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Riparian zone before Escalante River Watershed Partnership crew removed Russian olives.


Spokane River Forum volunteers standing beside native plants ready for planting.


Hold The Russian Olives Please…


Generally, when paddlers hear the phrase waterway stewardship, one image comes to mind: the classic river cleanup. Groups that clean the tires, plastic debris, and other garbage from our waterways are common and very important to protecting our rivers, streams, lakes and coastlines, but waterway stewardship can come in many packages besides the popular river cleanup. In the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Kanab, Utah,


one group has been participating in a different kind of waterway stewardship project. Since the mid-1990s, the Escalante River Watershed Partnership, an organization dedicated to the support and protection of the Escalante River and its watershed, have taken on a removal project. However, the Escalante River Watershed Partnership isn’t focused on removing tires and plastic bottles; instead, they work diligently to remove plants. Not just any plants: Russian olive and tamarisk trees. Introduced to the American West during the 1930s to provide windbreaks


and soil stability following the severe dust storms of the Dust Bowl, Russian olive and tamarisk trees are two invasive species that have flourished in western riparian zones due to favorable growing conditions and a lack of natural predators. This poses a problem for native plant species, such as cottonwood and willow trees, which are easily out-competed by the stubborn Russian olives and tamarisk. These invasive species form thickets along riparian areas, confining streams to a narrow corridor and causing the streams to cut deeper and deeper channels. This change in stream shape will affect native plant and fish health and, consequentially, overall stream health.


Removal of these thickets by groups like the Escalante River Watershed Partners give the native plants a chance to grow and develop, leading to a healthier riparian zone and a healthier waterway. Restoration of waterway ecosystems doesn’t always involve the removal


of invasive plants. In the case of the ACA affiliated club and L.L.Bean Club Fostered Stewardship Grant recipients Spokane River Forum, it involved the opposite: planting native plant species. On September 27th, 2014, over 100 volunteers from Spokane River Forum and Whitworth University participated in a stewardship event on the Spokane River near the Idaho/Washington state line that involved the planting of more than 300 native plant species. Because these native plant species are already adapted to the climate of the Spokane River, they will help regenerate a well-balanced ecosystem by not overdrawing water resources and providing cover and food for native wildlife. Thanks to the efforts of these organizations, the fragile ecosystems along


the waterways we know and love are closer to being reestablished, making for a better paddling experience and a healthier world. For more information on the efforts of the Escalante River Watershed


Partners, visit http://gsenm.org/escalante-river-watershed-partnership To see what projects the Spokane River Forum has taken on, visit www. spokaneriver.net.


Riparian zone after Escalante River Watershed Partnership crew removed Russian olives.


Interested in the ACA and L.L.Bean’s Club Fostered Stewardship Grant program? Go to www.americancanoe.org/?page=LLBean_CFS_Grant


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