Stewardship Field Trip at Chehalem Ridge
/The weather could not have been any more beautiful on the day of our Environmental Stewardship trip to Chehalem Ridge. The Sea Lions were greeted by Naturalists from Metro who began our morning with a Land Acknowledgement, honoring the Native Peoples whose land we stood upon. Then we walked the path to the planting area and our guides gave us tips for how to plant native species in a place where they could thrive and work together to grow. The Sea Lions planted close to 200 native species along the Castor Trail. We had to work together and help each other as we navigated the hillside and dug on uneven ground. The Sea Lions were unstoppable as they planted Wild Strawberry, Fringe Cup, Salal, Oregon Grape, Sword Ferns and more. It was thrilling to see a tower of just a few of the empty planting cartons that stood well above our heads. We did some big work!
Back in the classroom, we closed our day by sharing about how working hard for the earth made us feel (really good!) and we listed all the things we knew we had just done to help Chehalem Ridge become an even healthier ecosystem. We knew that the new plants would help sequester CO2 and fight against the effects of climate change, their roots would help absorb moisture and control erosion, the presence of our new native species would help choke out invasive species and our plants would become food and shelter for animals. It was a truly splendid Sea Lion day!
