Date of volunteer work: 12/29/2016.
Site Name: Johnson Creek Park.
Number of hours worked: 1.5.
Species removed: 0.
Estimated percent cover before removal0.
Approximate square feet of invasives removed0.
As the final week of 2016 comes to a close, I wanted to spend a little time at the park reflecting on the last year and any accomplishments made. The early part of the year was spent picking up the little trash that had accumulated and identifying and marking fig butter cup as well as getting the lay of the land. I was overwhelmed at first. Where to begin removing blackberries and clematis? It was pretty much everywhere! I eventually zeroed in on one spot and slowly started pulling clematis from drooping young saplings. I took a picture. I cut blackberries, saw a mouse, a few ducks and eventually the sky. Summer was more difficult due all the green and lush invasives and then the very large camp that took over the north part of the park. Later, another camp appeared under the giant evergreen. A tree had fallen across the creek near the Springwater overpass and was later removed. Another tree on the steep slope by the Springwater fell shortly afterward but landed in the flat area of the park. Today the camps are gone. There is an enormous amount of trash left from the large camp at the north end and I was unprepared today and had no bags to start removing some of it. I plan to go back next week and start some of that clean up but much more help will be needed with that project due to some larger, heavy objects. I am posting 2 pictures. Both are of the area I chose to clear. One was taken in April and the other today. It looks like someone else has also been working in the area since it looks even better than when i started.
