Thing One’s Eagle Project: Got ‘er done!
by Thing One
Editor’s Note: Many, many thanks are due to the wonderful, hard-working volunteers and donors who made Thing One’s Eagle project possible. He couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to Gary Ard, Eric and Linda Carlson, and Ralph Richards for their donations, and our friends from BSA Cub Pack 144, BSA Troops 125, 175, 180, and 186 for spending a wet, cold November Saturday restoring part of the Duwamish riverbank for native plants and salmon. Together you logged in 174 hours of service. Way to go!
See a photo album for Thing One’s project in the Gimlet Gallery.
November 21 was my Eagle project. It was removing white poplar from a site at the Duwamish River in West Seattle, and then laying down cardboard and mulch to keep it from growing back. We started at 9:00 am and ended at 2:30 pm. About forty volunteers came from several different groups: the Sound Stewards of the People for Puget Sound (the community organization that approved my project); former Cub Scouts from my pack who are now in other Boy Scout troops in the neighborhood; my scout troop; and other members of my church, friends, and family. Some people had to leave early and some came late, but those who came late replaced those who left early so it worked out well.
A bale of cardboard and 30 cubic yards of mulch were donated and transported to the site, which was very helpful, and some friends offered to serve a hot lunch (more on that later).
The project also went almost as planned, except for the fact that the area had been mowed, making it harder to tell which plants were the poplar and which were the native plants. The route to the site was a long, very narrow trail about a quarter of a mile along the riverbank. It was too narrow to drive a truck so all the mulch had to be transported from the parking lot by wheelbarrow. Moving the mulch took a lot of work, lots of wheelbarrows, and each trip back and forth took a long time.
I divided the volunteers into three teams, each with a team leader. The first group uprooted the white poplar root systems; our botanist helped that group find the poplar. When they had weeded as much as they could see, they started laying down the cardboard and spreading the mulch.
The second group loaded the 30 cubic yards of mulch into wheelbarrows and moved it from the parking lot to the site.
The third group (mostly younger scouts who weren’t strong enough to uproot the poplar saplings or haul the full wheelbarrows) put their new Tot’n Chips to good use cutting cardboard from a bale in the parking lot and moved the cardboard pieces to the site.
At noon all the teams took a break for hot lunch with chili, hot dogs, hot cider, cocoa, and water bottles. The hot lunch was great since the weather was very cold, but my dad said we “threaded the needle” because the day before it rained hard and later that day it rained hard too. But during the project it only drizzled a little and then it would stop for a while.
The Port of Seattle representative pointed out a chum salmon he saw in the inlet, so the restoration work that has been done is already helping that part of the Duwamish River.
After lunch everybody shifted to transporting mulch to the site and spreading it. There was more mulch left than we expected, and the Port of Seattle representative said to move the extra mulch into the corner of the main parking lot. By this time it was just my troop working, and at 2:30 we all finished up moving the mulch into the corner, finally!
We were all so tired when it was done. I spent the rest of the weekend writing all the Eagle Project paperwork, which will be turned in this week before Thanksgiving.
There is still a lot of restoration work on the Duwamish River to be done, and would make good Eagle projects for other scouts.
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Tags: scout outings
November 23rd, 2009 14:37
This is a terrific report. Kudos to Thing One (and all his many helpers)!!! The finished project looks really nice too.
November 23rd, 2009 21:07
What a great job! Very proud of all of your hard work!
November 23rd, 2009 22:17
Wow, congratulations! What a wonderful project and you obviously were very organized!
November 24th, 2009 10:08
Thanks again for choosing a People For Puget Sound and Port of Seattle habitat restoration site for your project. I was very impressed with your organization and planning and everyone’s hard work.
November 25th, 2009 18:18
Great Job!! A lot of work but well worth it! You did great!! I’m proud of you!! That’s my grand son everyone!! Thanks all who helped with the project. Love, Grandma Alta
November 29th, 2009 20:39
Good job! Very well done.