Kevin Hughes
4-H Stewardship Program Member
Port Townsend High School Student
2010 Fall Season Work Crew
kevinthughes.blogspot.com
Fish Fling at the Skokomish River
We first drove for over three hours past Hoodsport up into the mountains on roads that are restricted to the public. After reaching our first destination, near a 100 foot bridge we noticed two large piles of salmon on either side. We were instructed to throw these salmon off a bridge suspended over a fast flowing river. We were told they were bags of fertilizer that were necessary for the river after they stopped swimming up the river to spawn. Throwing the fish to a sinister end was very fun but also essential to the river. Plant habitats and communities along the river banks are called riparian vegetation. Riparian zones are significant in ecology,environmental management, and civil engineering.
Potting CuttingAfter collecting branches with at least two budding shoots we returned to the ranger station. We filled pots with soil and planted the branches in the pots. We then watered the newly planted pots and labeled the plants with the appropriate tag depending on the plant the branch was taken from. Among these plants were willow, elderberry, wild rose. Plant cutting is a form of asexually reproduction, where a piece of a source plant will produce new roots and stem becoming itself a new plant.
Watershed Cleanup Day
This was our first day of work and we were ready for whatever they decided to throw at us. Working in three groups we hauled out five truckloads of trash and noxious weeds. It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a lot of fun working and making new friendships. Among the garbage we carried out was dozens of used diapers, a mattress and countless other pieces of junk. Watershed management is implementing plans and programs to enrich watershed functions for plants, animals, and humans within a watershed boundary.
Unlike the previous weeks where we had awesome weather that day it was raining and miserable, but we put on our rain gear and worked through it. We broke into groups and got started. The group that I was working in was cleaning up the parking lots that were covered with moss. We then started trimming bushes and other plants. After are work there was done we headed out to work on other tasks. The U. S. Forest Service is a agency of the Department of Agriculture. The Forest Service administers the nations forests and was started in 1876.
Replanting a Decommissioned Road
In the past decade many previous logging roads had been decommissioned this was an example of one of them. We started be parking and walking down this road with many barriers such as a giant dirt pile to prevent people from entering. We brought plants and shovels and started away digging and planting in the rock hard ground that had tons of gravel and other debris incorporated in it. The perpose of this task was to help restore the road to a natural state. Restoration ecology is the study and practice of renewing and restoring damaged or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment.
Over the course of our couple month experience we maintenance many campgrounds. Basically what we did at all of them was what was needed picking up trash, cleaning picnic tables, taking the trash out of the fire pits etc. This was tedious work because all the trash people throw or put in a fire pit when they could easily throw it away in a proper location. A campsite is a place used for overnight stay in the outdoors.
Picnic Table Restoration
We also spent several short sessions working on picnic table restoration. The first time we panted several large boards with a sealing agent. We also loaded them into a pickup and delivered them to where we were replacing them, with the old gnarly rotted ones. We were supposed to cut the old ones out and replace them, but we didn't have a certified person who could cut them off with a chainsaw. A picnic table is a table with connected benches on either side, usually used for eating meals outside.
Planting Cuttings for Elk Habitat
This process was similar to the decommissioned road that we were planting cuttings but we were doing this in a field where the heard rests and eats the trees that we were planting. These were the same type of cuttings that had previously been harvested and we later re harvested and plated. An elk is a large land mammal found in North America and one of the largest species of deer found anywhere. Elk are similar to cattle that they graze and consume about 20 pounds of food daily.
