Today we spent the majority of the day with Stephanie Hallock, an engineer for the tribe who has worked on some stream restoration projects. She took us to one project site in particular in the Lake Creek Watershed, where a stream had been straightened out for use in agriculture and was severely eroding the banks, making for poor spawning for the native cutthroat trout. Using BPA mitigation funds, and with the cooperation of the private lad owner, they returned the creek to a more natural, meandering path, widened the channel, and created intentional floodplain to absorb the runoff in a flood event and prevent the farmer's fields from flooding. Then they filled in the old, straight channel of the creek with the fill from the project, which made the farmer's fields more contiguous.
After only 4 years, the vegetation has become well established, and native grasses, shrubs, and trees are thriving. As the trees mature and provide shade along the stream, it will make for prime cutthroat spawning grounds.
When we returned to the DNR headquarters, we met briefly with Leanne Campbell and Caryl Deane Swan, who run the tribe's historical repository. The repository houses the historical records for the tribe, as well as any artifacts which have been donated or disinterred and collected. In adition to maintaining the repository, Leanne and Caryl engage in outreach education and cultural site monitoring.
After our quick look around the repository, we had the opportunity to see and work on something very special. The Quinault Tribe felled and donated six old growth cedar trees to six different tribes, so they can make dugout canoes and paddle them down to Kettle Falls. The work has just begun on shaping the canoe, and the students had a fabulous time doing some of the rough work.
We also wound up with tons of cedar wood and sawdust for burning and making moth-repellant.
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