Restoration Volunteer Steve Smith "It is a humble sight, the newly-planted tree: just a leafless gray stem standing not very tall at all. You could shove any old stick into the ground and get the same visual effect. Yet somehow, I never find myself wondering why I bothered to do this, or why I shambled out of bed on a Saturday morning to work in the dirt and the cold. Because the mornings (once I am awake) truly are beautiful, the work keeps me warm, and the weather is most often surprisingly kind. Looking at the swath of humble gray stems we have planted this morning, thinking of the new life waiting within each, I am nothing but glad to have risen early for this. Fast-forward to the spring and summer, and I do not have to think of that waiting new life anymore. It is done waiting and it is right there in front of me: the Oregon ash feeding finches and wood ducks with its seeds, the pink swamp roses offering pollen to bees and nectar to hummingbirds...the list goes on. One winter morning, my neighbors and I put a bunch of skinny gray sticks into the ground, and now I watch them bursting into color, scent, and crucial food and habitat for Johnson Creek wildlife. And that is, to say the least, a good feeling. And hey, the free doughnuts did not hurt either."
Restoration Volunteer Chris McMillan I first volunteered with JCWC in the Fall of 2001. Our first mission (should we choose to accept it): remove a stand of 'old-growth Himalayan blackberry canes' along Kelly Creek, a tributary of the Johnson Creek watershed. Is there anything more fun than blackberry removal? Yes! Planting a mix of cedar, salmonberry, and Oregon Ash in its place, and watching them take root and thrive. When you spend a day with the JCWC, lots of things happen: you help provide habitat for native species, you meet lots of friendly people, you get dirty!, you get coffee!, and you get a real sense of accomplishment working with good people trying to improve a beautiful part of our city. It's a different experience each time, too. At last weekend's Watershed Wide Event 2011, I got to plant a mix of understory plants just a few hundred feet downstream from where I grew up on the creek. At the event previous to that, it was pulling out English Ivy in the Foster Road floodplain restoration area. And every time, you have a good chance of seeing native creatures that you may have only seen in photos, who make their home in the watershed. There's nothing quite like seeing a crow-sized pileated woodpecker fly right by your head and land on a dead Alder snag, looking for food, or seeing a troop of Boy Scouts working in the rain without complaint. (Yes, the Boy Scout is a native creature). Come on out and find the joy in volunteering with the Johnson Creek Watershed Council! We'd love to meet you!
Teacher Resources
Youth Engaged Program
The Johnson Creek Watershed Council works to connect youth to their watershed community through hands-on stewardship activities coupled with scientific inquiry about watershed systems and processes. Student groups are matched to sites in the watershed where they engage in a minimum of two work party experiences over the course of their academic year to conduct monitoring and inquiry-based science, in addition to their stewardship activities.
If you are an educator looking for ways to involve your students in outdoor education or service learning, contact Noah Jenkins, Education and Research Associate at 503-652-7477 or noah@jcwc.org.
Curriculum Aids
Water Cycle
Watershed Education
Native Plants
Recycling
Water Conservation