High-schoolers dig restoration project

About 35 students from Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver high schools spent Wednesday digging in the dirt. They weren’t looking for buried treasure but helping to restore wetlands habitat at Baz River Front Park.

“It’s been cool to be able to see what they’ve been doing with native plants, and it’s really cool to be out here doing this stuff,” Bay senior Hudson Wright said. “Just to be able to plant, learn what’s native and learn what can be used in the ecosystem is cool.”

Wright said protecting the environment is especially important to his generation.

“If we can make it clean and put some native plants in, in the future, that will be way better,” he said.

Along with pulling invasive plants, the students also planted new trees and pollinator plants, and learned about the importance of salmon habitat.

The field trip was made possible by the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group’s Seeds to Salmon program through a grant from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.

“I view this more as an educational opportunity in some ways than a massive restoration effort,” said Matt Gammel, project manager for the nonprofit group.

Gammel said the Baz River Front area has been an ongoing project, one he inherited from a previous project manager.

“This whole hillside was completely covered with English ivy and blackberry. We’ve had pretty good success getting the ivy and blackberry knocked out. But the reed canary has been a different story,” Gammel said. “With any kind of invasive project is not necessarily that we’re going to eradicate it but that we’re going to try to break up the monoculture.”

While other projects have relied on things like beaver dams to flood the area and drown out invasive species, the Camas park’s urban location and popularity with local residents means a different approach is needed.

“Now, it’s basically just a blanket of reed canary with some larger ash and oak trees. What we want to do is add more diversity of willows and other things that can have a broader range of use to the larger ecosystem — the birds and beavers and other critters that are going to be using this site,” Gammel said.

Once the habitat restoration work is done, Gammel said two informational signs will be placed along the boardwalk. One sign will focus on the cultural background of the area and its importance to Native tribes. The other sign will have information on the importance of wetlands and how they filter out contaminants and pollution from waterways.

Emily Newman, Lower Columbia STEM coordinator for the Pacific Education Institute, helped coordinate the event and also spent time in the classroom with the students. Along with working to ensure the program meets Next Generation Science Standards, she also helped coordinate a career panel day with the students.

“They were very interested in like how they got there and what schooling they had to take and the paths of working outside,” she said.

That can include jobs with the U.S. Forest Service, state environmental agency or local government.

“It was a really cool day to be a part of,” Newman said.

Amy Carpenter teaches natural resources to her freshman, sophomore, junior and senior students at Bay. Carpenter said learning about the natural environment provides skills that last beyond the classroom.

“I want them to know these skills, so when they get their own place, they know what to do,” she said. “We talk about water, soil, forestry. We raise fish in our classroom. We raise a lot of native plants for our plant sale. So these kids see this all throughout the year, and this is a great opportunity because now they’re seeing it in action.”

Getting her students out working in the habitat, getting their hands dirty, pulling grasses and planting new plants is different from the classroom or working in a greenhouse. She said the benefits go beyond improving the natural area.

“When they’re actually pulling this stuff they’re going, ‘Oh, now I understand what that looks like. Now, I understand,’ and they have a good time at it,” she said. “It fits right into community service and leadership.”

Bay freshman Sam Sanchez-Valdez said she liked getting outside but has also enjoyed the classroom lessons.

“I always like learning about different plants and being able to identify them from the leaves and roots and stuff,” she said.

She said she also likes learning about the local environment and ecosystem.

“It’s all around us. You can’t escape it. You might as well learn more about it,” she said.

Shari Phiel: [email protected]; 360-562-6317; @Shari_Phiel

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