Hylebos Stream Team

East Hylebos Ravine gets some TLC

Greetings from the Hylebos as well as a very happy holiday!  As the new year approaches, I'm busy planning and scheduling future volunteer events but in the meantime, I've had the opportunity to spend some time out in the field with EarthCorps at the East Hylebos Ravine. I had a nice time getting to know the crew as well as familiarize myself with the site. The site we worked in is actually quite interesting. Quite recently the Friends received a Forest Health report conducted and written by Natural Systems Designs. The spot where we worked in is referred to as an "anomaly" in the report due to the unique plant community. This anomaly is a big sandpit; a site of past gravel mining. Due to the sand and soil disturbance the plant species that exist there are mostly limited to Scotch Broom and Blackberry.  I worked in the field with EarthCorps a few weeks ago to remove English Ivy, Scotch Broom and Himalayan Blackberry. Unfortunately the battery in my camera died so I couldn't get any shots of the crew hard at work, but I did get some shots of their work.  Enjoy!

Before:

After:

 

Blackberry surrounds the perimeter of the sand bowl.

Invasive compost pile sitting atop a brush pile cribbing to prevent re-rooting.

Herb Robert a.k.a Stinky Bob=Invasive!

December 12th Event at Lower Hylebos Marsh Canceled

Hello Folks!

I just wanted to announce that unfortunately the December 12 volunteer event at the Lower Hylebos Marsh has been canceled but do not fear, as 2010 approaches we will be scheduling more volunteer events to kick off the new year.  Again, the event this Saturday Dec, 12 at the Lower Hylebos Marsh has been canceled.  Keep your ear to the ground and your eyes peeled for announcements on upcoming volunteer events in the new year. Thanks again to everyone that came out last Saturday to help out at Dumas Bay and to those that expressed interest in this Saturday's event. I hope you all are bundling up and staying warm out there! Happy Holidays!

Ivy Removal at Dumas Bay Park

Hello readers! I would like to begin this entry with a great big thank you to all the volunteers that braved the crisp weather Saturday morning to come help and pull ivy and cut blackberry with me! The event went really well thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers and EarthCorps! 

I have to admit I was a little worried about the weather and it's effects the night before but it really turned out to be a gorgeous day and great weather for working!  With hot coffee and hot water for tea and cocoa to keep us warm from Poverty Bay Coffee Company, the volunteers worked hard to save Dumas Bay Park's forest.

The volunteers pulled a grand total of 10,785 square feet of ivy!! Thanks to our efforts 37 trees can now breathe and grow comfortably without the stress of ivy climbing on them.  Another 2,500 square feet of blackberry was cut by our volunteers as well.  Thanks again to all of you who came out on Saturday and be sure to mark your calendars for our next scheduled event at the Lower Hylebos Marsh on Dec 12 from 9:20-2:00 where we will be doing more invasive removal as well as selective alder thinning.  The alders have seeded themselves so densely that they are starting to create a monoculture shading out other native plants that live in the understory.  If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please email me at [email protected]. 

Here are a few pictures of our volunteers hard at work at Dumas Bay Park. Enjoy!

Before the volunteers got a hold of the ivy:

After a punishing was put on the ivy.  If you look closely you can see where the volunteers cut the ivy off the trees to do survival rings.

Chris and Rachel bust out a game of "Mingle Mingle" to help their group get better acquainted with each other.

 

Elaine wails on English Ivy two hands at a time!
 

Pamela cuts blackberry at the trail head.

Our youngest volunteer of the day Michelle gets a lesson on the detriments of English Ivy from her father Jeff.

 

 

To the right of Rachel you can see the tree rings that the volunteers cut in order to remove ivy from the trunk.

 

Thank you all so much for coming out!!!

Dumas Bay Volunteer Event Reminder

Hello all! 

I just wanted to post a quick reminder that our volunteer event at Dumas Bay Park is rapidly approaching!  We would love your help pulling ivy!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be nice because the view from the Bay is just beautiful!

Hope to see you out on Saturday December 5th from 9:30-2:00 out at Dumas Bay Park.  If you have any questions, concerns, or comments please feel free to email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you as promptly as I can!

Cheers and enjoy that beautiful weather out there today!!