Within a little while of scooping and digging mud and getting the trees and shrubs Tim, one of my co-team leaders, was laying out in the best spots for them, I felt like I was getting in the groove of things. The high school guys who I was on a team with made feel included and made it easy for me to chime in on their conversation about "winning the game" and "losing the game" (...and now I just lost the game, for those of you who who play...) and zombies and the salmon habitat we were helping restore. Another co-team leader, Lauren, is from California, too, and we compared notes about what we miss about that landscape and what we love about this one. After digging the first few holes, I felt like I had a handle on controlling my shovel, and realized I wasn't the only one with fist sized rocks in the soil I was trying to scoop out. By the end of the day I decided I was at least competent in creating holes deep enough for the trees roots and getting the plant protectors around the planted trees and shrubs.
While I had a great time just planting and being covered in mud, I thought about the other meanings that these plantings have. One is that we are hopefully restoring a habitat that has a multitude of beneficial effects for the environment. Much of the area around Tarboo Creek was cleared for farming at the beginning of the last century. This altered the habitat that the salmon were used to, creating adaptation "problems" for them. It's my understanding that these salmon reproduce every four years, so if in that time period their habitat has changed a great deal then their chances for a hearty survival are diminished. Parts of the creek were also channelized in order to aid in farming the area, which further exacerbated the issues salmon were facing. Now, these changes did not just cause issues for the salmon, but also for the area at large. More sediment was washed out into the bay, which then created more issues, and it goes on and on down the domino-effect chain. The night before I went out to plant I read an article about large swaths of the Amazon Rainforest dying from an extreme drought in 2010, and how this may cause copious amounts of carbon to be released into the atmosphere. The Amazon has been thought to be a carbon sink, but now because of the drought and dead trees decaying could instead be a carbon emitter. As I was planting some of the 1500 trees and shrubs yesterday I thought about how maybe these baby trees can help sequester some carbon and improve to the atmosphere overall, not "just" help the salmon population.
The other part of the Plant-a-Thon, perhaps my favorite part, is that every tree and shrub is planted in honor of someone. I'm not sure how all that is organized, or how one goes about sponsoring a tree or shrub in someone's name, but I am in love with the idea. Although I didn't officially dedicate a planting to someone, while I was planting I thought about my loved ones who work hard to make the world a better place for all Her inhabitants. "This tree is for Lani, my Earth Goddess love, who radiates sunshine through the blackest clouds and believes in love and beauty and equity for every being in the universe." "This tree is for Aunt Ann, whose wisdom and love work inspires me to continue working even in the apparent face of defeat." "This is for Mom, whose kind and loving words and actions towards all raised me to try and emulate the same." The list goes on...
 |
| ...and this tree is for you! <3 |
No comments:
Post a Comment