Our rain garden at Chimacum Schools!

After observing polluted stormwater running from the large parking lot at Chimacum Schools directly into Chimacum Creek, the crew and our local I.P., Aliina Lahti, identified a pollutant-absorbing rain garden as a critical addition to the Chimacum School's campus and an ideal opportunity to educate students about stormwater runoff and possible management techniques. Granted with a week of community service for Martin Luther King day, we decided to design and build such a feature.

Months of planning came to fruition on January 16th, as we broke ground on the garden but were quickly delayed after being hit by a somewhat unexpected snowstorm the following day. Determined to finish, we spent the following Friday putting the finishing touch on Chimacum Schools' newest sustainable design feature.

Months of milestones!

The past three months have been a whirlwind. Booked solid, we have had little time to keep you updated on our projects. November and December were filled with milestones for the crew. We completed our first planting on the Little Quilcene River, hit our one-thousand tree mark at Morse Creek and met one of our arch-enemies, nightshade, at Chimacum Creek.

Elijah pulling nightshade from Chimacum Creek.

The crew after planting tree 1,000 at Morse Creek.

Warren and Carrie tubing at Morse Creek.

Port Hadlock Crew vs. Butterfly Bush

The crew has spent three days alongside the Dungeness River; cutting, removing and treating Butterfly Bush for the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe.  Although the invasive bush put up a fight, the crew was successful in eradicating a large area along the river.

The crew takes a sunny, fall lunch break

Butterfly Bush big enough for a saw?

Jayde preparing to apply herbicide

Sam adding to the pile

Attention Motorists: Stay out of Morse Creek!

In an attempt to keep motorists from driving along Morse Creek, the crew trudged through the mud and built a gated fence.  In addition to the fence, stormwater was diverted from the area and a natural barrier was erected.

Let the maintenance begin!

The crew has been hard at work maintaining Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) sites in the area. Overrun with non-native, invasive plants such as Himalayan Blackberry and Reed Canary Grass, the crew put their brush cutters to good use to save the native plantings from being taken over by invasives.


For more information on the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=copr&topic=cep .

Introducing the crew!

I am proud to introduce the new 2011/2012 crew. They claim to be bigger, faster, and stronger than crews in the past... We'll soon find out.

Crew Members:

Sam Erman

Hey everyone! My name is Sam Erman and am a recent graduate from the Environmental Studies program at the University of Oregon. I have joined the Washington Conservation Corps to further my environmental education, while gaining hands on experience in the field of environmental conservation. I’m extremely excited to spend a year in Port Hadlock with the Washington Conservation Corps and do some serious riparian restoration!

Elijah Roulst

My name is Elijah Roulst,

Born and raised in the Chimacum area. Grew up around the outdoors. I enjoy hiking, fishing, traveling, and going to shows. As a Sophomore at Chimacum High School I was part of the 2007 State Championship 1A Baseball team, and 3rd Place as a senior.  In my down time you will find me listening to music 24/7, spending time with family and friends, and being in the outdoors as much as possible. I am currently in the process of studying Environmental Studies, and I plan on getting in to Music Production as well. I am very happy to be working with the WCC, and excited to be with a good crew for the next year.  

 
Jayde Rector
My name is Jayde. I grew up in the Olympic Peninsula, one of the best places on earth. I rather enjoy gardening, hiking, and basically most things that involve being outdoors. I am stoked to get to help out nature’s garden with WCC this year. After this adventure I hope to work on organic farms in various places and then come back and go to school in Edmonds. 





Carrie Clendaniel
Hello! My name is Carrie Clendaniel. I grew up on Discovery Bay, but have spent the past 7 years living in the Midwest and East Coast. I did my undergrad in Chicago, and received a Master’s degree in Biology from a research institute in New York. Now I am following a life-long passion for the outdoors and environmental conservation—I am so excited to be back in the Northwest and ready to learn restoration techniques! I am going to use this year as an introduction to a new field. I will gain lots of experience, learning through job opportunities and through volunteer work, and hope to better define what environmental path I want to take in the future. This community, with its local natural resources and strong community resource management (plus being the spot I’ve always considered home!) is the perfect place to start! Hope to meet some of you in the field, ~ Carrie

 Warren Young
GREETINGS,

WARREN HERE.

I am entering as a second year corps member, at the age of twenty-three. Before this I was working for the WCC Skagit Spike crew within the counties of Whatcom, Skagit and Islands- Cascadia Crew; for a six-month term (from April 2011). Then before that, I was working for the city of Bellingham crew also for a six-month term (from April 2010). Before the Washington Conservation Corps, I went through three quarters of community college at Whatcom Community College (another WCC), then transferring to Bellingham Technical College and gaining an associates degree in Fisheries Technology within two years. In between working and school, I am a traveling man, I enjoy hitchhiking, meeting new people and seeing places I had never seen before.

I am looking forward to a full year of the Conservation Corps, at the Port Hadlock because of their work with salmon restoration of the riparian zones of the area.

Looking forward in blogging about me and my work for the next year-

:BLOG OUT

Goodbye folks!

It's hard to believe that this is our last week as a crew here in Port Hadlock.  Come October NOSC will be welcoming a brand new crew to the area.  We rounded out our year with knotweed surveying and treatment on the Quilcene and Dosewallips rivers, further butterfly bush removal on the Dungeness, and a tree cage project with DNR.

Chris building a cage to protect plants from deer

A portion of the project caged

Dosewallips knotweed surveying

Butterfly bush

Elwha dam removal field trip

Today is our last day...hopefully all limbs will remain intact and much butterfly bush will be destroyed.  Best of luck to next year's crew!