Plant Native Vegetation
In 1998,
Pierce County Stream Team planted 1,000 Western Red Cedar and
Western Hemlock in the lower quarter of the Puget Gulch area.
Then in 1999, a cooperative effort between Citizens for a
Healthy Bay and Pierce County Stream Team planted another 1,000
cedar and hemlock in the next quarter of the Gulch. In 2000*,
146 volunteers planted 1,050 Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock,
Sitka Spruce, and Douglas Fir in the upper quarter of the Gulch
and two side gulches. This project continued into 2002; on
Pierce County
Parks Appreciation Day, PCRs and 65 volunteers
planted 1,000 Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedar seedlings in
seven different areas, two of which were located in Puget
Gardens.
There
have been a number of other planting projects in the upper Gulch
area, including just below Puget Park where the playground
equipment is located, at the very end of the Gulch at the site
of the 1995 landslide, and in the side gulch at the site of a
mudslide that was caused by wrongfully channeled alley run-off.
After
years of eradicating invasive plants, we were able to obtain
funds to begin a major planting project on a site encompassing
an area 3,600 feet in length and from four to 40 ft. wide,
covering both sides of the stream and trail in the lower Gulch.
Each section of the area has its own planting plan and is
supported by an inventory of native plants. PCRS* eventually
partnered with South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group
(SPSSEG) on this project.
PCRS
continues to organize large-scale plantings in autumn and spring
and continues to look for groups, schools, and individuals to
particiapte and adopt sections of the stream corridor as their
own restoration sites. We will continue to work our way up the
Gulch and the slopes, while educating the community on the
different native plants and how to restore these habitats. Since
starting this project, we have obtained a detailed survey and
wetland delineation for the lower Puget Gulch.
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