AmeriCorps in Pateros

On Saturday October 25^th, every healthy and able AmeriCorps member in the country took part in a required day of service called Make a Difference Day. This is a day when AmeriCorps volunteers, regardless of their volunteer site, join a team of fellow AmeriCorps members in “getting things done” within the community. That could mean painting over graffiti, framing a house after a fire, or in our case rebuilding deer fences on orchards that were destroyed in the massive Carlton Complex Fire in Pateros.

Many of us will remember the 2014 fires. It affected all of us in one way or another. We heard story after heart-wrenching story about families who lost everything, who should get the blame for such a catastrophe and the sheer economic cost of such a disaster. But now, in late October, how many of us are still thinking about these issues? How many of us can honestly say that we think of the fires daily, much less deal with their consequences every day? The fires are out. The media has long since shifted their focus. Air quality is back to normal. For most, it’s back to life as usual. Not for those who live in Pateros and areas affected by the fires. I will not make any futile attempt at describing their current situation; suffice it to say, deer fences are but a fingernail scratch on the tip of the iceberg.

Deer fences are as important to an orchardist as a sharp saw to a lumberjack. Without them deer would greatly reduce yields every year, making a deer fence an excellent one time investment of time and money. The orchards we were helping out on Saturday lost significant portions of their fences, yet luckily their trees were still standing. With frozen ground and snow just around the corner, the time for repairing and in some places replacing fencing is dwindling. That’s where 34 AmeriCorps volunteers come in. By splitting our group in two we were able to help two orchards pull down damaged fencing, remove debris, trim obstructing brush, dig fence post holes and set fence posts.

At the end of the day every member of our group was dirty and tired. We left the orchards with blistered hands, tired backs and humbled egos. There were 34 of us, mostly young and able volunteers who spent a day helping out two orchards repair several hundred yards of fencing. In an area 4 times the size of Seattle. Whose primary industry is agriculture. The amount of physical and emotional repair needed in this area is ineffable. That said, and at the risk of sounding tacky, I feel comfortable speaking for the group when I say we made a difference on Make a Difference Day.

Is your compost going into Torpor?

With the mild fall weather we’re experiencing it’s likely that winter will sneak up on us. Too often I've found myself unprepared for all that winter brings. But not this year. This year will be different. I will replace my windshield wipers before it snows, I will pull out all the dead leaves from the gutters and I will coil and stow my hoses. Another cold weather preparation I've been considering is that of ‘winterizing’ my compost pile.

This is the first compost I've truly been in charge of. I built it out of free pallets, found just the right spot for it in the back yard and convinced my suspicious roommates that it was a good idea to pile food scraps in a pallet box in our yard. I’m more emotionally invested in this thing than is probably healthy.

So with the cold coming on, albeit slowly, I've been looking for ways to keep the decomposition going strong. There is no denying the cold weather its victims, but I’m hoping the tiny little organisms in my backyard pile won’t go entirely into torpor.

The easiest thing we can do to protect bacteria in our compost during winter cold is to make the heap bigger. Literally, all you have to do is add more stuff for the bacteria to eat. A larger pile will stay warmer than a smaller pile. Simple as that. To do this I've raked every leaf from my yard and at the risk of sounding like a crazy person I’m going to ask my neighbors if they have plans for their leaves and grass clippings. Luckily my compost is already a bit heavy on the nitrogen and light on the carbon, so leaves will give me a better ratio. You should consider nitrogen and carbon balances before going wild with the notion of bulking up your pile for winter.

Another easy method for keeping your bacteria warm and hungry during the winter is adding a lid. While some of you may have purchased your composter with a lid or crafted one yourself, many compost piles are just that, piles. If you have one of these more open style, heap composts, it may behoove you to throw a tarp over your pile or better yet block it in and add a lid. This will hold the heat in and keep the frost off.

My final suggestion is a good idea regardless of the season. Shredding your material into particles less than two inches in size can make decomposition easier and will allow your pile to build up evenly. It will also make your pile denser and thus better insulated.

If this post has stirred your curiosity about composting or if it’s something you've been considering, I encourage you to build your own. For me it was an activity ripe with intrinsic reward and fostered a compulsion to throw as little as possible into the trash bin.  If you need some inspiration, there are countless do-it-yourself designs to be found on the web.

This year Washingtonians saw the worst fire season in some time. The Carlton Complex burned its way into our psyche as the largest fire in state history, burning over 256,000 acres and destroying about 300 homes. Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency. Washington fires were frequently feature stories in national news. Needless to say, we are all anxious for the end of fire season.   

It may be common place for the residents of North Central Washington, but as an outsider it’s been strange to see more smoky days than clear skies in September. A question for all the long time locals-do you remember seeing so many smoky days five years ago? 10 years ago? 20 years ago? Likely your answer is “no, No, NO!”

It’s no secret that in the Pacific Northwest we've seen a significant increase in the size and severity of wild fires in the last decade. Contributing factors to the uptick include forest management techniques, the growing population and increased development in wildland areas. Another undeniable contributor, climate change, is no longer something the greater scientific world is divided on. So I won’t spend any time highlighting facts to prove it. Instead, let’s consider what climate change means for the fire seasons to come.

It’s easy to say warmer weather results in higher fire danger and be done with it. But after digging a little deeper a layman, like myself, will find that there’s much more to climate change than just hotter, drier conditions. In every article I read on the subject, one common theme is longer fire seasons. With an earlier than average snow melt and warmer temperatures later in the fall, forests are at risk much longer than in the past. 50 years ago the snowpack in the Pacific Northwest melted about four weeks later than in recent years. With a shorter, less sustained melt off, forests have a relatively small window of sufficient moisture.

Mountain Pine Beetle

A lesser known yet equally exasperating effect climate change has on the fire season is the increase in fuel. Dead trees make the best fuel source for large scale wild fires. Tree killing insects like the pine

beetle have a high survival rate during mild winters, and drier conditions allow for widespread insect infestations. Ipso facto, climate change has allowed tree munching insects to turn swaths of forest into giant tinder boxes.

Even lesser known is the effect of increased risk of lightning. Not surprisingly, lightning is the cause of tens of thousands of fires each year. The likelihood of lightning increases as the temperature rises. According to the National Wildlife Federation’s website, for every 1.8 degree Fahrenheit increase lightning strikes are 6% more likely. So if our current warming trends continue, we will see an increase in lightning and lightning caused fires.

As there is no way to stomp the brakes on the climate change bus, we’re going to have to learn to live with its worsening effects. However, considering the difficulty in predicting climate change in the future, wise resource management is much easier to say than do. There is so much that we don’t understand about climate change that it can be hard to distinguish between right and wrong practices.

As tough as it may be to predict the future, one of the best  resources on climate change effects attempts to do just that. The NWCC, or Northwest Interagency Coordination Center website (if the name befuddles you as it did me, follow the link and read up!) has a plethora of reports, predictive data and helpful links. Those looking for more information, or those who are skeptical about information obtained from a layperson’s blog, may find this website handy. Particularly interesting to me was the seasonal outlook video.

The NWCC late summer and fall climate and significant fire outlook video offers information rich graphics with helpful narration.

The New Guy

Hello all, my name is Zach Hinman and I’m the new AmeriCorps member here at the Cascadia Conservation District. Those who came before me and have posted wonderful blogs since 2011 all introduced themselves with their very first post. Carrying on tradition, I’d like to share a bit about myself. I’d also like to give you an idea of my role within the Cascadia Conservation District this year.

I graduated from the University of Idaho in 2010 and have since held a variety of positions from teacher, to river guide to blueberry picker. When I’m not fulfilling the duties of any given title, I’m often on, in or near rivers. I’m a white water enthusiast, avid fly fisherman and a lackadaisical hiker and biker. I grew up not too far from here in Bend, OR. While it’s easy to appreciate the similarities between my hometown and Wenatchee, I’m looking forward to discovering the unique features the valley has to offer.

My position here at Cascadia is not dissimilar from the position I held last year as environmental educator at the Franklin Conservation District in Pasco, WA. Like last year, for the first several months of my stint here I’ll spend the majority of my time teaching Water on Wheels in elementary school classrooms. Water on Wheels is a hands on science program focusing on the importance of watersheds, soil and water.  In 2015 my duties here will change. I’m looking forward to this part of my service term where I’ll begin assisting the conservation district with their annual projects.

I’m excited about my new position here in Wenatchee and I look forward to exploring North Central Washington. I’ll do my best to keep you all posted on conservation district news and events in an exciting and relevant way. I encourage everyone to leave questions, comments and concerns.

As a final thought I’d like to remind everyone of the forthcoming due date for our Picture the Wenatchee photo contest. Those excellent photos you've all been taking in the Wenatchee River Watershed this year can be submitted from now until October 1^st. 12 winning photos will be used in our 2015 calendar. You can find details and make submissions at picturethewenatchee.com.

P.S. The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival will take place this weekend, September 18-20^th, at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. There will be art, food, games and more. Find our booth for an interactive watershed model!

-Zach

Goodbye, Cascadia

Well, it’s arrived. The end of my service term here at the Cascadia Conservation District. Come July 15 I will have served 10.5 months and over 1700 hours with the district. It’s been an interesting journey. Many things I enjoyed doing, some I didn't. There were really busy times, and slower ones. The one thing that held it all together even when I wasn't necessarily enjoying myself were the people. I enjoyed working with everyone here. It’s one of the few places I've worked or spent time at that I felt completely included. It’s refreshing to realize that not all workplaces are uptight and stuffy. I actually look forward to showing up to work, which is a first.

So with that I must admit I am a little sad to leave. The District has given me opportunities to work with a variety of conservation related activities. Time spent in the field digging holes and watering plants. Coordinating native plant sales and workshops to help county residents better manage and support their natural resources. I taught students from kindergarten up through high school about a wide variety of environmental subjects, from the shrub steppe to rivers to fish. I felt like I contributed and had an impact. For that I am thankful. I've learned a lot in the last year and I’m happy that I finally got to put some of my knowledge to good use.

I hope that after this I can continue to find places to contribute and make an impact. I don’t have anything lined up yet, but I’m not worried about that. It’ll come to me eventually. Maybe I’ll look for more permanent employment in the conservation field. Maybe I’ll go back to school. Only time will tell.

So I bid farewell. I've quite enjoyed writing these blogs. Some of them might have been a little dense, but overall I’m hoping they were all still interesting. And most important of all, I'm hopeful you learned something. 

Dry Spring

Summer is nearly upon us. And for the first time in a few years I feel like the weather has progressed in an appropriate fashion, slowly transitioning out of winter, warming up in early spring, some hot days in May, but generally a constant increase in temperature without a lot of fluctuation. The hills were spring green, the flowers bloomed, and now as we move into summer they’re taking on their more traditional ‘golden’ color.  I consider it an almost perfect spring.

Perfect except for the lack of moisture. It’s looking to be a dry summer. Three small blazes have already occurred in and around the area. One from lightning, one from a campfire, and the most recent may be linked to fireworks. While two of those were easily preventable (i.e. don’t play with fire outside in the summer), it still bodes poorly for this summer’s fire season.

It’s been a dry spring. That’s not to say there is or will be a lack of water. Last I looked the river was flowing along just fine, full of cold and (somewhat) clear water. Water still flows from our taps and our lawns are just as green as ever. The snowpack near the end of winter was just about where it needed to be to ensure proper water flows down the rivers and through our pipes.

The lack of spring moisture will be felt more in the hills and forests. Areas we can’t just turn on the sprinkler and let the water flow upon the parched land. And guess what? The native plants don’t care. There’s a reason they’re native. They survive and thrive in this climate. Going for a few months without water from the sky is natural.

Some of them survive by doing all their growing and flowering in the spring when there’s water available from snowmelt. At this point annuals usually die off leaving behind their seeds to sprout up the following spring. Some perennials die back and wait out the summer, fall, and winter, sprouting with new growth when spring comes again. Other plants survive and grow throughout the year by sinking roots deep into the soil to get at the water that never quite evaporates.

The problem is invasive plants thrive in this climate as well. They’re invasive because they can outcompete native plants. Whether by taking over areas native plants don’t usually grow, colonizing a disturbed area quicker, or some combination of these and other reasons.

Wildfires are a natural part of the ecosystem. And in a healthy ecosystem they generally burn quickly through an area and move on. The problem we have is the amount of material present creates dangerous fire conditions. Invasive plants grow around natives filling in what may have been a ‘natural’ fire break. Lack of fire over several years allows native plants to grow bigger and spread over a larger area than they have historically. All this leads to bigger and bigger fires.

Which can be counteracted by higher levels of moisture. It’s hard for fires to burn through green grass or damp soil. If there had been more spring rain the three small fires this year might not have occurred. Rain can counteract an unhealthy aspect of an ecosystem. The thing is we can’t count on the rain. Our area is dry and prone to fires. Hoping for moisture won’t change that.

Many wildfires can be prevented through safe outdoor activities: no campfires, no sparks, etc. But the lightning strike that started the first wildfire this year is not something we can control. Lightning is a natural process and was the original igniter for the natural wildfire cycle of our area. Putting it out was probably the correct thing to do. Wildfires have been suppressed long enough that to let them burn unchecked will lead to massive ecological and property damage. But we’ve also reached the point that any wildfires that do start will take on a life of their own and provide a real challenge to control and stop.

Funny how a lack of falling water from the sky can have such an impact on our area. We’ll probably be fine. Most people are safe when they’re outdoors in the middle of the summer with the fire danger. And hopefully it doesn’t turn into a smoky, miserable summer.

May Wrap Up

May is drawing to a close and I realize that this is the first (and only) blog post for the month. It’s been a busy month with most weeks full of a variety of activities that demanded my attention and kept me out of the office. However, I didn't want to end the month without highlighting a few of the things that occurred, so here they are.

 Several weeks in April and May saw me helping with science field days around Wenatchee. First was a 5^th grade shrub steppe experience, next a similar experience for 1^st graders, after that a kindergarten walk, and finally at the end of the month a 4^th grade science day revolving around fish and hydroelectric power. That seems like a lot, but for the most part I really enjoyed all of it. I helped with plant identification and counting, native wildlife, ecosystems, and fish statistics. It was good that I had a presence there, both as an Americorps member and as a representative of Cascadia. Cascadia has an effect, both directly and indirectly, on many of these ecosystems through their work in conservation and restoration. It’s helpful to be able to introduce the kids to the ideas of natural ecosystems and the organizations that are involved with preserving them.

May’s next event was Kids in the Creek (KITC). KITC is a program put on by Cascadia in partnership with the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the Forest Service, along with many others. The program is designed to get young high school students hands on science through a variety of stations. Half of the stations are ‘dry’ and include: water quality, fish health, and riparian vegetation. The other half are ‘wet’ stations. Requiring the students to don waders and get in the creek (hence the Kids in the Creek). These stations include: invertebrate investigation, stream health, and flow. KITC occurred in early May and brought roughly 300 students through the 3 day program. The overall goal is to connect the classroom science with real-life experiences, showing students that science is not just boring class time.

The third week of May I was out of the office driving halfway across the county to Minnesota to canoe for a week, and then driving back to Washington. I mention this because of some of my observations along the way. In many locations on my drive I noticed fields tilled right up to the water lines on creeks, rivers, and lakes. There was no buffer. Anything applied to the crops could run into the water. Erosion was rampant in spots with 10 foot vertical banks slowly eating into fields because there was no riparian vegetation to secure the soil. It was obvious the natural ecosystem had been destroyed in many areas leaving only countless fields behind.

That’s about it for the month of May. Everything that occurred managed to shrink to a manageable text level, but only because I don’t want to get into all the details. I spent much of my time at education and outreach events, which is great because that’s what I’m here for. I feel like several hundred students learned a little more about the environment through my actions.

Apple Blossom

The Apple Blossom Festival is nearly here. The food fair will start serving shortly. The carnival is rising at Riverfront Park. The youth parade is just a couple days away, followed by the main parade a week later. It’s a busy time of year in Wenatchee. Tens of thousands of people will flood the parks and streets to enjoy all we have to offer.

Look outside of Wenatchee and you’ll notice the orchards abloom. Spring presents a medley of blossoms: cherry, apple, pear, peach, plum, nectarine, and so forth. Washington leads the nation in production of apples, cherries, and pears. Why do they grow so well here? It really comes down to a combination of climate and water availability.

The weather is great here in Washington. We experience all four seasons. If you look back at the blog post on seed dormancy you’ll read about how some seeds require a period of cold before sprouting. Well, some trees require cold before they’ll produce blossoms, and therefore, fruit. We also have nice warm, dry summers. The fruit loves the hot weather. It helps ripen the fruit and gives it a good color and sweetness. All the sunshine helps the tree photosynthesize and produce great fruit. The dry weather is good for the fruit too. Rain and hail can damage fruit as it grows. Cherries often soak up too much water during a rain storm and then their skin splits.

The downside to dry weather is the lack of moisture. The trees need to be watered. Without water the tree might die, or at the very least it won’t produce good fruit. That’s where the water availability comes in. We happen to have an abundance of water available to use in Washington from the rivers. The dams create reservoirs and out of these reservoirs flows irrigation water headed to the orchards and the fields, allowing crops to thrive in our arid climate.

  

Apple blossoms were, and still are, an important aspect of Washington life. The orchards have been shrinking for many years. 50 years ago most of the Wenatchee Valley was a forest of orchards. Orchards are continually pushed back to the outreaches of communities as people look for more land to build homes and businesses on. As people moved in next to orchards they started to complain about the dangers of living next to an orchard. The pesticides and fertilizers applied to protect and help the fruit grow. Prices for apples have dropped under competition from many countries around the world. China produces more than half the world’s apples. 

Plant Sale Wrap Up

We've finished up the plant sale for the year (most of the way at least), and I feel like doing a short recap of the related activities over the past few weeks. The plant sale has provided ups and downs throughout the year with its time commitments. Early in the fall preparing the outreach materials and order forms, and then again recently with the bundling and distribution have been time intensive. Late fall and winter were fairly easy with only the occasional order to enter in the computer. We sold all our stock except for a few quaking aspens. There were even a few species that were so popular that we had to order in more of them.

A few weeks ago in March we held our bundling event. Plants are shipped to us in large bags with a single species per bag. We have to take the plants out of those bags and fill our customer orders. Not all the plants are shipped in the correct sizes either. Some plants are shipped 50 to a bundle, which means we have to pull apart those bundles and shrink them to our sale size of 10 plants per bundle. Once all plants are in the correct bundle size we fill the orders by placing the plants into large garbage bags. Damp sawdust is added to each bag to help moisten the roots. A name tag is attached and the finished bundle is placed in a bin. Once all the orders are filled the bins are put back into the cold room to await the distribution day.

 Last Saturday marked the distribution/pick up day for our Native Plant Sale. Customers that had placed orders with us throughout the fall and winter were finally able to receive their much awaited plants. We arrived early to lay out all the plants alphabetically so we didn't have to waste time digging through the bins trying to find a certain order. All but a few people arrived during our three hour time slot to pick up their plants, and we've been working to get the last few orders into their owner’s hands. Hopefully by the end of this week all the orders will be accounted for.

So with the end of the plant sale in sight I can say I’m glad to be wrapping it up for the year and putting it on the shelf. I’ll add in my thoughts and any advice I can think of, and I’ll leave it in the binder for next year’s Americorps to have fun with.

The Bridge Effect

An example of a bad culvert. Notice the

water fall effect that prevents fish passage.

It's also too small and can't handle high

water flows.

A bridge is not a simple structure. To the eye they may seem simple, just a series of intersecting pieces that allow you to span a river, creek, canyon, or bay. But all the pieces must work together to support the weight of the entire bridge and all its traffic on just a few supports. Of course some designs are simpler than others. A small bridge crossing a 10 foot creek is a child’s plaything compared to a bridge spanning the Columbia River. Bridges can be made of many things. Cement, metal, and wood being some of the more common materials, and they’re often combined depending on the need.

As much fun as it would be to write a blog focusing on the types bridges I feel that’s a little outside the areas I should focus on. Instead I want to focus on bridges and their environmental impacts, both good and bad. I want to keep a very loose definition of bridge open for discussion, so I’m going to be looking at bridges and bridge-like structures. I’m not going to be bashing bridges either.

The first area I’d like to look at include the effects on aquatic ecosystems. Large aquatic ecosystems, such as a large river, bay, sound, etc. may be less impacted by a bridge. That’s not to say there’s no impact, especially during construction, but once completed the water and any organisms present can generally navigate around the pylons with little impediment.

Small aquatic ecosystems are easier to negatively impact. Things like creeks and small rivers. Places where an improper bridge can severely limit the flow of that ecosystem. I’m going to include culverts here. I consider them bridge-like.

The same site replaced with a bridge. Notice the open water.
Fish and other wildlife can freely travel. 

Culverts can severely reduce the health of aquatic ecosystems if they’re too small or improperly installed. They can separate fish populations or prevent the migration of salmon to spawning habitat. They can also limit the movement of aquatic insects and amphibians. Culverts that can’t handle high water flows can lead to washouts of surrounding vegetation and soil further negatively impacting the water health. Culverts without natural surface bottoms can disrupt wildlife by confusing them as they move around. Luckily these have simple solutions. Replace them with larger culverts that properly connect the stream, or better yet, remove the culverts entirely and install an open span bridge. This allows for the proper meandering of the stream and lessens the impact on wildlife.

Bridges spanning rivers can also be poorly built and while they might not affect the aquatic ecosystem as much they can impact the terrestrial ecosystem. Many animals move throughout their day near water. If they’re walking along the bank and suddenly run into a large cement bridge where do they go? Maybe they can swim, so they just hop in the river and go around. Maybe they turn around and go back. Or maybe they want to keep going. They wander up onto the road, possibly endangering themselves and human drivers.

Another possible option. A much larger culvert. There 

is no longer a waterfall and it can handle high water flow.

However, bridges can be built specifically for the protection of animals that may want to move across a highway or highly congested area. Often these are termed wildlife crossings, and include a variety of structures including overpasses, underpasses, and culverts (all bridges or bridge-like structures). They are built solely to allow animals to move without having to cross in front of traffic.

Thankfully, most negative impacts of bridges are considered when new bridges are being built. All aspects of the ecosystem are considered, aquatic, terrestrial, and even, aerial (some birds run into suspension bridge lines). Many new bridges look to mitigate and even reverse the negative impacts of their forebears resulting in bridges that accommodate human needs to travel, but also try to preserve natural ecosystems.