Photo: Kahthy Jacobson
Marae Holley-Folkes and her dad Junior Folkes, Montesano
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By Janet Strong and Kathy Jacobson
On two sunny Fridays in November, over 300 students from five school districts planted 1,600 native trees and shrubs along the Chehalis River. This completed Phase Three of an ambitious restoration project on the Centralia-owned farm housing its new wastewater treatment plant. The planting was a joint effort of the ESD 113 Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust and the City of Centralia.
Other groups lending their active assistance included Americorps, Lewis Conservation District, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Grays Harbor College Model Watershed Program.
Students traveled from Oakville, Boistfort, Rochester, Montesano and Centralia to plant and install protectors on seedlings along a mile long stretch of the river. Species planted included cottonwood, alder, willow, spruce, bigleaf maple, serviceberry, wild rose, red-osier dogwood and seven other varieties of native trees and shrubs. Participating in this activity taught students about conservation and the need for restoration projects designed to provide shade and bank stabilization for the river and its fish and wildlife. Leaders encouraged the young people to return often to watch their new forest grow, as this restored forest will be protected in perpetuity.
Photo: Kahthy Jacobson Marae Holley-Folkes and her dad Junior Folkes, Montesano |
On the following Saturdays, many community volunteers, among them Girl Scout Troops 912 and 918 from the Chehalis area, came together to complete the planting effort. The group felt great satisfaction in knowing that all 5,700 trees and shrubs planted over the past year were snug in the soil to face the winter. Altogether, nearly 400 students and adults worked together in the four days to plant these native seedlings.
Phase Four, another mass planting, is scheduled for the first two Fridays and Saturdays in March 2005. To get involved, contact the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust at (360) 807-0764 or Jan Strong at strongjan@centurytel.net or Kathy Jacobson, Chehalis Basin Project Coordinator at (360) 586-3538 or kjacobson@esd113k12.wa.us.
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By Thurston Conservation District
In November the Thurston Conservation District (TCD) presented their 2004 Farm of the Year awards during their Open House.
Jason Foster, one of two 2004 winners, operates a 120-cow dairy on the Chehalis River in Thurston county. He began working with TCD in 1997 in a voluntary effort on his part to operate a dairy that would have no negative impacts on water quality. In 1998 the legislature passed the Dairy Nutrient Management Act, which required all dairies in the state to develop and implement a nutrient management plan. Jason's proactive efforts from a year earlier put him way ahead of this effort.
Since 1997, Jason has implemented a complete nutrient management system on this farm. This system includes a 600,000-gallon aboveground concrete manure storage tank, pumps, and an agitator to stir the manure. He has installed 1,200 feet of buried mainline to move the manure from the storage tank to the fields. He has two hard hose reels that he uses for manure application and irrigation. Through the proper management of both manure and irrigation water, Jason has significantly increased the forage production on this farm and at the same time significantly reduced any potential of manure leaving the farm.
 Jason Foster's farm |
Additionally, Jason installed a complete roof runoff system, designed to direct the rainwater away from the slab areas. This system included over 665 feet of new gutter. The farm even has a concrete lane that the cows use to get to the pastures. This lane not only reduces the mud out in the fields, it also reduces the amount of washing of the cows that is otherwise required. This reduces the volume of water used in the milk parlor and amount of water that would need to be collected with the manure.
There is over 1400 feet of Chehalis River frontage located on the farm and 4500 of Dry Creek. The livestock are excluded from this area. Over 900 trees were inter-planted along the south side of Dry Creek. These plants will provide shade and help reduce nutrient loading in the creek, which drains to the Chehalis River.
"Jason has done an excellent job of implementing Best Management Practices that have resulted in protecting water quality near his dairy operation and recently received a positive inspection by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) Livestock Nutrient Management Program," remarked Kirk Robinson, Lead Inspector for the WSDA program.
This dairy is a model of efficiency. As one of the best pasture managers in Thurston County, Jason's motto is "Bigger isn't better, more efficient is better." In fact, he operates his farm by himself. His management approach has paid off for him in lower production costs, higher productivity from his herd, and increased longevity of his cows. This management has paid off for the general public by providing a cleaner environment. All together, this makes for one of the cleanest, neatest dairies in our area. Considering the fact that the entire dairy is located within the floodplain of the Chehalis River, his dedication to operating such an environmentally friendly dairy is quite commendable and very deserving of this award.
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by Pete Holm, Capitol Land Trust and Chehalis River Council
The Black River rises in swamps and springs near the southern end of Black Lake in Thurston County and flows southward and westward 25 miles more or less into the Chehalis River near Oakville. Used by indigenous people as a canoe route from the Grays Harbor country to Puget Sound, it was explored by the Hudson Bay Company in the 1820's and the Wilkes expedition in 1841 and was used by white settlers as a means of transporting logs and other goods. Early accounts state that a steam launch once ran from Montesano to Littlerock. Several times over the years proposals to build a canal linking Puget Sound with Grays Harbor along the general path of the river have been proposed.
According to my topographical map, the river crosses the 130 foot contour line near Black Lake.
The river probably has been traveled by canoe all the way from its mouth to Black Lake at one time or another, but there are some very difficult patches, and Native Americans and early travelers usually portaged from near Littlerock to Black Lake or Budd Inlet. Today canoeists and kayakers can put in at an access point on 110th Street SW (about river mile 19.8) and paddle most of the way northward toward Black Lake before finding an almost impenetrable tangle of brush and beaver dams a mile or two short of the lake. Going the other direction toward Littlerock, one encounters a large beaver dam and other obstacles. The river seems to be passable only with great difficulty from a short distance north of Littlerock almost to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) landing about 2 miles south on Route 121. This is at about river mile 15.4. It should be noted that there is little if any obstacle to fish, as chum and coho salmon are found in the highest extent of the river and in tributaries such as Dempsey Creek..
 Photo: Margaret Rader Paddlers on the Black River |
The portion of the Black River north of Littlerock has received attention from conservationists because of its size and relatively unspoiled condition. It runs through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Black River Unit of the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, which has an authorized size of 3,800 acres. About 800 acres of the land already belongs to the Fish and Wildlife Service, and a good chunk of the mysterious area just south of Black Lake is owned and protected by The Nature Conservancy.
Controversy has erupted over the last few years about a gravel mine and proposed asphalt plant just east of the refuge. It is widely agreed that this wet, marshy area, home to a diverse and unique community of plants and animals, richly deserves protection. There remain privately owned parcels within the refuge and nearby, but except for the gravel mine and proposed asphalt plant, the writer is aware of no imminent threats. Much of the land in the area once was used for pasture, for example on the former Weiks dairy farm which now is part of the refuge; some pasturage still takes place, but it is on a rather small scale.
The Black River north of Littlerock drains an area which runs almost to old Highway 99 on the east and to the crest of the Black Hills on the west. Bearing this in mind, it seems odd that where the river crosses the road at 128th Street near Littlerock it looks like just a little brook. Here it runs briskly over a gravel riffle, and seems small considering the contribution of a major tributary, Waddell Creek, which can be observed as it emerges from the Black Hills on Waddell Creek Road. It seems likely that there is a lot of interchange between the river and the groundwater percolating through the thick, chaotic glacial deposits in this area. In other words, much of the drainage probably occurs underground. While the wetland area next to the river averages at least a quarter-mile wide in most places until it flows down to river mile 10 or so, it largely is absent near the place where the river crosses 128th Street. Perhaps the river here is flowing through the remains of a glacial moraine.
Just south of Littlerock, the river crosses the 120 foot contour line and picks up a major tributary, Beaver Creek, which drains Deep Lake, Scott Lake, and the area along the Maytown Road. Then it practically disappears into old pastures and hayfields, now mostly taken over by brush and Reed Canary Grass. The river braids into multiple channels and would be very hard to follow.
There are several parcels in this stretch under protection by The Nature Conservancy and Thurston County Parks and Recreation, including Rainbow Valley, which was the site of rock concerts during the 1980's. A Salmon Recovery Board grant was authorized in late 2004 to acquire a conservation easement to be held by Capitol Land Trust on one of the private parcels remaining in the area. While some of the upland areas adjacent to the river could see small scale residential development, it would appear that there are minimal threats along this part of the river. Small scale pastures and hay fields exist on relatively higher ground in this neighborhood, as they have for more than one hundred years.
The river crosses the 100-foot contour line near the WDFW landing (it crosses the 80-foot contour another 5 miles downstream).
Downstream from the landing, several additional riverside parcels are under the protection of The Nature Conservancy, and one is owned by the Capitol Land Trust. Small parcels under private ownership are undeveloped, with the exception of some modest homes and small farms and the site of Black River Canoe Trips, Inc., where canoes can be rented for touring the river. The biggest acreage by far under protection, however, is held by Thurston County Parks and Recreation. This is the Glacial Heritage Preserve, which not only protects hundreds of acres of Mima mounds and threatened prairie and oak woodland habitat, but contains much wetland adjacent to the river.
Downstream for 2.5 miles from about river mile 13.8 the river runs on average almost due west until it approaches the southern ridges of the Black Hills along Gate Road. Most of this segment is protected on its south bank by a combination of The Nature Conservancy and Thurston County Parks and Recreation. West of the Glacial Heritage Preserve the north bank is the hands of a large dairy farm, Black River Ranch, until the mouth of another major tributary, Mima Creek, is reached at about river mile 12. In another 3/4 mile the Black River Habitat Management Area of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife lies on the northwest side of the river. Next to the WDFW property is a large piece of property owned by a fish farm. A fish farm is also found near the opposite shore.
Below river mile 10, the river changes character. The banks are higher and better-drained, and where wetlands occur they tend to be swales or floodways which in some cases provide an aquatic link between the Chehalis and Black Rivers during floods. One mile-long section between river mile 8 and river mile 9 is part of a conservation easement recently donated to the Capitol Land Trust, but further downstream there are to my knowledge no other protected lands except a conservation easement on one 17-acre parcel which is held by the Grays Harbor Conservation District at about river mile 5.
The water in this final 10 miles, which upstream is still and lake-like, adopts for the most part a riffle-and-pool character with some quiet sections; its flow usually is shallow and quick over a gravel bed. Since the bottom of the river is often close to the surface, late summer brings a thick growth of weeds in places. A portion of the river near its mouth is part of the Chehalis Indian Reservation and receives some protection from tribal regulations.
Why is protection of the land along the river important? The most important water quality problems in the river, those that threaten fish species and aquatic life, are high temperatures and low dissolved oxygen levels late in the summer, while floods often occur in the winter. The huge bogs, swamps and other wetland types along the upper reaches of the river absorb and tend to even out the extremes of runoff and dryness that occur over the yearly cycle and which can only get more extreme as development proceeds in the upland areas draining into the river. These wetlands are, of course, ecologically important in their own right as wildlife habitat and a preserve for native vegetation.
The downstream 10 miles of the river present somewhat different challenges from those upstream. In many places land near the river contains, or potentially could contain, residential development, with the potential for pollution from septic tanks and other activities. Much land near the river supports agricultural and livestock enterprises of various sorts, which present risks if manure is not handled properly. Fertilizers and pesticides may be applied to croplands, and these substances may end up in the river if care is not taken. The river approaches the Puget Sound and Pacific rail line in some places, which raises the risk of toxic spills, and crosses a major transportation route, Highway 12.
In the upstream sections, the extensive wetlands provide some protective buffer, but that is nearly absent in the downstream portion. During floods the swales and floodways could conceivably carry into the river pollution from sites quite distant from the ordinary channel. For this reason, maintenance of buffers along the river itself may not provide as much protection as might be hoped. Still, the activities of the county conservation districts and others in encouraging planting of trees on the stream banks and promoting good livestock management practices are very important in addressing water quality problems, especially temperature and dissolved oxygen.
Overall, the picture for the Black River is very hopeful. It is in comparatively good condition today, and if the present trend toward more protection continues, the conservation values of the watershed should continue to increase.
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By Bill Barmettler, Chehalis River Council
Mark Stafford, the eighth grade Life Sciences teacher at Chehalis Middle School, pulled together a very ambitious project in October of 2004. From October 12th through the 14th, he transported 148 of his 8th grade students to Stan Hedwall Park to perform hands-on water quality assessment training along the banks of the Newaukum River. Testing stations for fecal coliform, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, phosphates, nitrates, and a stream walk were included in the assessment training.
This was a huge undertaking. Mark was able to round up some help to make it all happen. The Chehalis Basin Education Consortium provided test kits, supplies, technical assistance, and teachers to substitute for Mark in the classroom. TransAlta kicked in some cash and trained personnel from their lab department. Randy Lightfoot, Jim Papineau, and Jeff Yanish were allowed to leave work on some or all of the field days so they could watch over the young scientists as they mixed their potions.
Meredith Jones and Sue Kennedy, both with the City of Chehalis Health Department, provided wide-ranging expertise and some test materials that were in critically short supply. Meredith ran the fecal coliform test station single-handed on Tuesday. Sue ran the FC testing and the phosphate test station Wednesday.
Several parents pitched in, and two high school girls, both former students of Mark's, helped out on Thursday. Patti and I brought CRC's two YSI electronic meters to use as reality checks at the dissolved oxygen and pH test stations. The dissolved oxygen meter was particularly useful because the DO test kit results were all over the place and we needed to know what the river was really doing. The pH test kits produced fairly repeatable results that were as close to the YSI meter as could be expected.
The weather even cooperated, acting as the catalyst in the last experiment of the day. What reaction would you expect when you mix warm sun, a river, and a bunch of kids with a half-hour of free time on their hands before the bus comes back?
Sometimes students learn how to collect data but don't learn what to do with it. Mr. Stafford is addressing that issue with a framework into which he can enter the data and assess the Newaukum's relative health. Listed below are the cumulative results from the testing.
Each afternoon the kids loaded into the school bus, yelled out a big "Thank You!" and rolled back to their last classes. It was like a storm had blown over. Leaves drifted from the trees. The Newaukum gurgled placidly. The vehicular thrum from I-5 was once again audible as we reassembled test kits, folded tables, and picked up the area, finding glasses, gloves, and a sock or two. Everyone had some rough experiences to share, but the general consensus seemed to be very positive.
Due to our involvement with the Chehalis River Council's water quality monitoring project Patti and I have some experience collecting benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI's), the little creatures that live in the streambeds. When Mark mentioned that he wanted to wrap this project up by spending his Friday classroom time looking at BMI's we jumped at the chance to help out.
On Friday morning, before the sun came up, we met Mark at Stan Hedwall. We collected bugs at six different spots in the river using the tools from CRC's water quality project, transferring the catch to buckets of water as we proceeded. At the last collection spot a huge creature came up kicking and squirming in the net. At first I thought it was a large crayfish. Wrong. It was by far the biggest stonefly we'd ever seen. I mean scary big, as in "No way am I reaching in there, it might eat my hand off" big. Patti, who agonizes over each stonefly we kill during the course of our water quality project, immediately voted to toss it back. I was leaning toward freedom also. On the other hand, "Mothra" could be incredibly useful in class. If Mark was having disciplinary problems all he'd have to do is threaten to put the misbehaving student and this big mutant bug together in a dark room. That oughta do it. So we worked out a deal. Mark would make every attempt to keep the beast alive and return it to the Newaukum at the end of the day. Mothra needed to breathe, and it needed cold water.
Mark kept Mothra in a tub where an aquarium bubbler perked away all day long, and chunked some ice into the water throughout the day. Knowing our concern, he even e-mailed that afternoon to confirm that the stonefly had been returned to the river alive and well.
Recent studies have indicated that students who are exposed to hands-on environmental studies just like Mark's project tend to improve academically. We're talking across-the-board improvements, not just in the environmental sciences. If Mark isn't completely burned out from the stress of coordinating this undertaking, I hope he does it again next year!
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By Janet Strong, Chehalis River Basin Land Trust
Right now you may be resting comfortably in your easy chair after a delicious dinner. If not on a strict diet after the holidays, you consume three good meals each and every day. Now consider our native black bears. At this moment they are sleeping snug in their winter dens, not having had a bite to eat in three or four months. Pregnant females are about to give birth, while asleep, to offspring weighing only 3/4th of a pound each. One to three tiny babies, blind and helpless, will nurse on rich mother's milk containing 33% fat. (Human milk, by contrast, has only 3.5% fat.) By 8 weeks their weight will have zoomed up to 5 pounds each.
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A pregnant bear can lose up to 50% of her weight over a winter in which she gives birth and nurses her newborn. Sometime in April bears throughout the state will be emerging from their dormancy to search for their first meal of the year. Adult males come out first, followed by yearlings and then mothers with cubs.
Washington, the smallest of the contiguous states west of the Mississippi, is blessed with more black bears than any other state except Alaska. Population is estimated at between 25,000 and 30,000. Statewide, they are most numerous in western Washington foothills and mountains, in northeastern counties and the Blue Mountains in the southeast. The Chehalis basin provides great habitat for these bruins with our extensive forested foothills. No wonder many people can relate some good "bear stories."
"Black" bears range in color from true black through brown, cinnamon and reddish-blonde. From nose to tail, they measure 5 to 6 feet long and adult males tip the scales at an average of 220 pounds. Females are much lighter, averaging 130 pounds.
If lucky, they can live 20 years in the wild, feeding mostly on vegetation, including berries, nuts, grasses, tubers and wood fiber. But, the intelligent, resourceful black bear is technically an omnivore, moreover, an opportunist. When circumstances allow, he will devour carcasses, insects, small animals, deer fawns, elk calves, eggs, honey, pet food left outside and human food left unprotected by careless campers and hikers. He will also try to "steal" a cougar or coyote kill.
Preferring the solitary life, black bears wander their territories alone except for females with cubs. Youngsters remain with their mother for 15 months, learning what to eat and how to find it, where to den and other life skills. In August of their second year, they are sent out on their own. (Many of the bears who show up in towns and other un-wild places are these youngsters trying to find a territory of their own. Unfortunately, many humans become frightened, call authorities and the result may be the death of the confused, wandering young bear.) Siblings may den together that second winter, becoming loners after that. Adults come together only during the summer mating season, females conceiving every other year.
Late summer and early autumn, with cooling temperatures, signal all black bears to stuff themselves with as much food as possible in preparation for the winter sleep. Feeding 20-24 hours per day, they need to gain up to 3 pounds a day in order to store the nutritious resources to last until the next spring. In October and November they enter their dens, perhaps in a cave, more often in a hollowed-out stump, under a log, in a dense brush pile.
There is so much more to learn about our fascinating native black bears. The WA Department of Fish and Wildlife has three colorful, informative pamphlets available to the public full of information about bears, how to identify bear sign and how to coexist with them in rural and wilderness areas, whether you are living, camping, or hiking in black bear habitat. They can be obtained from any regional WFDW office.
On the web: http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/blkbear/blkbear.htm.
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By Kathy Jacobson, Coordinator, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium
As the old year flows into the New Year, I find myself thinking about rivers. As the coordinator of the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, I am privileged to work alongside teachers and students in the protection and restoration of the Chehalis River. As I teach others about river ecology, I've found that rivers have taught me many lessons. Rivers have allowed me to take many journeys within myself this year.
In the silvery grays of the winter, I found myself sitting next to the Cispus River as I wrestled with making a decision. Raptors flew overhead; caddisfly larva crawled on the river floor as I listened to the river. Instead of trying to make a decision, I let go, and, as the saying goes, "went with the flow."
Among the pinks, yellows and greens of spring, I led an interpretive walk for 5th graders. As we approached the river, the boisterous group transformed themselves into quiet, thoughtful students when they heard and then saw the river. The students stood transfixed as they listened to the musical tones of the river and watched as it rippled, glided and tumbled over rocks and wood. To the students, the river was a source of wonder, mystery and life.
In the golden days of summer, as I swam in the cold, liquid blue waters of several rivers, I rediscovered rivers as a source of pure joy, exuberance and pleasure.
In the orange, red and yellow days of fall, from a high bank I watched the chum salmon swim home, home to Schafer State Park on the Satsop. The river guided the fish home with its scent and challenged the fish to stay strong, to fight until they were back in their natal waters.
Rivers are tremendous sources of inspiration, beauty and life. They support a diversity of wildlife, are sources of drinking water and are some of the oldest natural features on earth. Rivers are inseparable from the land through which they flow, and so are barometers of the health of our environment. Rivers are worthy of our affection and protection. And as author Barry Lopez said, "To stick your hands in the river is to feel the cords that bind the earth together in one piece."
In welcoming the New Year, I still feel the pull of the rivers. Our family just got a puppy, one born on a farm near the Chehalis River. My daughter instinctively named him Rio, meaning "river" in Spanish.
As I continue working with students and teachers in the protection and restoration of the Chehalis River, I am excited to discover what the Chehalis River and other northwest rivers teach me in the New Year.
