Little Chumstick Creek Community Tire Clean-Up Day

In the summer of 2016, a property was foreclosed adjacent to Little Chumstick Creek.  During the clean-up process, a non-local contractor avoided dumping fees by disposing of 300-350 tires directly into Little Chumstick Creek.  After several months of frustrated neighbors working with the bank that owns the offending property, and pressuring the responsible contractor to remedy the problem, the neighborhood had little success.  During the recent implementation of a Cascadia Conservation District stream restoration project on adjoining property, the neighbors reached out to see if the CD could assist with removal and disposal of the tires.

Tires illegally dumped in creek

Volunteers hauling tires out of creek

AmeriCorps member Ava is keeping track of signing in volunteers

Little Chumstick Creek is a tributary of Chumstick Creek, which has been identified as critical steelhead and salmon habitat in the Wenatchee River Watershed. Streams were re-opened to fish passage in 2012 after 13 fish barriers were removed and replaced with cast concrete bridges.  Following the barrier removal, endangered steelhead and spring chinook have increased use of the creek which offers protection to juveniles during high water events in the Wenatchee River, and cold water for spawning during peak summer temperatures.


Most of this ~15 mile watershed has been utilized for agriculture throughout the 20^th century, which has resulted in severally degraded habitat throughout much of the watershed.  Cascadia Conservation District has partnered with Washington Department of Ecology to make stream restoration a priority in the Chumstick watershed, and this project area represents an excellent example of an area in need of restoration and clean-up to improve habitat as well as water quality and quantity.

Semi-trailer used to haul tires away from site

The district hosts 1-2 volunteer clean up days in each of the Chelan County Watersheds each year. Our efforts are directed towards building relationships within the community we serve, as well as local by-in to continue implementing restoration projects in the area. 

Crew after helping to remove tires from the creek

On Saturday, December 3rd, Cascadia hosted the tire clean-up day. To make the clean-up possible, Chelan County Solid Waste donated use of a 28 foot semi-trailer to haul out tires and pay for the cost of disposal. We had about 18 volunteers attend the event and were able to remove about 350 tires in only two hours! We look forward to continue making progress in habitat restoration throughout Chelan County. 

Kids in the Creek!

On May 5, 6 and 7 approximately 300 high school students found themselves on the scenic grounds of the Entiat Fish Hatchery for the annual Kids in the Creek event (KITC). KITC is a hands on outdoor education program in which high school biology students study  stream ecology on the Entiat River. Thousands of North Central Washington students have experienced this unique learning opportunity since its inception in 1992.

Each day at KITC students are split into six teams which rotate between six learning stations throughout the day. Each station is led by resource professionals (Cascade Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, Chelan County Natural Resources Department, United States Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Team Naturaleza, Wenatchee School District, Trout Unlimited, Ponderosa Community, AmeriCorps and the Public Utility District) and focuses on key components of stream ecology.

Invertebrate Investigators- At this station the students dawn baggy, clown-sized waders and take to the stream with nets to collect macro invertebrates. Using microscopes, students compare their samples with identification charts to determine which species they’ve found and get an indication of stream health.

Riparian RX- Students at this station take a walk through the Entiat River’s riparian zone learning about adaptation, the function of riparian zones, stream bank restoration and flora and fauna interrelationships. Students are exposed to field techniques and tools used to determine ground cover, canopy cover and overall riparian health.

Habitat Sense – At habitat sense students examine physical aspects of the river and discuss what good fish habitat looks like. These attributes include riffles, glides, pools, substrate and embeddedness.

Fish Health- As the station title suggests, the focus here is fish health and the environmental factors that affect fish. Students also learn about fish anatomy and environmental stressors.

Stream Flow- At this station students use mathematical equations they’ve learned in the classroom to calculate the stream flow of a side channel of the Entiat River. After calculating the flow, the students discuss what varying flows mean for the ecosystem, especially at extreme high and low flows.

Water Quality- Here, students learn to measure the pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and temperature of a river. They then use these measurements to discuss and quantify stream health.

Upon completing each station, at the end of the day, each team is charged with coming up with a management plan for a swath of riverside property. These plans are then presented to peers and several resource professionals who critique each plan.

This year’s KITC was a huge success. Everything went just as planned and everyone involved learned something they could take with them. A few of the participating Wenatchee High School students were asked what they learned at KITC. This is how one replied: “it is important to us to have healthy streams…we really affect our watershed.”

Cascadia would like to thank Entiat Fish Hatchery for providing a beautiful venue, Alcoa and South Douglas Conservation District for their funding, and the Entiat Volunteer Service group for all their hard work and support. We would also like to thank all the resource professionals who came out to share their knowledge with the next generation of land managers!

Below are more Wenatchee High School students’ replies when asked what they learned at KITC.

* How important riparians are; why it is important to us to have healthy streams; how we really affect our watershed.

* Learned it's hard to catch a fish; fish are good at hiding; construction sites are way too dirty.

*That fish need healthy/non-polluted water to live; all streams have different habitat for different bugs; that biologists have very hands on jobs.

* It's very important to keep our environment clean for the Wenatchee watershed.

* That learning can be fun; you don't always learn in classrooms; hands on is good.

* How much the scientists care; how interesting macroinvertebrates are; how fun it was.

* It was fun to learn more stuff about the land; I thought it was going to be boring but it was fun; that fish and trees need to be helped and saved from being turned into stores and homes.

Today's snowpack in North Central Washington is 31% of its 29 year average (ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal_update.pdf).

What Cascadia Does, Part II

Two weeks ago we took a look at how Cascadia Conservation District is an asset to the community through its Landowner Owner Assistance Program. Continuing with that theme, we’re going to take a quick look at the Family Forest Fish Passage Program, which is run by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources- one of Cascadia’s partnering organizations. Cascadia’s roll in this program is to help Chelan County landowners determine eligibility, file the application and finally oversee implementation once funding is made available by the DNR.

Culverts like these block fish passage,
especially for juvenile fish.

A good portion of Washington’s forested land, 3.2 million acres (http://www.dnr.wa.gov), is privately owned by small forest landowners. These 3.2 million acres are an important habitat component in a state with federally protected anadromous fish populations. This is where the Family Forest Fish Passage Program comes in.

Working with qualified landowners, the purpose of the Family Forest Fish Passage Program is to replace culverts and other barriers with new structures that allow fish easy passage and reduce habitat degradation while improving access for land owners. Common culprits, culverts can degrade and dissect fish habitat in several ways. A culvert can deter fish passage if there is a drop, similar to a water fall, from the output of the culvert. Similarly, a culvert can become a barrier if it is undersized, creating high water velocity and pressure so great it prevents fish, especially juveniles, from advancing upstream.

Unlike our Landowner Assistance Program, there are several conditions for eligibility. You must be a private small forest landowner and harvest less than 2 million board feet of timber annually from your property. The barrier must be associated with a road and on forested land capable of supporting a merchantable stand of timber. Finally, the barrier must be in a fish-bearing stream, typically wider than 2 feet with a gradient less than 20%.

If you’d like to learn more about this program, visit the Washington State Department of Natural Resources website, call our office at (509) 436-1601 or come to our office at 15 N Mission St. Wenatchee, WA.

Today’s snowpack in North Central Washington is down to 55% of the 34 year average (http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov).

What Cascadia Does

“Oh yeah, the conservation district… That must be, uh, some interesting work?” Verbatim, my loquacious uncle’s reply when I told him what I’ve been up to and where I’m working. Like most, my uncle had no idea what a conservation district is. Surprisingly, I’ve had a hard time getting people to understand just what a conservation district does. There is no easy elevator speech for conservation districts. So I’d like to use the next few blog posts to highlight some of our programs.

 Officially, from the National Association of Conservation Districts’ website,"Conservation districts are local units of government established under state law to carry out natural resource management programs at the local level. Districts work with millions of cooperating landowners and operators to help them manage and protect land and water resources on all private lands and many public lands in the United States" (http://www.nacdnet.org/). In short, it is an organization that seeks to help people take care of the land and environment around us. Cascadia’s landowner assistance program is one of several ways we do this.

A hedgerow, planted to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects.

 The landowner assistance program is for landowners in Chelan County, excluding those within Wenatchee and Chelan city limits, who are looking for technical and/or financial assistance in installing best management practices (land use practices which mitigate environmental degradation). This could mean replacing outdated irrigation, restoring buffers or riparian zones or even soil testing. Because of this area’s predominant agriculture industry, its proximity to anadromous fish habitat and its proclivity for wildfires, much of our landowner assistance is for landowners with streamside, farmland, orchard or forested property. That said, if your land does not fall in one of these categories, it does not disqualify you for such assistance.

An excellent example of landowners who not only took advantage of our landowner assistance program, but also became role models for environmental stewardship, was highlighted in a blogpost of ours from November 21, 2011.

If you’d like more information on landowner assistance you can call us at (509) 436-1601, email us at www.cascadiacd.org or just come by our office at 14 N Mission St. Landowner assistance is only a fraction of what we do here at Cascadia, so please come back next week for a look at the Family Forest Fish Passage Program.

With all of the warm weather and rain we’ve had in the last week, today’s snow pack in our area is a measly 63% of the 34 year average.  

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.

Algae

Pond scum. Most likely so thick because of fertilizer runoff.

Algae are found the world over, generally aquatic, but not always. They thrive in warm water and cold water, saltwater and freshwater. Most are photosynthetic—same as plants—using sunlight to power chemical reactions used to create carbohydrates. They range from small, single-celled organisms up to large kelps over a hundred feet in length. Green, red, and brown algae are prominent, but they are by no means the only colors. Algae exist on every continent on earth, and live in every climate.

Algae are not a single clade (a clade is a group comprised of an ancestor and all its descendants). They didn’t evolve from one common ancestor. They arrived at the present day from different evolutionary paths, but they shared enough common characteristics that they were combined into a single group, though a solid definition of an alga is hard to come by.

Since we live in a landlocked county I feel that discussing oceanic algae is not pertinent to this blog, so I’m going to focus on those found in freshwater ecosystems. (This will also help limit the length of this blog.)

Algae provide important functions in many ecosystems. They are often the primary producers in an aquatic ecosystem. Primary producers are at the bottom of the food chain. Algae are eaten by larger organisms such as zooplankton, which in turn are eaten by fish, which may be eaten by larger fish, and so on up the food chain. Algae allow fish to thrive and thus allow us to catch fish for both food and sport.

Most of the algae that people might see around the region in rivers, creeks, streams, ponds, lakes, etc. are generally green algae. (The green color gives it away.) They’re by no means the only algae present, they’re just easily noticeable. The green algae are those most closely related to plants, and are the group from which plants emerged from.

Algae can be a good indication of the overall health in an aquatic system. Algal growth is dependent on several factors: nutrient availability, light level, pH, temperature, etc. Any one of these can limit algal growth, but the most important one is nutrient availability. Increasing the nutrients available in a waterway will increase the number of algae present. This can lead to algal blooms, which can be unsightly at best and harmful at worst. Many of these blooms are the direct result of human impacts on the environment. Over applying fertilizer to fields, orchards, and lawns can be washed into nearby waterways. Livestock manure can make its way into creeks running through pastures. All of these can lead to algal blooms. Best way to control algal blooms? Control the nutrients leaching into streams, lakes, and rivers.

A look at the variety of saltwater algae.
Generally called seaweeds.

While being ecologically important algae are also useful for many other things. Many types of seaweed are used as food. Agar is derived from red algae, and is used as a thickening agent in petri dishes and many types of food.

Algae can also be used as a pollution control. They can treat sewage by removing many of the toxic and harmful components. Algae “scrubbers” can be used to clean water by pulling out the excessive nutrients present. They can also be used to capture the fertilizer runoff from farms before it enters water systems. These algae could in turn be used as fertilizer on the same fields.

Algae may provide the best option for biofuel production for a variety of reasons. Algae are fairly easy to grow and can be grown in areas unsuitable for other plants. They can be grown using wastewater and sewage. Algae have faster growth rates than land plants because their structure is so much simpler. 

I realize that this is a fairly simplistic look at algae. But the subject is far too large to adequately cover in a single blog post, so instead I aimed for a quick overlook of many things relating to algae to peak your interest. Hopefully it provides enough of an intro to make you seek out more information on algae. They are fascinating and an important part of many ecosystems. Their possible roles in helping solve some of mankind’s problems are also exciting.  

Beavers

I was wandering around the woods the other day and came across a beaver dam. It wasn’t the first I’ve seen. It won’t be the last. It wasn’t even an impressively large dam either. I stopped though. I stared and I contemplated. I realized something. Beavers are cool. They construct. They shape and morph the world around them to meet their needs. Many animals simply react to the world. A deer runs when it feels threatened. It will wander around looking for food, never choosing one location as “home.” Of course other animals build dens and nests, and they may often return to them time after time. But they choose sites that fit what they need.

A beaver changes the environment around it to make a better home for themselves. They build dams to flood the area around their lodge in order to protect themselves. They build their structures using a mixture of logs, sticks, and mud. They gnaw a ring around a tree until it weakens enough to collapse. (Their teeth continually grow, making it a necessity for them to gnaw on something.) Once a tree is felled they set upon it and bite it into smaller, usable pieces. Dams are built from the bottom up. First, sticks are stuck into the bottom to provide a foundation. Next, they add sticks slowly raising the height of the dam. Mud is added to fill any gaps that might let too much water through. They continue this process of sticks and mud until the dam has reached its desired height and is strong enough to hold back the flow of water.

A beaver dam near human housing.

Beavers build dams for their own sake. But the ecological effects of these dams spread beyond them. Their dams provide a whole list of positive changes in an ecosystem. Let’s look further.

Beaver dams have the ability to flood their surrounding areas. Spreading water out over the landscape has the potential to create or increase the area of wetlands (basically an area that retains standing water throughout the year). Why are wetlands good? Wetlands are one of the most important types of ecosystem on the planet. They filter the water that comes through, removing sediment, excess nutrients, and other contaminants. Wetlands provide habitat for many species of plants, animals, insects, and bacteria. Many of which wouldn’t survive without access to wetlands.

Wetlands trap and store water. These are important effects. This helps control flooding by trapping water during periods of high flow, especially during spring snow melt. Later in the summer when the water flow drops this stored water is slowly released back into the stream system. In this way wetlands help lower the flow of water during high water times, and also raise the flow of water during low water times. They balance the flow of water throughout the year.

A crosscut of a beaver lodge. Beavers

build dams to create a pool of water deep enough 

that it doesn't freeze solid in the winter so they can 

enter their lodges all year round.

Flooded areas help recharge groundwater by increasing the surface area of water in contact with the ground. This increase in groundwater helps plants grow along the stream which in turn increases the stability of stream banks and decreases erosion.

Beavers create fish habitat. The dams slow the water down, allowing the fish to have an easier time swimming, and the pools are deep enough to not freeze. This provides winter habitat for certain fish species. (This slower water speed has added benefit of reducing streambank erosion.) The random assortment of sticks and logs in and around the dam provide protection for young fish from predators. Dams also catch plant material, which in turn can help increase the presence of aquatic insects, food for the fish. The increase of plant growth along the streambank helps shade the water. This helps keep the water cool for the fish in the hot summer.

Beavers gnaw around a tree fairly evenly
until it weakens enough to fall.

Trapped plant material plus any excess nutrients in the water can lead to increase in the amount of bacteria in the water. Bacteria usually seem like a bad thing, but in this case they’re doing a favor by removing excess nutrients in the water. Excess nutrients lead to an increase in algae present, which clouds the water. Fish prefer clear, cool water that’s free from algae and other growths. These bacteria can also metabolize some of the pollutants that may find their way into the water.

I often hear about the negative things beavers do. They remove trees near their water sources. While that is true, the damage can be mitigated by wrapping the trees with wire mesh. Also, many of their favored species of trees to use for dam building and for eating will resprout from their roots. So even if the tree is cut down by a beaver, a new one will often sprout from the roots. Beaver dams don’t block the passage of fish as much as it would seem. Many fish are able to jump over the beaver dams. Regardless of the direction they’re traveling.

The negative effects we associate with beavers are more a matter of human perception than anything else. We look at what they do in a negative light because it interferes with what we want to do in an area. Decreases in the number of fish are more from human impacts than they are from a beaver dam blocking the stream. Fields flooded by a beaver dam may indicate that the field was too close to the stream to begin with. Plant enough trees that beavers prefer and they’ll probably leave your prized tree alone. 

Beavers are cool. There are so many positive benefits from their presence that it seems silly to not embrace them. Current beaver counts in North America range anywhere from 10 to 15 million, which is decent considering they were nearly wiped out for their pelts in the 19^th century, but that number is still a fraction of the nearly 100 million that are estimated to have been present at one time. Beavers are second only to humans in their ability to impact and shape their environment. Next time you see a beaver dam or lodge think about the positive impact of them on the ecosystem.