For the past 3 years in a row, LCFEG has hosted field trips and educational events in celebration of Earth Day!
Earth Day at the Confluence of the North & South Fork Toutle Rivers
April 26, 2024
This year, we are celebrated Earth Day with over 115 students from CASEE (the Center for Agriculture, Science, and Environmental Education, part of Battle Ground Public Schools. Students will be bussed-up to Harry Gardner Park for a full-day work party and tour of the project site.
This project was started back in 2015 with the installment of multiple large man-made log jams, and has been continually maintained and revegetated in the years since the project broke ground. During this field trip, we will focus on removing invasive vegetation (such as Scotch Broom) which has started to colonize the site's more disturbed areas. Students will receive roughly a half-mile site tour in which they will have the opportunity to observe LCFEG's log jams, structures, and past plantings scattered throughout the project area. Students will also have the opportunity to install roughly 200 native plants that were propagated a few years back through our Seeds to Salmon program, and will also spend time harvesting willow stakes to install in various areas throughout the site.
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Earth Day Discovery Camp at Camp Hope of Southwest Washington
April 22, 2023
On April 22nd, 2023, LCFEG participated in Camp Hope of Southwest Washington's Earth Day Discovery Camp! As part of our Hope For Salmon Educational Program, we collected aquatic macroinvertebrates (water bugs without a spine), out of the East Fork of the Lewis River, and conducted a survey on what was found. Students learned about why these critters are so important - not only as a food source for juvenile salmon, but also as natural water quality indicators. We spent the bulk of our time learning how to identify the different groups of invertebrates, sorting them, and counting them.
We also learned that macroinvertebrates can be grouped based on their sensitivity to pollution, and that one can infer a lot about the health of the water, by looking at what bugs are present in your sample.
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Earth Day on the Little Washougal
April 21, 2023
On April 21st, in partnership with the Watershed Alliance of Southwest Washington, Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group hosted a field trip in celebration of Earth Day. About 100 student-volunteers attended from CASEE (the Center for Agriculture, Science, and Environmental Education), part of Battle Ground Public Schools. We took the students to a site along the Little Washougal River that was restored with support from the Clark County Clean Water Restoration Fund. Since 2019, about 14 acres of riparian area have been restored through a combination of revegetation and invasive species management to mitigate stormwater impacts. In total, over 15,000 native trees and shrubs have been installed through the combined efforts of LCFEG and the Watershed Alliance. During the field trip, CASEE students hiked a half mile down to the edge of the Little Washougal River, to see first hand the restoration work completed in this area. Students learned about the importance of stormwater management, native plants, and riparian forests, and how these contribute to healthy salmon populations. Most of the day was spent learning how to remove invasive vegetation from the riparian zone, installing native plants in their place, and removing browse guards from older, established plants. A huge thank you is in order to all the CASEE students and staff who put in the work cutting, pulling, planting, and slip-sliding around in the mud!