Join NOSC for a stewardship work party at the Snow Creek Uncas Preserve to pull invasive species. We will be working to manage Spotted Jewelweed, Himalayan Blackberry, and Bull Thistle at the site to help the newly planted trees and shrubs get established. After completing the first stage of floodplain and large woody debris work in the summer of 2023, the next stage of this project is working to restore a healthy and diverse riparian forest on the shores of Snow Creek.  

The work party goes from 10am – 2pm with a break for lunch around noon and a site tour at the end. Tools and gloves provided. Please wear long pants and bring water and a lunch. Footing at the site is uneven. Activity ranges from mild to strenuous and can be adapted to ability level. 

About the site: 

During the summer of 2023, NOSC undertook a comprehensive habitat restoration project at the Jefferson Land Trust’s Snow Creek Uncas Preserve. The Land Trust acquired the property in 2015 to conserve the stream and riparian habitat to support salmon recovery. 

This reach of the stream was identified as a major source of bank erosion, contributing fine sediments that were being washed downstream. This erosion impacts downstream redds of endangered Hood Canal Summer Chum. As sediment settles into the gravels around salmon eggs, it limits the flow of water across the eggs and restricts their access to dissolved oxygen. 

To minimize bank erosion in the project reach, water traveling through the stream needed to be slowed down. This was achieved by installing 39 engineered log jams in order to slow water flow and add stream complexity. Additionally, ¼ mile of side-channels and 1.4 acres of floodplain were created or reconnected, allowing water to spread out and slow down during moderate to high flows. 

Interested in learning more about the whys behind restoration work like this? Check out this talk by NOSC’s Project Manager, Kevin Long, on Stage 8 Restoration from the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s Future of Oceans Lecture Series 

While the first phase of the project is complete, managing the reforestation of the site into a healthy, diverse forest takes several years of stewardship to allow the newly planted native plants to get established.