On June 22nd I had the opportunity to participate in an activity that should be done more often by all of us. Under the scorching sun, 15 or so volunteers including myself spent six hours doing riparian planting along a newly built side channel in the Seymour River watershed. This activity is just a small component of a habitat renewal projected funded by Department of Fisheries and Oceans. With the help of staffs at the Seymour salmon hatchery, we created a habitat that will hopefully blossom into a diverse ecosystem in the many years to come.

What is a riparian plant? This is certainly a term that is not commonly seen in our everyday life. I wasn't aware of such a word until last year when reading through a publication regarding stream enhancement. A riparian plant is simply a tree or shrub that is found on or near the bank of a river. Riparian plants are crucial in a stream ecosystem and serve many purposes. These vegetation are the base of the ecosystem as their fruits are eaten by animals such as bears, birds and deers that frequent the area. They also comprise the riparian zone, a buffer strip that stabilizes the soil. This prevents runoff and erosion. The roots of these plants filter the groundwater before they enter the stream, and prevent rapid fluctuation of water level that you may seen in an urban stream that lacks vegetation. As these trees grow, the provide shading to cool the water down, forming a more desirable habitat for juvenile salmonids that rear in the stream. Planting riparians will also result in an increase of insect population, therefore they provide more food for both fish and birds.

The plants that were used today are native trees and shrubs such as vine maple, salmon berry and oak. These plants range between 0.5m to 2 m in height. In six hours, over 1000 riparian plants were planted. It sure was a tiring task, but certainly a worthy one. I think when the salmon season comes around, this will make me appreciate my catch even more. When looked closely during my lunch break, I could see schools of tiny salmon fries rearing in pools.

The side channel that we worked on was built around July 2001. Last winter, officials reported coho and steelhead already spawning in it. We expect more coho and cutthroat will occupy this channel in the upcoming spawning season. A small creation, yet its positive implication is tremendous.