Heernett Foundation Newsletter
January 2005
What a year we’ve had. There have been quit a few activities that have kept us busy, busy, busy! We have finally finished up the both of the Cozy Valley Creek and Pond Enhancement projects. Even though, the funding has run out, we still plan on continuing to plant native plants in the new established riparian zone.
We’ve also been working with the Chehalis Fisheries Task Force with a new Scholarship program for local students, and outreach project with the Elma School District. The plan is to have students of all ages go out and plant native plants along the Vance Creek stream system to establish a new riparian zone. There is about 4 miles of stream bank that we want to plant. It’s quite the project. We know that it can’t all be done this next year, but the intent is to lay out all the prep work and planning so that we can continue to pursue this for years to come.
The local Tenino School District has also gotten on board and we will be coordinating efforts to engage the local elementary students to have fieldtrips onto the Heernett properties and coordinate science and biology lessons into an outdoor classroom type setting.
This year we will be starting the instream restoration for the Cozy Valley Creek Phase II project. This is a continuation of approximately 3000 linear feet of stream; adjacent to the Phase I project we completed last year. The goal is to take straight old agricultural ditches and enhance them into more biologically diverse habitat for native aquatic wildlife. We will be adding large woody debris and river rock along the stream bank and stream bed during late summer and then in the fall start planting hundreds of native plants of all shapes and sizes. This will slow the velocities of the seasonal flows, help to retain water in the system for longer periods of time, provide habitat for fish and other aquatic wildlife and the riparian zone will begin to create shade to help lower water temperatures.
The Thurston County Parks and Recreation Department is also working with us on their “Rails to Trails” project. This project takes old railway track through out Thurston County and converts them into paved trail systems for walking, skating, and biking pedestrians. These trails go for miles and miles of back roads, through some of the more scenic areas while keeping the pedestrians off busy roads and highways. It’s a great program. There are approximately 3 miles of “rails to trails” that run parallel to our property and Highway 507. Along this section there are existing culverts that need to be addressed. A specific culvert system is 3 old round concrete culverts that are not functioning properly and have created a fish barrier. In the fall of 2004 Park and Rec, replaced them with a footbridge. This will allow the stream channel to flow and function, as it should, while allowing mobility through the system for aquatic wildlife. In corporation with Park and Rec we want to post trail signs along the path and use the location of he new foot bridge for a possible water quality monitoring site. Hopefully we can incorporate fieldtrips with the local students to conduct the monitoring and then post our progress on the website over the next few years. This is just another opportunity to stay involved with our local youth while providing skills they can use for years to come!
If you would like more detailed information about what is happening around our watershed, or to attend a Partnership meeting, contact me @ 360-264-4310 or Heernett@aol.com. This is a great opportunity to come out and help us Make A Difference! Best Wishes Always, the Heernett Staff
