WRN Teens – Stream Restoration

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WRN Teens - Stream Restoration at rare - September 28, 2019

WRN Teens is up and really running for a second year!  On top of our usual monthly work projects, we’ve taken on a weekly (!) project for September and October.  So we’ve been busy!  The weekly project is monitoring the salamander population at SpruceHaven Farm.  We’re really excited about it and we’ll be reporting on it soon.
 
This past Saturday, we had our first monthly work project for 2019-20.  We were thrilled to be invited back to rare Charitable Research Reserve, this time to do stream restoration.  Bauman Creek is a cold water stream that was diverted long ago and the work to rehabilitate it has been going on since 2016.  Our bit was part of the last phase. 

At the rare offices at Lamb’s Inn in Blair, we met Sarah and Tom who do lots of amazing field work at rare. Tom showed us on the map where Bauman Creek flows and some of the problems that the restoration aims to fix. We carpooled a short way to where the creek crosses Blair Road.

Then we started the hard work of moving rocks in big wheelbarrows through thick prairie plants!  The goal was the strategic placement of large and small rocks to improve the water flow, cause more meanders and pools, all creating better habitat for fish. 
 

We worked hard, getting quite wet and muddy.

We muscled the wheelbarrows along a “path” Tom had just created with a scythe, and managed to get most of the loads of rocks delivered without incident.

We saw cool creatures (including a Pearly Wood-nymph caterpillar), inspected the part of Bauman Creek that had a more major restoration done by engineers, learned about what kind of creek trout prefer… and generally learned lots and had a memorable experience.

Many thanks to Sarah Marshall, Tom Woodcock, and Alissa Fraser (for the planning) from rare, Josh Shea from the Teens planning committee, very hands-on Teens volunteer Linda Dutka, WRN communicators Paul Bigelow and Cathi Stewart, Teens parent drivers, and the awesome Teens who came out and spent their Saturday afternoon getting wet and muddy. You’re the best!

Marg Paré, WRN Teens coordinator