdoors with the Earth Corps in the past … (and) loves being outdoors and making things look nicer,” which encouraged him to spend his day off digging blackberry roots. He also noted the benefit of getting community service hours.
Pam Williams from the University of Washington, Bothell found out about the program from a poster on campus, but joked “I don’t think I knew I’d be getting into this kind of stuff!” She said the work with Adopt-a-Stream is feeding in very nicely with her wetlands and environmental studies classes at school.
Others, like Courtney Doane, came out to work toward a leadership goal. Doane participated to fulfill requirements for her Girl Scouts of America silver and gold awards. By going through the certification process, she will be able to complete the silver award, and hopes to teach her new knowledge and skills to the younger girls in her troop when she conducts a project in Blyth Park for her gold award, which will consist of repairing some trail stairs, and also addressing some “invasive plants by the river that need to be removed.”
Many of the more seasoned volunteers came out due to a love of nature.
John Gabu described the situation as “being at war out here .. it’s hand-to-hand,” adding “it’s you, the tool and the root.”
In early April, the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation will hold a tree planting at the same site, with the hope the future shade will help salmon runs that pass through the area during spawning season. Adopt-a-Stream will plant native willows, dogwoods and conifers, along with other plants, along the river.
The project was a joint effort between the Adopt-a-Stream Foundation, the city of Bothell and King County. King County Conservation District funds paid for the whole project including materials, minus the labor. King County also donated several of the plants from its own supplies.
