6-22-2026

Woke up and had the usual morning routine, and then we packed up to go to the reserved area on the reservation and to some beaver analogs with Yakama Nation Wildlife Fisheries, and we had a few people go out there with us. Jeanette Burkhartt, the watershed planner, David Lindley, the habitat coordinator, and Jerard Foley, the habitat biologist. To start our morning at Swamp Creek, we collected dead trees from a fire near the site at Cougar Creek in 2015, which originated from a lightning strike on the south side of Mt. Adams around the Glenwood area. Anyway the dead trees were scattered along the creek and had previously cut and lopped some of the small Douglas fir for the base of the dam, which is kind of like a sponge sort of. Then three other students and I got into the water to collect sediment upstream of the sides of the channel so it could patch up some of the holes and cracks between the wood. While Phabian, Leah, Jessica, and I were doing that, some of the other members were staking willow sticks in and along the dam to provide more stability and a stronger structure for when they start growing, and after the stakes were hammered in with a mallet, we placed more along the sides, on top, and just filling spaces where it looked like water could get through also with some more sediment. After all the smaller debris was placed, we placed the bigger cut-up trees we dragged over to the dams and placed them on top. We built a total of two dams up until 2:30ish and repaired one that was previously built in about 15 min. It was really fun working with them on making an artificial beaver dam.

I think a highlight from today was getting in the water and shoveling the sediment from the banks; it was fun and tiring work, but I enjoyed it and had some good laughs. Also, working with and talking with Jeannette about the flora and fauna from the site; she was really knowledgeable about plant identification, so it was nice talking with her about the different plants in the area. Oh! And the beaver pins they gave us at the end. A downside of today was my choice of an outfit, and the fact that my clothes got soaked because there was a hole in my waders, and getting a farmer’s tan. Other than that, though I had a good time, it was nice to be moving and getting things done, and not only that, but doing something that will benefit the area and land. Jeannette and her team were saying the importance of the dams and the beavers in this area because it is a wetland, and with less snowpack over the years, it is drying up in those areas, and you can see it from some of the plants near the creek because they were looking a little crispy. What was cool about the dams we built is that after we were almost done, you could see the water already backing up and the water rising. We also had to collect our soil sample from this site and had to do the same process as before, and since it was a wetland, it was a little more difficult to dig the holes due to the roots from the grasses and the soil being wetter and muddy.