Clark’s Creek is a gorgeous salmon bearing stream that eventually connects to the Puyallup River. Part of this creek’s length runs just West of two sites that you may be familiar with if you have volunteered with us before; Deadman’s Pond and Silver Creek. A short walk North of DeCoursey Park, we have started restoration work on a hidden gem right beside Clark’s Creek called the Peck Property.

What is the Peck Property?

The Peck Property is a site just under 3 acres, which is a little over 2 football fields’ total area. It’s clear from the moment you set foot on the property that it is a space with enormous potential to be a gorgeous streamside nature spot in downtown Puyallup.

A serene view of the water at the edge of the Peck Property.

Unfortunately, the native plants of this property need a little extra help with fighting back invasive plants that dominate much of the area. The trio of invasive plants threatening the area include Himalayan blackberry along the perimeters, Reed canary grass choking out competition throughout, and some yellow iris along the side of the stream.

In addition to the native and invasive plant species on the property, there are plenty of critters who live here. Ducks, geese, a variety of birds, garter snakes, salmon, beavers and more all consider the Peck Property home.

Can you guess which Peck Property critter left this woody mess?

Past Restoration Efforts

Fortunately for the native plants and creatures of Peck Property, Pierce Conservation District and local volunteers have recently started increasing efforts to fight back against the invasive plants. While we only recently began restoration efforts, we have a great foundation to build on thanks to a project four years ago.

In 2020, a project started through the forest city credits program to provide 655 trees such as Cedar, Douglas Fir, big leaf maple, Sitka Spruce, alder, and more for this area. The hope with those trees was that they’d grow quickly to provide shade and new habitat. Since then, the area has mostly been crew managed or dormant.

Examples of native plants in the middle of Peck Property

Future Restoration Efforts

Starting this year, we kicked off trips with volunteers to restore this area together. So far, we’ve focused on blackberry removal and something called plant release due to the abundance of Reed canary grass. Plant release helps give the native plants space to breathe. Because Reed canary grass can grow 6 to 7 feet tall when left on its own, it can shade out other plants easily. We go through the property and clear a radius of Reed canary grass around native plants. 

Another way we fight the Reed canary grass is by shading it out. This past winter, we planted hundreds of willow stakes along the creek shoreline. Sitka and Pacific willows grow quickly along streams and creeks. They can outcompete Reed canary grass and then shade it out. This gives us a better foothold to restore more space, but also provides great habitat for streamside critters. 

In addition to the Reed canary grass efforts, we will keep removing blackberry as it comes up and introduce native plants to fight back Reed canary grass, provide shade canopy, and improve riparian habitat.

Come Help Peck Property!

It's so easy to join the restoration efforts for Peck Property or our other restoration sites. If you want to take on a leadership role in local land stewardship, you can become a Habitat Steward. As a Habitat Steward, you take leadership of a site in Puyallup or Fircrest, develop an annual work plan and goals, and lead monthly work parties of volunteers. 

This May, Pierce Conservation District is hosting a training series for habitat stewards. During the training, participants learn about the Habitat Stewardship Program, ecology, volunteer management and site planning. There is a field portion to learn about common invasive species, removal techniques and tool safety. The final part of this three part series is taking place this Wednesday the 22nd. You can look forward to similar future opportunities through PCD!

If a leadership role doesn't sound like a great fit for you, you can volunteer at one of our Peck Property work parties. Keep an eye on our Calendar of Events and Volunteer Opportunities to see when we add Peck Property work party dates. 

We're so excited to continue working together to relieve some invasive plant pressures for Peck Property native plants and critters. We hope you'll join us on this journey of helping Peck Property become the beautiful gem it's meant to be!