Join NOSC on January 11th to plant trees and shrubs along the Dungeness River!

New growth on plants at the Caldero Side Channel Project in Spring 2024. Photo by NOSC.

As part of an ongoing riparian forest restoration project, we will be returning to the Dungeness River to plant trees and shrubs along the Caldero Side Channel Project. Two years ago, hundreds of volunteers helped plant several acres of future forest along a new side channel of the Dungeness. After being snowed out for several plantings last year, we are returning this January to finish the job! We aim to improve plant density and plant the remaining portion of the project. This diverse future forest will grow to shade the salmon stream, control erosion, and provide habitat for the birds, insects, amphibians, and mammals that also call the Dungeness ecosystem home.

Planting Details:

Saturday, January 11th

10am – 2pm

Please arrive by 10am for site orientation. We’ll take a break for lunch around noon. A site tour will take place at about 1:30pm.

Please bring lunch, water, and layers/footwear you need to be comfortable in our winter weather!

Directions will be provided in RSVP confirmation email.

About the Project:

In 2022, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe approached the Salmon Coalition to assist in revegetating the site of a newly constructed side channel on the Dungeness River, a short distance upstream of Highway 101. The site was acquired by the Tribe in 2017 and is named Caldero after the former landowner. The Caldero side channel project creates nearly 1,000 feet of off-channel habitat for both spawning adult salmon and rearing juveniles.

Planting volunteers take a break and look at the side channel project. Photo by Charles Espey.

Side channels such as the one at Caldero are critical refuges for salmon during flood events. This is particularly the case for juveniles, who can be easily overcome by heavy flows. Off-channel habitat can also be important spawning areas for returning adults. In fact, on a recent visit to the project site, Salmon Coalition staff members observed several adult coho salmon utilizing the new channel!

During January and February of 2023, the Salmon Coalition, our Washington Conservation Corps Crew, and hundreds of volunteers planted 7,000 native trees and shrubs! Large scale planting efforts like this one often require several subsequent plantings to ensure full revegetation.

Top Photo by Charles Espey.