Saturday 28th March 2009

Looking out over the pond

Today we met at the pump house on Northwest Bay road. I was late and as soon as I arrived Thomas said okay time to go and away we went for a walk in the estuary.

On the way down we checked our trees which seem to have been pruned by the Deer but still look strong with lots of growth. Errol's Spruce is now over 6 feet though has suffered some damage to its trunk from Deer rubbing its horns.

One of our objectives was to re-rig our fishway pipe in the Ducks Unlimited pond which flows from Bonnel Creek into Nanoose Creek via a stop log device and culvert. Wild Coho smolts get trapped in the pond and without a pipe they would be trapped as the water recedes in June/July. Since we installed the pipe the fish have passage into Nanoose Creek and later on once the Ducks and Geese have hatched and their young and are moving out of the estuary we will remove all the stop logs to drain the pond to allow all the fish to move into Nanoose Creek's estuary.

Today the water was too high for chest waders and Craig would not volunteer to wade out without scuba gear. We will return once the water begins to recede and we can check the pipe with chest waders. The beaver has been around as evidenced by fresh sticks and lots of grass stuffed into the top stop log.

Some pairs of geese were observed doing what looked like starting to make their nesting sites on the hummocks. The field is flooded so most of them will have to wait until the water levels recede before they can make their nests. We hope this year they will be left alone to hatch their eggs without whoever comes down and addles their eggs. This is a way they say to reduce the numbers of Geese though I doubt whoever it is has not come back and seen the very sad looking Geese sitting on the nest of rotten eggs hoping to hatch them out. One year one Goose was sitting on her nest for weeks and looked almost starving to death, she would not even move when we came close she was so sad looking.

We walked out to the beach then back up Bonnel Creek to the wild apple trees, took a couple of cuttings to graft this afternoon, good tasting apples. We returned through the Nootka Rose patches looking for more trees we had planted in the past and it looks like between Mice, Deer and anyone else who considers young trees a real treat we will have to plant some more. This is borderline planting due to the influence of sea water in the estuary but we are learning where to plant with some success and where the survival rate is lower. Spruce seem the best suited if the Mice do not chew them down. We then walked back through the field up to the road.

Tuesday 24th March 2009

Cold and wet

Today everyone met in front of the Christian school on Morello road to access the forest through Lussiers gravel pit. We went up to Swan Lake and found what we think are the same pair of Geese preparing their nesting site as they have done for the past few years . A Heron took flight from further up the lake and everyone thought they heard Roy but was just the Heron ( Roy is away in Maui).

The forest is starting to come back to life with the Skunk Cabbage starting to bloom and lots of dickie birds around. We walked down the trail and checked our counting fence which needed the mesh cleaning of debris; no fish yet its a little cold so far for them to be moving. After we went and walked up the logging road 142 to find our old trail down to the lake. Though we had not used the trail for some years it was not hard to follow down to the lake.

All throughout the forest water was flowing in flood channels and the closer to the lake we got we observed some Beaver activity from their foraging of wood for food. As we left Craig took a short swim in one of the channels, he slipped off the log and went in up to his waist with one leg, I was too slow to get his picture due to laughing though I did get a pic of him emptying his boots, I did not get his head in the pic as Craig is camera shy. Afterwards we walked back down the road to our foot bridge and went for coffee and tea.

Saturday 21st March 2009

Craig Creek

Today we went for a walk along the banks of Craig Creek at the Mitchell Farm to look at the Willow pruning the farmer had done over the winter. We walked the length of the farm and looked at the fencing and some willow wattling we had done in the past.

The fencing was done to keep the cattle out of the creek and from eroding the banks. Some fencing was moved by the farmer which now gives the cattle access back to the creek (!?). Around the small market garden the willow had been pruned heavily to remove shade from the garden plot alongside the creek, hopefully by the time the fish are moving around the willow will have grown back enough to provide shade for the creek to keep the water cool during the summer months.

Tuesday 17th March 2009

Trail erosion at Craig Creek

More trail erosion at Craig Creek

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!


Today we went to the power and gas line crossing on Craig Creek to follow up on concerns expressed by Island Timberlands Engineer on erosion issues. Upon arrival at the site we found the only erosion was from the Horse and ATV trail crossing the creek.

Over the years ATV riders have used this as access into the logging lands to avoid the security gate. This has lead to further erosion of the banks on what originally was a small foot path used by hikers and occasionally horse riders. There is not much we can do at this site as the ATVs will just ride over anything we can do , planting Willows etc.

We will make the suggestion to the logging company that they place some big rocks across the right of way at the top of the bank to block passage.

More Photos From The Stairs

Unloading the last of the crush.


Rebeca, Laura and camera shy Kaylen on the finished steps.

Stair Building - Saturday 14 March 2009

Craig huffing and puffing with a heavy load.

Roy and Terry unloading.

The finished steps.

Al and John fitting the steps.

Almost done.


Todays project was the completion of our step project started last Tuesday. Roy acquired a donation of 3/4 crush from Lussiers pit to use as back fill in the steps. Al and John found another Cedar log to use for treads and with Brians help loaded them into Johns truck as Roy backed his trailer as close to the trail head as possible. 

When the logs were carried down to the steps Al and John chain sawed and drilled them for placement as Roy and Terry unloaded the crush into the wheel barrow manned by Barry. As Brian and Ed with help from Craig spread the crush into the steps built on Tuesday Al and John installed the remaining steps. 

We were able to use some of the bolts salvaged from the Marina cleanup to spike in the treads and as Laura and Rebecca found rocks to place at the ends the boys spread more crush into the steps. All this was photographed by Kaylen.

Upon completion everyone was proud of the mornings work they had accomplished. We were informed by the logging company to their concern over the Gas line crossing on Craig Creek and suggested that we go and have a look at the stream banks.

Tuesday March 10 2009

Today we were installing steps on one of our trails in the upper watershed. For 10 years we have used the existing slope as our trail and then someone had the idea to install steps. Wow what a difference, now no more slipping and sliding.

Later on we will get some 3/4 crush to fill in behind the round Cedar logs we anchored with 3/4" re-bar driven into the bank. No one brought a camera today so no pics but will have pics after the next visit and will update then.

Some NSKS Signage

Watershed Awareness sign located at Dublin Gulch highway rest area in Nanoose Bay.



Nanoose Streamkeeper volunteers erecting a sign.

Cutthroat Trout

Nanoose Bay Dock and Styrofoam Removal

Nanoose Bay Dock and Styrofoam Removal. Update 2008/09


The following week the size of the project of trying to remove all the docks without machinery became evident when a local resident Harold Robinson donated some machine time with his son Corey as operator. With the excavator we removed all the dock sections along the south side of the estuary and as far as we had easy access along the south shore below the railroad tracks.

All these docks were sent to the west coast for re-building and re-use. The following week another local contractor (Shoreline) with owner Doug Penny as operator donated time to remove the sections along the North shoreline around to the Oyster farm. These also went for recycling.

Meanwhile the NSKS volunteers plugged away relentlessly with other residents to remove the loose Styrofoam. A gas leaf blower which converted to a vacuum was modified by Roy for sucking up the loose particles without taking in sticks and rocks. Another 100 cubic meters of foam or more was removed by hand. DBL, a local container company, donated a truck to haul away the foam to another dock construction company (White-Water Docks) for recycling.

During this process we had made contact with the main landowner in the bay, the Nanoose Naval Base. They allowed us to access the beaches all along the north shore and one of the smaller islands near Wallis Point. During our Styrofoam removal the navy came by with their Sea Truck to pick up the foam we had collected.

Thanks to the continuing lobbying by residents and NSKS the Federal Government via Environment Canada donated money to help facilitate the cleanup and shortly after the Provincial Government came on board with a donation. Now we had the money to hire machinery and man power to do the job.

Over the summer as time and tides permitted machinery and trucks were hired to remove more dock sections, a local Oyster farmer Pete Mclean was hired to tow the sections off the beach once the machine had lifted them from the foreshore. Next, dock sections were hand removed with jacks and rollers to allow the towing off the beach at high tide in areas not accessible to machinery. All these pieces were trucked to a storage site on Snaw'Naw'As First Nations land where some are being dismantled.

Hopefully someone will want the docks that are able to be repaired and re-used. As of this posting some docks still remain at the high tide line driven into the foreshore by the storms and will also require hand removal over the coming months once the herring have spawned and its okay to work in these sensitive areas.

Nanoose Bay Styrofoam Collection

Nanoose Bay Styrofoam Cleanup

Nanoose Bay Styrofoam Cleanup an overwhelming success.

On Saturday February 16th 2008 Nanoose Streamkeepers sponsored a community volunteer cleanup drawing volunteers from the mid-Island area to Nanoose Bay to participate in the pickup of Styrofoam debris spread around the bay from the storm damaged marina. A diverse group of volunteers came together at the beach access at Nanoose Beach Road and fanned out over the estuary and surrounding beaches picking up Styrofoam and garbage. They filled a large 40yd waste container donated by Waste Systems Inc.

This was a real community event resulting in the majority of the Styrofoam being removed from the environment. This is especially important within the estuary proper where birds are already beginning to congregate for the upcoming nesting season and Wild Salmon fry are beginning to emerge within Bonnel and Nanoose Creeks.

With the amount of volunteers (aprox 75-100) we were able to exceed our expectations and remove the majority of the loose Styrofoam around the whole bay. There were a couple of small areas remaining we were unable to access but will be cleaned up over the next couple of weeks by the Streamkeepers.

Over the coming months another follow-up cleanup will be announced as we assess the main areas we need to focus on next. This spring we will be going out to the outlying Islands to remove loose Styrofoam strewn around the bays and beaches. If funding is sourced either through different levels of government or through the Snaw'Naw'As Band we will be removing the large remaining 100+ dock sections which require equipment to move.

Local politicians George Holme RDN Director and MP James Lunney joined in the cleanup. Refreshments were donated by Quality Foods, Red Gap store in Nanoose. Garbage bags and dumping fees were donated by the RDN. Thanks to them all for their generous support.

Bonnel Cr. Debris Jam

  

Bonnel Creek



Large debris jam on Bonnel Creek. This jam is above the power line crossing and though quite large it presents no barrier to Wild Salmon migration. Wild Coho are observed every year in the pools above and have spawning habitat all the way upstream to the barrier falls within Bonnel Cr. canyon. Wild Chum occasionally are seen above the jam and are seen every year milling around the base spawning and attempting to find a way through. The jam is also serving the purpose of retaining water for longer periods upstream as levels go subsurface in the reaches below.

Bonnel Cr. Gas Line Crossing

Thomas surveying the site of the natural gas line crossing on Bonnel Creek. The gas company dug out the stream bed and installed a buried Newberry weir to help prevent the migration of the stream bed over the pipe buried beneath the stream bed.

Streamkeepers worked on this site once the gas company left to seed with fall Rye to rapidly vegetate the exposed soils. A Willow spilling wall was installed along the leading edge of the left bank left exposed to further erosion from winter high flows. The Willow wall will help collect sediment and re-grow some riparian habitat within this exposed site. 

Spilling Wall

Michelle finishing a bioengineering project building a woven willow spilling wall to collect eroding material from the site of a small landslide and to slow down the erosion of the base by high flows.

Nanoose Creek Foot Bridge

Hello this is the first blog entry of the Nanoose Stream keepers blog.

Above some of the volunteers posing on the new bridge.

As we have just started our blog I ask that you bear with us as it grows. Here are some pictures of some of our activities from the past 10 years of being a Society. The first pictures are our foot bridge crossing of Nanoose Creek, this was a haywire crossing trying to cross the jumble of old logging debris with our volunteers who range in age from baby now 3 years old to 80+ our oldest members. With permission from the logging company we were able to skid a wind thrown Cedar tree down to the stream crossing the site of a old wood bridge long ago washed out with the fore mentioned logging debris creating a log jam at the site. This debris now serves as much needed habitat for resident Trout outgoing Wild Salmon fry and smolts. This blog will be updated as I have more time to add more info.