Well, we’re halfway through field school which has been an interesting and busy time so far. The Recreation, Fish and Wildlife students started off with a chainsaw safety course where they learn how to strip down and clean saws, what safety equipment to use, and how to safely make some basic cuts.
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| Bucking and limbing |
Our Integrated Environmental Planning students spent the first week working on a restoration project on the City of Nelson’s shoreline. This was in conjunction with Eileen Senyk of Benchmark Environmental Services, the folks from the City of Nelson, and Thor Smestad from Terra Erosion Control Ltd. This was an interesting project where we were attempting to stabilize the softer material remaining on the small peninsulas originally created to compensate for lost fish habitat in this region of the West Arm of the Kootenay River.
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| Peninsulas on the north side of the airport runway |
This four day short course in environmental restoration started off with a walk through of the sites to discuss issues with Eileen, Eric White, Crystal Klym (Central Kootenay Invasive Plant Committee), and Thor.
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| Invasive plant discussion |
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| live staking |
Following this, the students attacked some weed hotspots and learned a number bioengineering techniques, including live staking, brush pockets, and their crowning achievement, a branch box breakwater.
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| Mixing humus, mycorrhizae, peatmoss, and nutrients for planting |
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| Sharpening live stakes. |
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| Brush pockets and the start of the branch box breakwater |
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| Adding branches... |
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| The first layer tiedown in the branch box |
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| Tying down the last layer with 1/2 inch manila rope |
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| Adding beaver protection (2 inch stucco wire). The white latex paint is to prevent sun scald |
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| Success! |
