MARYSVILLE — While stream restoration projects are a common sight on city and county lands, Adopt-A-Stream planted trees and shrubs along the sides of streams running through private property in Marysville.
Jacob Newman, an ecologist with the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation, estimated that about half of their projects take place on private lands, including the March 28 planting on Marysville resident Rich Denny’s property.
“With parks and other public lands, it’s obviously easier to coordinate volunteers and check back up on those plants as they grow,” said Newman, who joined fellow foundation ecologist Walter Rung in supervising 14 volunteers at the fenced-off area of Allen Creek next to Denny’s home. “With a lot of projects on private lands, though, they’re small enough that we don’t need any outside volunteers.”
Denny’s property was not one of those small projects. By the afternoon of that Saturday, 272 native trees and shrubs were planted along the sides of the creek, along with 300 live stakes. The project was funded by Department of Ecology and Department of Fish and Wildlife grants.
The DOE grant paid for the foundation’s outreach, education and staff time, while the ALEA grant purchased all the plants, at a cost of $2,168.
As part of the roughly $3,200 DOE grant, foundation members went door-to-door to ask landowners whose properties overlapped with streams in need of restoration whether they’d be interested in taking part. Although Denny was away during the day of the planting, he arranged for the volunteers to receive pizza.
“There’s some maintenance that the property owners agree to be on the hook for, whether its checking the plants’ progress or removing blackberry brambles,” Newman said. “A couple of Rich’s neighbors walked by while we were working, and they said it’s the best this creek property has looked since they can remember.”
Rung explained that the plants should improve the stream’s water quality by providing shade to lower its temperature for fish. Their roots will help filter runoff, to address the stream’s currently high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. He used a clear container to fish some juvenile coho out of the stream.
“Those coho were born just this year,” Rung said. “What we do today will benefit their babies.”
Adopt-A-Stream’s next planting events are set for Friday, April 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Munson Creek, at 7201 71st Ave. NE, and Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Jennings Park, at 6915 Armar Rd.
