The fall planting season kicked off with arguably one of the largest, most ambitious, and most logistically complicated project the District has ever done! Known as Nancy’s Ditch, the District partnered with PCC Farmland Trust, Floodplains by Design, and six private landowners to plant almost 1800 native trees, shrubs, and live stake cuttings across three separate sites in late September. All the plants were installed along agricultural drainages that feed into Clear Creek, a tributary to the Puyallup River. The event was capped off with a burrito lunch donated by Chipotle and the opportunity to meet with some of the local farmers who participated in the project.

At the South Prairie Creek Preserve, UW biology students, girl and boy scouts, and other volunteers started what will be a multi-year effort to plant more than three dozen acres of restored habitat as part of a project to improve conditions for salmon. Many more work parties will be held in order to help plant thousands of trees. This is one you can come back to time and again to see the transformation underway!

In mid-October, the Habitat Program wrapped up its last project of the year on a gorgeous morning along Salmon Creek in Sumner. With salmon spawning in the stream, deer checking in to see what was going on, and a great blue her-on visiting as well, the reasons behind the work being done to improve fish and wildlife habitat were readily apparent.

With just these three projects, we planted 4,635 plants on 5.3 acres, along 0.76 miles of streams and local waterways! Many thanks to the awe-some volunteers who made this planting season so successful. As the fall and winter rains help these plants settle in to their new homes, we hope to see many of you next spring (and beyond) as we return to these sites and add on to the good work now underway.