Volunteers of all ages Make A Difference in Foster Creek

Foster Creek Conservation District (FCCD) held our 5th annual Make a Difference Day native planting event on Saturday, October 22^nd to help reestablish riparian vegetation throughout the Foster Creek Watershed. 10 volunteers planted 235 native trees and shrubs along Foster Creek!

This year, we were joined by volunteers of all ages to help plant water birch, red osier dogwood, coyote willow, woods rose, and juniper into multiple riparian restoration zones that FCCD has been working on along lower east Foster Creek. These native plant species were chosen specifically to help with habitat reestablishment for species like the Sharp-tail Grouse, a listed endangered species in Washington, as they use the seeds from water birch to feed through the winter and use the other species as stand habitat.

Each year, a group of wonderful volunteers work together to plant a different stretch along the Foster Creek corridor to help restore native habitat, provide streambank stabilization, and improve water quality! The 2020 Pearl Hill fire scorched over 200,000 acres in Northern Douglas County, which destroyed vital habitat for local wildlife, and caused damaging erosion that negatively impacts water quality due to limited reestablishment of native plants.