On a misty, rainy morning in October, Josie Lesage’s Environmental Science 101 students gathered around her in the gravel parking lot at Sams Walker Recreation Area near Skamania Landing in the Columbia River Gorge, about 34 miles from the Clark College main campus.  

Lesage distributed gardening gloves and asked for volunteers to carry supplies to the work site. One student carried a bucket of garden spades. Others carried flats of Canada goldenrod. The native plants are grown by Clark students in Environmental Biology/Biology 101 classes at the Native Plant Center’s greenhouse. As they hiked along a gravel trail, Lesage stopped to point out a field that previous Clark students had seeded with native plants.

“Clark students have been involved with a habitat restoration project here for the past two years,” says Clark Professor Kathleen Perillo, Environmental Science and Biology, and co-director of the college’s Native Plant Center. Students gain hands-on experience learning about and working with native plants at the Native Plant Center and planting them at the U.S. Forest-managed restoration sites in the Columbia River Gorge. 

This restoration effort is a partnership with Clark College, the U.S. Forest Service, and The Center for Ecodynamic Restoration, a nonprofit organization based in Washougal. 

Restoring habitat

After Lesage demonstrated the preferred planting technique, the group stepped off the trail and passed a sign that read: “Please keep off. Revegetation in progress.” As they walked uphill to the planting area, they snaked around a rusty relic of farm equipment, its iron wheels encased with thick moss. This artifact and a crumbling foundation are the few remaining remnants of the farms operated by the Sams and Walker families on this land in another era.

But much more recently, this entire area—the field and adjacent wooded areas—was overgrown with non-native invasive species including reed canary grass, pasture grasses, and towering Himalayan blackberry plants. Now, the ground is covered in decomposing blackberry canes. Over the past two years, Clark students and other volunteers have begun planting non-invasive native plants. Fields are sewn with a mix of 33 different native species including Canada goldenrod, western yarrow, streambank lupine, bigleaf lupine, Douglas aster, milkweed, and more.

Reaching a broad hillside, the group stopped while Lesage offered final instructions. Setting down their umbrellas, backpacks, and clipboards, the students carried pots of Canada goldenrod all along the field, then knelt on the rain-soaked ground and got to work.

With so many hands working, the planting was soon completed. Although these plants are tiny now, they soon will mature and reseed with the help of the wind and birds. To demonstrate how quickly this transformation can occur, Lesage led her students over the hill and stood amid a thriving native landscape students had planted two years earlier.

Sams Walker Recreation Area

Sandy Haigh, a former Clark College biology professor, is the president of The Center for Ecodynamic Restoration (CEDR). She manages the restoration project at Sams Walker Recreation Area, which was established by the U.S. Forest Service in the 1990s. Working with the Forest Service, Clark College, and other partners, CEDR works to restore native habitats at the site. The project is funded with National Forest Foundation grants to CEDR.

Haigh defined ecological restoration as the process of restoring damaged or disturbed ecosystems to their natural state. CEDR works closely with Clark College Native Plant Center. Biology students propagate native plants in the campus greenhouse. Then professors Lesage and Perillo’s environmental science students plant the native species at Sams Walker and at St. Cloud, another project two miles west. This cooperative work introduces students to ecology, demonstrates the role of natives in ecological systems, and encourages them to enter related fields of work.

Perillo said, “We want our students to learn what a healthy Pacific Northwest ecosystem looks like and what it takes to restore it. We are teaching them about native plants and their role in native systems. But it goes beyond that to be able to show how a healthy system starts from the ground up and goes from soils to plants to pollinators on up to our apex predators. Everything in the system relies on everything else. That’s an important takeaway.”

She added, “We also want to empower students to see that they can be a part of worthwhile work in restoring systems and even take that knowledge back to their own backyards. It’s a way to tackle some of the nihilism that infuses many of our students in the face of climate change and the biodiversity crisis.” 

Becoming an Environmental Scientist

First-year Clark student Kylie Miller (pictured above), one of the students who participated in the restoration work at Sams Walker, is pursuing a career as an environmental scientist. “I chose this field because I grew up in Southern Oregon and constantly being in nature made me a proud tree hugger.”

Miller grew up hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, gardening “and doing just about anything outdoors I could.” In high school, she took environmental science classes and was inspired by her teacher to pursue a career in the field. She helped start an environmental activism group, worked toward restoring the campus greenhouse, and planned local cleanups.

She chose Clark College for its strong environmental science program and because she was recruited to play volleyball for the Penguins. Miller is pursuing an associate transfer degree in environmental science and plans to earn her bachelor’s degree at Oregon State University, University of Oregon or Washington State University.

Miller said the planting project at Sams Walker Recreation Area “was a great experience to get a taste of what it would really be like to work in the field. I know for a fact I want to be hands on and in the field making change and impacting the ecosystems I’m working with for the better.”

Learn more

• Call to action: Volunteer at the October 26 work party at Sams Walker Recreation Area. Click here to sign up.
• Visit the site:

  • Sams Walker Day Use/Picnic Area: Located 34 miles from Clark College and 12 miles east of Stevenson, Washington.
  • Directions: No street address. Take Washington State Highway 14 west into the Columbia River Gorge. Turn right at milepost 32.8 onto Skamania Landing Road. Drive ¼ mile, crossing the railroad tracks. Turn right into the parking lot.
  • Amenities: Trails, toilet, picnic table. NW Forest Pass required. Learn more here.

• Learn more:
  • Project partner The Center for Ecodynamic Restoration, Washougal.

  • Habitat restoration at the Sams Walker Recreation Site near Skamania Landing along Highway 14 in the Columbia River Gorge here.

Photos: Clark College/Susan Parrish

 

Clark College will host two events for lovers of native plants this May. Its fifth annual native plant sale will take place at the college’s greenhouse on May 3, 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m, and May 4, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Additionally, the college will host a talk on native plants on May 3, 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., in Anna Pechanec Hall room 201.

About the Native Plant Sale

All of the native plants available for purchase were planted and grown by Clark College biology and environmental science students in the college’s Native Plant Center greenhouse.

Community members will be able to select from a wide variety of native plants, with an emphasis on flowering perennials, self-seeding annuals, and small shrubs perfect for any yard. Species available include Yarrow, Heal All, Mock Orange, California Poppy, Red Flowering Currant, Meadow Checker Mallow, Red Osier Dogwood, and more. Other products include student-made gardener’s soaps and seed balls for attracting pollinators.

Plant sales support the college’s Science Consortium Fund, which supports greenhouse operations and the costs of unique field studies class trips to places such as Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon and the Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California. Students who participate in the four- and ten-day trips pay $500 to $750. The fund offsets those expenses, making the experience accessible to more students.

The sale will take place outside the college’s greenhouse, located at on the east side of campus near the intersection of E. Reserve Street and McLoughlin Boulevard. Most plants are priced at $10 or less. Students will be available to assist customers with transporting plants to vehicles.

For more information about the plant sale, contact nativeplantcenter@clark.edu or visit www.clark.edu/cc/plantsale.

About the Native Plant Talk

Clark College STEM Coordinator and biology and environmental science instructor Erin Harwood answers the question “Why native plants?” in this informative lecture on the importance of native plants to our local ecosystem. Harwood will also cover how to select, plant, and care for native plants in your home garden. The talk will provide detailed information on approximately 10 native plants that will attract wildlife to your yard, along with other benefits. This event is free and open to the public.

Both events take place on Clark College’s main campus. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP) or visit the Penguin Union Building room 013.

Photo: Clark College/Nova Gump

Clark College will host its fourth annual native plant sale on May 4 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and May 5 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Natural Plant Center, the college’s greenhouse. Most plants are priced at $10.00 or less. Students will be available to assist customers with transporting plants to their vehicles.

The event is free and open to the public. Clark College is located at 1933 Ft. Vancouver Way, Vancouver, WA, 98663. The greenhouse is located on the east side of campus off of E. Reserve St., near the Orange 2 parking lot. Directions and maps are available online at www.clark.edu/maps.

All plants were propagated by Clark College biology and environmental science students. In addition to prepping these plants for sale, students have been propagating other plants in the greenhouse for use in restoration projects at various sites in Southwest Washington including the Columbia River Gorge, Trout Lake, and Clark’s future site in Ridgefield, Clark College at Boschma Farms.

This year the sale features a variety of native perennials and shrubs along with one tree species, Western Red Cedar. Shoppers will be able to choose from among 23 different plants, including Red-flowering Currant, Native Rose, Lewis’ Mockorange, Blanket Flower, Showy Milkweed, and Native Strawberry. Limited supplies of Trillium and Native Iris will be available as well. Many of these plants support the region’s pollinators and make for low-intensity gardening.

Proceeds from the plant sale go to support the college’s Science Consortium Fund, which helps cover the costs of a greenhouse coordinator and field studies classes. Students who participate in field studies visit places such as Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon and the Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California. Students pay $210 to $255 for four-day and ten-day trips to these locations, which would normally cost more than $1000 if not for the help of the consortium fund.

For more information about the sale or plants available, visit www.clark.edu/cc/plantsale or contact Erin Harwood, Clark College STEM Coordinator, at eharwood@clark.edu. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP) or visit room PUB 013.

 

 

As Kermit the Frog once sang, it’s not easy being green. Admittedly, Kermit probably wasn’t talking about shoveling dirt in a cold, quintessentially Pacific Northwest drizzle. But members of the Clark College and greater Vancouver community banded together on November 6 to do just that during the college’s annual tree planting. These plantings help maintain the main campus’s arboretum, as well as its status as a Tree Campus USA.

The group that gathered under rainy skies to plant trees included students from Clark’s Environmental Biology class; members of the Clark College Environmental Club; participants in the Washington Conservation Corps; members of the college’s Tree Advisory Committee; and representatives from Vancouver’s Urban Forestry. Staff from Clark College Facilities Services also assisted in the project.

The group planted four trees. Two of them–an American Yellowwood and a Chinese Pistache–were donated by Urban Forestry and are new species to the arboretum. The group also planted a Knobcone Pine; this tree was actually an offshoot from an older tree on campus that died and was removed. “So technically, it is a new tree to campus as well, because the parent tree had died and been removed from the inventory,” said Instructional and Classroom Support Technician Tim Carper, who has organized the tree planting and Tree Campus USA activities at Clark for the past four years.

Carper noted that the Yellowwood and Pistache weren’t just new species to the campus–they were entirely new genera. “We are very close to having trees representing every genus that will reasonably grow in our climate and is available to us,” he said. “That has been kind of the guideline for adding to the arboretum.”

The fourth tree, a Snake-Bark Maple with colorful leaves and bark, was appropriately enough planted near Frost Arts Center.

 Photos: Clark College/Hannah Erickson