Living Willow Walls: Living Landscaping

My name is Gabriella Villarriuel and I am a recent graduate of Burney High School. I will be attending Shasta college in the fall and then am planning to transfer to Humboldt State University after i earn my associates degree. In the future I would love to be a wildlife biologist.

This week our crew constructed willow walls which we constructed along the banks of Wood Duck Island  that have serious erosion problems. The walls are designed to stabilize the banks and help stop future erosion. Sediment will catch behind the wall and begin to build upon itself. Also the willow will take root and grow into new willows and stabilize the banks. The process of building a willow wall is a simple one. Our crew located willow bushes that were large and healthy enough for us to harvest thin, long branches or "whips." We harvested small whips and also thick branches to be used as stakes for the wall. We trimmed all the excess leaves and branches from the whips to make them as straight as possible. The stakes we cut to approximately 105 cm with an angle at the bottom. We then pounded the stakes in at the waters edge a foot or so apart. The willow whips were woven tightly through the stakes to create the "wall." We built five walls stabilizing almost 60 ft of stream bank. On top of stabilizing the banks, they will also provide cover for juvenile and adult fish, enhancing the  quality of the habitat in the area. I am very excited to come back next year and see if they worked and are growing. Hopefully the beavers don't eat them before then :).

 (Taking data)

( Construction of the wall)

 (Before)

 (After)

(3rd willow wall constructed)

Unwanted Guests: Managing Invasive Weeds Along Hat Creek

Invasive species are a major problem for Hat Creek. For our first official week of work, we committed our time to pulling different types of invasive plants. These noxious species can out compete the native plants and begin to take over the area. We hope to clear up areas that contain these invasives, particularly in locations where there will be future planting of native vegetation as part of the Hat Creek restoration project that will be occurring this fall.
Star Thistle is a highly invasive plant and in all the western states, California has the largest infestation of this noxious weed. Because of its abundance around Hat Creek, it is nearly impossible to remove by hand pulling methods. We pulled star thistle in strategic satellite patches around the creek to try and slow its spread. We concentrated our efforts along the trails and roads. This will help hinder its spread into different areas around Hat Creek. Teasel was the next invasive we pulled. There were five major satellite patches where we worked. Since Teasel is a bi-annual plant, which means it takes two years to mature and seed, we focused our efforts on removing the plants that would seed this year. This allows the young plants to grow and then can be removed next year. A few years of this treatment method and the plant can most likely be eradicated from the riparian area surrounding the creek. Poison hemlock and bull thistle are less common invasive plants that we treated along Hat Creek. The hope is that by getting these plants that have not had time to establish large colonies, that we can make it easier to control or eliminate them.
Invasive Species are very detrimental to Hat Creek. They are able to out compete and overtake an area. Our goal this week was to help slow or stop the spread of these plants to prepare the area for the large scale planting that will be occurring in the fall. By eliminating the invasives, the native plants will have less competition and will have a larger chance of establishing themselves once they are planted. These efforts will greatly help the overall restoration project on Hat Creek.

Training Week for the Hat Creek Youth Intiative

My name is Cody McCann. I am 16 years old and will be a junior at Fall River High School. My interests involve football, hunting, fishing and target shooting. I applied for this job at CalTrout again because I thought that it would be a good experience and it's better than mowing lawns all summer. Throughout the first week we had multiple presenters come out to speak with us about some of the projects that are happening around Hat Creek.We had Kit Mullen who is the Hat Creek District Ranger come speak to us about forestry management. One of the most interesting things I learned from her presentation was about the type of paint they use to mark trees. It is a special paint that the USFS orders and can only be used by forest service employees. If you are in possession of the paint and use it to mark trees without permission it is a felony crime. The Forest service uses this paint to mark trees and boundaries for timber sales.

We also had the opportunity to listen to Jeff Cooke from Spring Rivers speak about the aquatic ecology of Hat Creek and talk about the sedimentation issues surrounding Hat Creek. We took a walk with him to the site where the town of Carbon used to sit and he explained how the town rerouted Carbon Creek and the problems that the creek is encountering in its new channel. On the 4th day of training we headed to the Pit River Campground and Claude Singleton, the Recreational Manager for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), talk to us about the Fitzhugh Creek Project which we will be working on later in July. He also talked about the management of campgrounds and the history of the BLM. After the week of training I am really excited about the projects we will be working on this summer at Hat Creek.

(Jeff Cooke from Spring Rivers Ecological Services presents on the hydrology of Hat Creek)