Planting season has started in Squamish. If you haven't done any yet this year, why not lend a hand to the Squamish Streamkeepers community plant this Saturday?
The streamkeepers are meeting on Saturday (April 17) at 11 a.m. at the Tim Hortons parking lot to plant 75 indigenous plants in the dredge spoils area (the area right beside the windsurfing spit). Volunteers are needed for this event. You are asked to bring appropriate clothing and shovels and wheelbarrows if possible. Refreshments are provided.
The dredge spoils is part of the estuary development, reconstructed by the Squamish River Watershed Society. Since the 1980s, people have been working on the estuary development in order to reconstruct past existing tidal channels that will reconnect Salmonid, and other species habitats within the estuary to Howe Sound.
As a measure of success, when the tidal channels were completed in March, the channels filled up with hundreds of herring.
The planting project to be started on Saturday is funded by the Bridge Coastal Restoration Program and carried out by the Squamish River Watershed Society and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Over 1250 plants will be planted in this area.
Edith Tobe, the project manager for the Squamish River Watershed Society is the organizer for the event. "This is a great opportunity to learn about restoration work going on in Squamish, and a great opportunity to lend your strength in helping important habitat get back to its natural state." For more information, visit the society's website at http://www.squamishstreams.com.
