In The News: High school students plant for the future

Written by: Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic 

Mitigation project brought on by the bypass but taken to next level by local partners

While the construction of a large new highway might not seem associated with improving the natural environment, the Newberg-Dundee bypass project is ironically bringing about the restoration of native environmental features near the Willamette River.

That’s because the bypass is impacting some wetlands, streams and riverbank land in its path, so the Oregon Department of Transportation has to mitigate and create similar features at a ratio that ensures there is a net creation of environmental habitat.

ODOT has been working with the Chehalem Park and Recreation District on the effort, siting the mitigation projects on about 90 acres of CPRD-owned land. Overall the mitigation will bring some 40 acres of riparian buffer, or a sort of protective zone around water features that includes a variety of vegetation, as well as two acres of freshwater wetlands and less than an acre of stream habitat.

A large part of the project is bringing in native plants and trees, so the partnering agencies naturally thought of Newberg High School’s greenhouse program, which has become well-known for its annual plant sale that features a number of native plants.

On April 22, Earth Day, students in the greenhouse program helped transplant hundreds of trees from the NHS greenhouse onto the CPRD land designated for restoration.

The class planted Oregon white oak, which has a place in the region’s history although many of the trees have been lost over the years.

The Kalapuya tribe used to burn the entire Willamette Valley each year during the fall, clearing all the brush and shrubbery. The controlled burns allowed them to grow certain crops that would not grow in forested areas, NHS botany instructor Peter Siderius explained.

What was left, Siderius said, was essentially an Oak savannah.

“Oaks have thick bark, and their branches were high enough off the ground as they got older,” he said.

Since the oak population has diminished the task to plant new trees is referred to as a “restoration” project.

First the class got a tour of the entire area to see where everything is planned. Wetlands specialists from ODOT explained why the project was happening as well as what the land will look like in the future.

“Then they put us to work,” student Noah Standridge said. “Everyone just grabbed a tree and went out into the field.”

Students were taught how to correctly transplant a tree by representatives with Henderson Environmental, a firm that often works on similar environmental restoration projects.

The holes the trees were transplanted into had been pre-dug, so students seated the trees in the holes, and mixed in some soil and mulch to make sure they grow well.

“They told us a lot of stuff about what would help the trees and the ecosystem around there,” Standridge said.

The oaks were planted on the upland areas, as they thrive better when their roots are not submerged in water, while grasslands will run down into the wetlands swale areas.

“You’ll have a tremendous amount of diversity in a short span,” Siderius said.

Student Rubie Hines had never done this kind of replanting activity before and said she learned a lot particularly about the different tasks it takes to create a nature area.

“It was fun getting muddy,” she added.

Given the fact they were working right in a wetland area, the mud was expected, but some heavy rain that day took it to the next level. After the planting it took two hours to clean out the buses that transported students to the site.

“I don’t think the bus drivers were too happy about the mud,” Standridge laughed.

In the end, 540 oak trees were planted in the designated land, which Siderius said has far surpassed the state mitigation requirements.

“(CPRD) went over and above down there,” he said. “That area’s going to turn into one of the premiere areas on the river.”

And as the space grows into a fully formed wetland area, the students who participated can feel a sense of stewardship in the environment they helped restore.

“Thirty years from now there will be a nice park there for us to go and take our kids,” Standridge said.