This morning, we met briefly with Jennifer DeRose, who is a cultural resource manager for the tribe. An anthropologist by trade, she does very little excavation, as the tribe prefers to leave artifacts interred whenever possible. Instead, she monitors the lake bed during the winter, when the lake drops about 8 feet, to monitor known settlements for erosion damage. If artifacts come to the surface, then they can be sent to the repository to protect them from looters.
After speaking to Jennifer, a team came to take up so our next project. Angelo Vitale, a natural resource manager for the tribe. took us out to a natural beaver dam on a stream which was restored in 2004. The beaver dams have caused water to spread out into the flood plane, creating large amounts of wetland habitat and storing water in the summer months.
Then, he took us to an artificial beaver dam which was built by their summer youth corp. An individual beaver dam in isolation on a stream is in grave danger of being washed out in high flows. But when there are multiple beaver dams on the same river system, it slows the water and prevents washouts.
Then, we had a truly unique opportunity; we got to build an artificial beaver dam for ourselves. There were posts drilled into the creek bed where an old beaver dam had been, and we used large limbs, straw, and mud to build the dam. Though it wasn't nearly as good as a real beaver dam at retaining water, we still managed to back up nearly a foot of water! The hope is that students will keep coming back to this same location to maintain the dam, until enough beavers move in that they can do the job themselves.
This was a fabulous last activity for a really incredible trip. Tomorrow, we will head to the Coeur d'Alene Casino and Resort, where Monet's grandfather Dave Matheson has graciously offered us breakfast at the buffet there. Then, we make the long journey home!
Friday, July 24, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Thursday, July 23
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Wednesday, July 22
We said goodby to our Spokane hosts and made the short drive to the Coeur d'Alene reservation in Idaho. We met with Bobbie White, who works in Education and Outreach for Natural Resources and Fisheries for the tribe, who is our host while we are here. She introduced us to Laura Laumatia, who is the Lake Management Plan Coordinator, and who gave a presentation about the history of the tribe, and Lake Coeur d'Alene. In particular, she focused on two forces which shaped the current predicament on the lake; silver mining, and the Dawes Act.
In the 1850s, silver and gold were found in the Coeur d'Alene River, sparking a massive mining boom in the area. Towns of several thousand inhabitants sprung up overnight, and mining operations dumped tons of slag, which contained massive amounts of lead. This lead now contaminates large portions of the Coeur d'Alene River, and the northern part of the lake, and the contamination is so bad that parts of the watershed are a Superfund site.
Exacerbating the efforts to clean up the area is the fact that only about a quarter of the land on the reservation is owned by the tribe or tribal members. In 1906, the Dawes Act took land that was held communally by the tribe, and required tribal members to register for their own private 160 acre allotment. Any unclaimed land was then opened to white settlers, and the prime farmland was rapidly snatched up. Because any clean up or mitigation would require the cooperation of the individual landowners, it is much more complex than if the tribe held those lands. However, they are still partnering with the Forest Service, as well as several state agencies, to come up with a unified management plan for the lake.
After learning more about the natural history of the area, we met with Audra Vincent, who heads the Language Program. Her interest in her native language began in high school, and spurred her to get bachelors and masters degrees in linguistics, and return home to work on revitalizing the language. Currently, there are only 2 fluent speakers of the native Coeur d'Alene language, both of whom are in their 90s. However, there are a wealth of audio and video recordings dating back over 20 years of fluent speakers talking about the language and conversing with each other, which are in the process of being digitized to preserve them. Audra's work involves studying these recordings to further her own understanding of the language, as well as conducting language classes for adult tribal members. Once there is a pool of adult speakers, they plan to expand to teaching children.
After our introductions to these tribal programs, we were invited to a very special dinner. As part of their culture week, the first traditional foods dinner in decades was held at their longhouse. We were very surprised to find that some of our friends from White Swan were there! They brought all the traditional foods, and there was a group of girls who served and danced for us.
It was a very exciting introduction to the Coeur d'Alene Department of Natural Resources. They have been so incredibly welcoming, and we are excited to see what the next two days have in store for us!
In the 1850s, silver and gold were found in the Coeur d'Alene River, sparking a massive mining boom in the area. Towns of several thousand inhabitants sprung up overnight, and mining operations dumped tons of slag, which contained massive amounts of lead. This lead now contaminates large portions of the Coeur d'Alene River, and the northern part of the lake, and the contamination is so bad that parts of the watershed are a Superfund site.
Exacerbating the efforts to clean up the area is the fact that only about a quarter of the land on the reservation is owned by the tribe or tribal members. In 1906, the Dawes Act took land that was held communally by the tribe, and required tribal members to register for their own private 160 acre allotment. Any unclaimed land was then opened to white settlers, and the prime farmland was rapidly snatched up. Because any clean up or mitigation would require the cooperation of the individual landowners, it is much more complex than if the tribe held those lands. However, they are still partnering with the Forest Service, as well as several state agencies, to come up with a unified management plan for the lake.
After learning more about the natural history of the area, we met with Audra Vincent, who heads the Language Program. Her interest in her native language began in high school, and spurred her to get bachelors and masters degrees in linguistics, and return home to work on revitalizing the language. Currently, there are only 2 fluent speakers of the native Coeur d'Alene language, both of whom are in their 90s. However, there are a wealth of audio and video recordings dating back over 20 years of fluent speakers talking about the language and conversing with each other, which are in the process of being digitized to preserve them. Audra's work involves studying these recordings to further her own understanding of the language, as well as conducting language classes for adult tribal members. Once there is a pool of adult speakers, they plan to expand to teaching children.
After our introductions to these tribal programs, we were invited to a very special dinner. As part of their culture week, the first traditional foods dinner in decades was held at their longhouse. We were very surprised to find that some of our friends from White Swan were there! They brought all the traditional foods, and there was a group of girls who served and danced for us.
It was a very exciting introduction to the Coeur d'Alene Department of Natural Resources. They have been so incredibly welcoming, and we are excited to see what the next two days have in store for us!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Tuesday, July 21
Today, we went out to Tshimikain Creek with some fisheries biologists to do a survey of the species of fish in the creek. Ordinarily, they will do a full population count for each species in each section of the river, but today, we were just doing a general survey of what species there were. We used a fish shocker, which sends an electric current through the water and paralyzes the fish for a few seconds, then scooped them up with nets and transferred them to a bucket for the fish biologist to identify.
Then we returned to Wellpinit High School to speak with Twa-le Abrahamson-Swan, who is the Air Quality Program Manager. She explained a little bit about what her department does, from monitoring air quality and pollution and putting out smoke advisories, to doing assessments and mitigation in individual homes for radon gas, mold, and other pollutants.
Then, she took some time to explain an emerging air-quality concern in the Northwest; coal and tar sand oil shipments coming by rail through the Pacific Northwest. The coal and oil comes from Montana, North Dakota, and Alberta, and has to be shipped to terminals on the coast, where it can be loaded on to tankers for transport to China. As the trains travel, the coal cars throw off coal dust, which drifts into the air and river, and the oil cars sometimes leak crude oil, which then contaminates the air, soil, and water. There have also been a number of oil trains which have derailed or exploded, sometimes leveling towns and sending pollutants into the air, water, and soil. She urged the students to contact their local legislators to express their concern about the coal and oil shipments.
After lunch, we were taken to the West End Elk Check, a stretch of land purchased with BPA mitigation funds to provide habitat for large game. When the Grand Coulee Dam cut off access to spawning salmon, the Spokane Tribe turned from fishing to large game as their primary source of meat. They currently plant fields of oats, barley, corn, sugar beets, and native grasses to entice large game to the area and keep populations up during the winter. Wildlife biologist Savannah Walker and technician Dawa Numkena explained some of the research which is currently being done on the elk herds to put collars on them and track the herds as they move throughout the seasons. This will help them better understand which lands need to be protected from logging and other development, and where the DNR should make future mitigation land purchases.
After some swimming near the Two Rivers Casino, we returned to camp for a very special dinner. Warren brought us a whole salmon, and after Alyssa gutted and cleaned the fish, Shay prepared and cooked it. I don't normally like fish, but I will make an exception for Shay's lemon and pepper salmon! Then, Warren took us to the pit house constructed outside the high school, where we talked about all the things we were thankful for. It was a very emotional experience, and I think we all left a little bit more positive, and grateful for the things we have and the people in our lives.
Tomorrow, we leave the Spokane Reservation for the Couer d'Alene, but we will always remember our time here. Thank you so much to Warren Seyler, and all the members of the Department of Natural Resources who met with us and taught us about this land.
Then, she took some time to explain an emerging air-quality concern in the Northwest; coal and tar sand oil shipments coming by rail through the Pacific Northwest. The coal and oil comes from Montana, North Dakota, and Alberta, and has to be shipped to terminals on the coast, where it can be loaded on to tankers for transport to China. As the trains travel, the coal cars throw off coal dust, which drifts into the air and river, and the oil cars sometimes leak crude oil, which then contaminates the air, soil, and water. There have also been a number of oil trains which have derailed or exploded, sometimes leveling towns and sending pollutants into the air, water, and soil. She urged the students to contact their local legislators to express their concern about the coal and oil shipments.
After lunch, we were taken to the West End Elk Check, a stretch of land purchased with BPA mitigation funds to provide habitat for large game. When the Grand Coulee Dam cut off access to spawning salmon, the Spokane Tribe turned from fishing to large game as their primary source of meat. They currently plant fields of oats, barley, corn, sugar beets, and native grasses to entice large game to the area and keep populations up during the winter. Wildlife biologist Savannah Walker and technician Dawa Numkena explained some of the research which is currently being done on the elk herds to put collars on them and track the herds as they move throughout the seasons. This will help them better understand which lands need to be protected from logging and other development, and where the DNR should make future mitigation land purchases.
After some swimming near the Two Rivers Casino, we returned to camp for a very special dinner. Warren brought us a whole salmon, and after Alyssa gutted and cleaned the fish, Shay prepared and cooked it. I don't normally like fish, but I will make an exception for Shay's lemon and pepper salmon! Then, Warren took us to the pit house constructed outside the high school, where we talked about all the things we were thankful for. It was a very emotional experience, and I think we all left a little bit more positive, and grateful for the things we have and the people in our lives.
Tomorrow, we leave the Spokane Reservation for the Couer d'Alene, but we will always remember our time here. Thank you so much to Warren Seyler, and all the members of the Department of Natural Resources who met with us and taught us about this land.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Monday, July 20
It's not everyday you get so see a Superfund site, but today we had a opportunity to tour the Midnite Mine, a uranium mine which was abandoned in 1982 when the price of uranium suddenly plummeted.
We met at Wellpinit High School to learn a little bit about the history of the Spokane Tribe, and their current projects in the Department of Natural Resources. One of the largest of these projects is the cleanup of the Midnite Mine, a uranium mine which operated from 1955 to 1982. Because the mine was quickly abandoned, not only were open pit mines left, but giant piles of ore and protore (ore that is not as rich) as well. Planning for the cleanup began a decade ago, and the cleanup will continue for several decades, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, which will be paid for by the Newmont Mining Corporation which owned the majority share of the mine.
Our first location on site was along the south end, by the Dawn Millsite. This was where the uranium ore was processed, leaving behind millions of gallons of waste water contaminated with other heavy metals and radionuclides. Their solution is to evaporate off the waste water, and then cover over the tailings with 10 feet of clean fill taken from the diversion ditch that surrounds the site. As of now, there are only two evaporation ponds left, and they hope to have the millsite finished in 3-5 years.
After lunch, we went to Pit #3, the larger of the two open pits. While my students went to see the pit, I had the opportunity to see the waste water treatment facility. The water from the pit is very acidic, due to the bacteria and archaea which break down pyrite (iron sulfide) in the soil and produce sulfuric acid. When the water is that acidic, metals like iron, lead, arsenic, and uranium dissolve in the water, and need to be removed before the water can be discharged.
These dissolved metals are removed by increasing the pH to 10-11 by adding lime (calcium hydroxide) This causes the metals to precipitate out, turning the lime a sludgy brown.
The lime and contaminants are settled out in a settling tank, while the water is pumped from the top of the tank. The water has acid added back in until it reaches neutral pH, when it is ready to be piped back into the Spokane River.
The sludge is then sent to a pressing machine, where the water is pressed out and sent back through the decontamination process. The dry pressed sludge is then packaged and shipped to a facility in Utah where it is processed further to remove any remaining uranium and make yellowcake.
After touring the water treatment plant, we took a tour to an overlook to see the pit. This pit will eventually be filled in, first with the unprocessed ore and protore, and then with clean fill from the diversion ditch by the millsite.
I was surprised by how beautiful the site was. The pond reminded me of the bright blue of glacier fed lakes, and the swirling rock formations with terrace steps cut in seemed like something from a tourist attraction, rather than a Superfund site. It will take many years before this pit can be filled in, and it will have to have water pumped out and treated for the foreseeable future.
We met at Wellpinit High School to learn a little bit about the history of the Spokane Tribe, and their current projects in the Department of Natural Resources. One of the largest of these projects is the cleanup of the Midnite Mine, a uranium mine which operated from 1955 to 1982. Because the mine was quickly abandoned, not only were open pit mines left, but giant piles of ore and protore (ore that is not as rich) as well. Planning for the cleanup began a decade ago, and the cleanup will continue for several decades, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, which will be paid for by the Newmont Mining Corporation which owned the majority share of the mine.
Our first location on site was along the south end, by the Dawn Millsite. This was where the uranium ore was processed, leaving behind millions of gallons of waste water contaminated with other heavy metals and radionuclides. Their solution is to evaporate off the waste water, and then cover over the tailings with 10 feet of clean fill taken from the diversion ditch that surrounds the site. As of now, there are only two evaporation ponds left, and they hope to have the millsite finished in 3-5 years.
After lunch, we went to Pit #3, the larger of the two open pits. While my students went to see the pit, I had the opportunity to see the waste water treatment facility. The water from the pit is very acidic, due to the bacteria and archaea which break down pyrite (iron sulfide) in the soil and produce sulfuric acid. When the water is that acidic, metals like iron, lead, arsenic, and uranium dissolve in the water, and need to be removed before the water can be discharged.
These dissolved metals are removed by increasing the pH to 10-11 by adding lime (calcium hydroxide) This causes the metals to precipitate out, turning the lime a sludgy brown.
The lime and contaminants are settled out in a settling tank, while the water is pumped from the top of the tank. The water has acid added back in until it reaches neutral pH, when it is ready to be piped back into the Spokane River.
The sludge is then sent to a pressing machine, where the water is pressed out and sent back through the decontamination process. The dry pressed sludge is then packaged and shipped to a facility in Utah where it is processed further to remove any remaining uranium and make yellowcake.
After touring the water treatment plant, we took a tour to an overlook to see the pit. This pit will eventually be filled in, first with the unprocessed ore and protore, and then with clean fill from the diversion ditch by the millsite.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Sunday, June 19
Today, we had a nice, mellow morning with an excellent breakfast, and then artist George Hill came to speak with us and give us a drawing session. First, he taught us a few drawing exercises to help us see outlines, shade, and tone. Then he set us to work drawing something from the surrounding area. He will return on Tuesday evening to hold a critique with us, so we can show off our final drawings.
Then, Warren Seyler arranged for us to go canoeing on Lake Roosevelt. First, we took a dip to cool off from the heat. Then, we paired up and paddled up along the banks. We only went a little ways up, taking some time along the way to jump back in and swim around. Then we came back to shore, swam around a little more (can you notice a pattern?) and came back to camp to cook dinner.
After dinner, we took a trip to the watchtower on top of Wellpinit Mountain. The watchtower is there as a fire lookout, but it also makes for some spectacular views of the sunset.
Then, Warren Seyler arranged for us to go canoeing on Lake Roosevelt. First, we took a dip to cool off from the heat. Then, we paired up and paddled up along the banks. We only went a little ways up, taking some time along the way to jump back in and swim around. Then we came back to shore, swam around a little more (can you notice a pattern?) and came back to camp to cook dinner.
After dinner, we took a trip to the watchtower on top of Wellpinit Mountain. The watchtower is there as a fire lookout, but it also makes for some spectacular views of the sunset.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Saturday, July 18
We left our campsite outside of Spokane and drove to the pow-wow grounds in Wellpinit, where we will be staying for the next 4 days. We have camped here each year for the last 3 trips, and it was exciting to see that construction is finally complete on the upgrades to the grounds. We met with Warren Seyler, who is the STOI/BOA Coordination Program Manager for the Spokane Tribe, and has been our host here for the last three years. After setting up camp and eating lunch, he showed us to a swimming hole, which the students took full advantage of.
After swimming, we were let into Wellpinit High School to wash the lake off, do some laundry, and have a marathon blogging session to get caught up.
After swimming, we were let into Wellpinit High School to wash the lake off, do some laundry, and have a marathon blogging session to get caught up.
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