Successful Applicant:
Kensington North Watershed Association
Award:
$8,818
Project Title:
2017 Fish Habitat Restoration, Tree Planting & Silt Management
Project Gallery:
Project Summary:
Our project goals, as summarized in the project title, focus on habitat restoration in the Kensington North Watersheds area.
1. Improve shade and provide stream bank stabilization, increase biodiversity through planting of native trees and shrubs, as site conditions require. Over 2700 native trees and shrubs from the J.Frank Gaudet tree nursery were planted at twenty-two locations in 2017. Tree guards, stakes and cardboard mulch were used at most sites. Four locations were used as test sites for treatments of mycorrhizal fungi products to determine if there is a long term benefit to tree growth and survival using these products.
2. Permit streams to flow at a more natural velocity, allowing for self cleaning of silt, increased exposure to springs and gravel for fish spawning, more open areas for water fowl, greater biodiversity, by removing nuisance debris, maintaining and constructing rock dams, building brush mats, placing shore gravel in selected springs, and other enhancement activities. Selective maintenance, including garbage removal, brush matting, woody debris removal and bank stabilization, was performed in eight watersheds.
3. Improved biodiversity, improved habitat for birds, small mammals, amphibians. Improved stream banks, less clogging of streams by alders, leading to less siltation, better stream bottom, through selected patch cutting in pure stands of alder and pin cherry and replanting with native species. Patch cutting of alders and pin cherry was performed in four watersheds. Other sites received selective cutting as required as part of stream maintenance.
4. Keep hard-working sediment traps working efficiently in a heavily farmed area with sandy soils, through proper maintenance and new sediment trap construction. The by-pass sediment trap in Indian River and in-stream sediment traps on the Barbara Weit River and Spring Valley Brook were maintained. A new by-pass sediment trap was constructed in Long River upstream from Paynters Pond.
5. Promote awareness of the importance of good ecological stewardship through annual events with classes from Queen Elizabeth Elementary School and Kensington Intermediate High School. Both annual outdoor events were successfully repeated. A new classroom module was added to the Grade 8 program.
6. Facilitate opportunities for recreational fishing by maintaining access points around the Alysha Toombs Pond in Kensington. Cat tails were excavated from the pond and fence sections were constructed and installed to improve safety at points along the bank.