2009 Work Crew Report for the Hunter-Clyde Watershed Group
Hello, my name is Brian Gauthier and I am the supervisor of the summer work crew for 2009. I have recently graduated from the Maritime College of Forest Technology and am enrolled in the Forestry program at UNB Fredericton for this coming fall. This along with a recent river survey I have performed have been a great help in understanding what needs to be done in the Hunter-Clyde Watershed.
I couldn't have asked for more of this first week on the watershed. The weather was beautiful everyday and a good deal of work and preparations were accomplished. The week was spent doing a number of different tasks. Familiarizing myself with the watershed itself was a priority and a day was spent traveling from end to end of the watershed and acquiring GPS (Global Positioning System) points of key access areas. Many photographs were taken as well from wildlife and waterbodies to culverts and crossings.
Many landowners with land on the watershed were contacted to ask permission to access their land and for the most part results were great. The people in this watershed seem very keen on improving its condition. A lot of supplies were picked up this week such as material for the bat boxes we are going to construct, bug nets (which have already proved their worth), tree collars, and some other small items.
Approximately 40 shrubs were planted along the stream on the Houston farm on the Line road mixed in with the trees the Blue Heron Sea Cadets planted there this past weekend. The area is looking very good. Some trees off of Route 13 in New Glasgow which were planted the previous year were checked on and they are doing quite well for the most part. Collars were added to some of the trees in areas where browse was a concern. Water sampling bottles were picked up to test different areas of the watershed for nitrates and general chemistry and an order for trees was placed at the J. Gaudet Tree Nursery.
I am very excited to put my forestry skills to use by fine tuning which tree species to plant where and what mixes of species should be planted together. Ideas have already been formulated for species composition mixes at different areas. There are many different successional stages throughout the watershed and that should allow for a vast diversity of species to be planted, which will further improve the Hunter-Clyde watershed.
Its going to be a busy but great summer and I am looking forward to working with Brynley Horsfield and Eric Ward, our two summer work students who will be starting this coming Monday. Our first tasks include collaring trees on the Houston Farm on the Line Road and planting 240 trees spread out over a few areas including Moffat's Brook and further downstream on the Houston Farm. A silt trap is being installed this coming Tuesday near the Rosewood Senior Residence and it will be a great learning experience for myself and the crew to see this take place. With the list of activities planned out for the summer there shouldn't be a dull moment!
Canoeing on Campbell's Pond; an Osprey nest by Cambell's pond.
Osprey at Campbell's Pond; Redwing Blackbird, found all over the watershed.
Week 2
This week Eric Ward and Brynley Horsfield joined me out in the field. It was a great help having two extra workers. One big project that was undertaken this week was the construction of a sediment trap behind the Rosewood Senior's Residence on Wednesday, June 24th. Island Coastal performed the machine work and did an excellent job, this should really help collect a lot of the sediment floating through that part of the river.
Over 200 trees and shrubs were planted this week at the Houston Farm and Moffat's Brook off Route 13. Moffat's Brook is now completely planted and all of the trees are collared as well. It was a moist shady area excellent for planting eastern hemlock and yellow birch. There is still a lot more planting and collaring to be done at the Houston Farm on the Line Road but a good area around the larger pond was planted with eastern white pine, white ash, green ash, willow, red maple and other open growing species.
A lot of brush removal and garbage removal was done around the area behind Rosewood and the river seems to be flowing much better now. Future plans include continuing upstream on this section of the watershed doing any necessary enhancement activities. From the looks of things so far a lot more brush/garbage removal will be in order.
Next week should be a great week with the environmental futures team joining up with us and the Canada Day booth being setup in the North Rustico Park on Wednesday. Come on down and check it out!
Sediment trap construction; Mulching and seeding the bank afterwards
Trees on the Houston property; Canoeing down the river
Week 3 & 4
During these past two weeks many things were accomplished. We had a booth in the North Rustico Park during Canada day to give away trees and raise awareness about the Hunter-Clyde Watershed and what we are doing. It was one of the busiest booths in the park and we ran out of trees within the first 45 minutes. It was definitely a big hit with the public.
From July 2 to the present we have had the help of five workers from the environmental futures program led by Liam Mccarville. With the help of these workers we past the 2000 mark for trees planted this year. Most of these trees were planted on the Houston Farm buffering the streams and ponds found there. It is an open area which was planted with eastern white pine, white spruce, red maple, some yellow birch, american elm, green ash, white ash, balsam fir, and a wide array of shrubs including willow, elderberry, service berry and others.
Besides a large amount of planting we also built out first brush mats of the season on parts of the river behind Rosewood Seniors Residence in Hunter River. Liam was a great help in this as we had never constructed brush mats before. We also did a large amount of brush removal in heavily clogged areas.
A dump run was also made where we disposed of over 20 old tires that were removed from the stream. To our pleasant surprise we found out that there is no charge to dispose of tires which should definitely help this problem in the future.
In addition to the two ospreys that reside near the Houston Farm ponds we also spotted a beautiful red-tailed hawk this past week on the farm. Thanks to some much needed funding we were able to hire a third crew member, Edward Lush who will be a great help in getting more work done. Looking forward to next week I will be acquiring a chainsaw and commencing some much needed danger tree removal as well as heavy brush removal.
An American Toad found on the Houston Farm.
Week 5 & 6
These past two weeks have flown by and with the help of the young environmentalists we have surpassed our goal of planting 1500 trees by a long shot. We now have planted over 2200 gallon pot trees of different species in different locations throughout the watershed.
On top of this accomplishment a good deal of brush removal was done on the Rolling’s Pond Feeder Stream North of the Line Road. This area has a small beaver pond that plays host to a variety of wildlife such as ducks and blue heron. Our goal here is to ensure that the dam does not get any bigger or it will flood the nearby farm fields.
Great news was revealed this week as my NB Chainsaw course was accepted and I bought a brand new Husqvarna. This has proved to be an extremely valuable tool as we are now moving through blockage areas and alder swales as well as creating brush mats in no time at all.
Brynley, Ed, Eric and I took an afternoon and went canoeing upstream from the New Glasgow Lobster Suppers to just before Campbell’s Pond. It needed to be done as this part of the watershed was rarely seen by anyone as there is no real road access in there. For the most part this area is in great shape. A few minor bits of dead wood on the banks but other than that this area is spectacular.
We finished off the week at a pruning workshop led by Gary Sneider in Trout River. It was eye opening even for someone with previous pruning courses under their belt. We look forward to next week as we are working in Wheatley River with the Wheatley River crew.
Week 7 & 8
Week 7 we ventured off to Wheatley River for two days to help the crew there with their work. We spent two full days doing alder removal with a chainsaw and building brush mats. It was great to get to work in a totally new area for a change.
Later on in week 7 and the entire week 8 we had the pleasure of having Brodye Macleod and Iddo Vandergear from Wheatley River come and work with us. The boys brought a great attitude to work with them everyday and helped out a lot.
Another 400 or so trees were planted on the northern end of the watershed as well as a large amount of brush removal and brush mat construction in key areas. A lot of extra work was accomplished with the help of these two extra workers.
A day and a half was spent at Dwight Parkman’s Land on the Bagnall’s Pond. A large amount of garbage and wood debris was removed from the mud which was very physically demanding, perhaps the hardest work done all year. It was well worth it though as the pond and rivers look excellent now and much praise was had from Mr. Parkman himself.
This work period was finished off with an afternoon of canoeing down river from the New Glasgow Lobster Suppers. We saw a great deal of mussels and clams in the water as well as plenty of ducks and great blue herons.
It seems hard to believe but next week is the crew’s last week of work followed by my last week of work which I will carry out on my own. The summer seems to be closing to an end faster than expected but with a little push we should accomplish all that we have planned.
My crew with the Wheatley River Crew A great blue heron at Houston Farm
Final Report
It seems hard to believe but the 2009 Hunter-Clyde Watershed Program has drawn to an end already. These past two weeks really flew by as it was the crew’s last week ending on August 14 followed by my last day, August 21. With the crew’s help we managed to complete the construction of 50 bat boxes out of which 15 were mounted in areas all over the watershed.
One day last week was spent in Wheatley River helping the crew there with alder removal on a 200 meter stretch of stream. It was nice to work with that crew again after them spending over a week with us this summer.
One of the last major projects that took place this year was the removal of a beaver dam upstream from Rosewood Seniors Home on Peter and Cathy Norring’s Land. Over the span of 5 days the dam was removed to ensure water levels were not drastically changed all at once and the least amount of sediment was disturbed as possible. The area now is free flowing and looks quite different.
Overall this summer many large and small projects were accomplished. Over 3000 trees were planted on the Houston Farm and Moffat’s Brook area. Over half of these trees were collared, especially those in high risk area where browse from rodents and snowshoe hare was likely.
Water samples from all the main feeder streams were taken to test for nitrates and other substances in the water and this is to be a regular event to make sure our waters remain healthy.
The GPS unit came in very handy this year for pinpointing certain areas, such as water sampling points to ensure consistency, bat box locations to check on use, beaver dams to obtain removal permits, etc.
A major project that took place was the construction of a silt trap by Island Coastal behind Rosewood. This still seems to be doing a great job in controlling sediment.
Upstream and downstream from Campbell’s Pond was canoed to see areas not normally seen on the watershed. Campbell’s Pond is in great need of dredging as there are wide long areas so shallow it is hard to canoe through. On the bright side though there was a great deal of wildlife found here, from ospreys and red tailed hawks to green frogs and muskrats.
The pruning workshop put on by Garry Sneider was a real treat. A lot was learned by all and it was really nice to see the Trout River Nursery, which is doing great.
Multiple truckloads of garbage were removed from various parts of the water but none as great as the amount removed from Bagnall’s Pond in Hunter River. The landowner was so amazed at the amount of debris removed in such a short time that he managed to get the Northern Star News Paper to do a story on us.
With the help of the Husqvarna 55 Rancher Chainsaw more work was accomplished this summer than I ever thought possible. It was a great investment and hundreds of meters of stream were unblocked and cleared out thanks to it.
Building brushmats became a favorite job for the work crew as they could really see the work they accomplished. Around 20 brush mats were constructed throughout the watershed this year helping revegetate land and stop erosion and sediment runoff.
Brynley stayed on most of my last week to help me accomplish the loose ends of projects such as tree collaring on the Houston farm and mounting the bat boxes. Two bat boxes were placed behind Rosewood, two at Moffat’s Brook, two at Campbell’s Pond and four at the Rolling’s Pond feeder stream among other areas. It was nice to see the finished product finally put up.
All in all I believe that a great deal of work was accomplished this summer and I truly believe the Hunter-Clyde Watershed was greatly enhanced with our help. I hope that the position as crew supervisor will be available next year as I have many more projects and ideas in the works for further enhancement of the Hunter-Clyde Watershed.
Cheers,
Brian Gauthier
Crew Supervisor 2009
Beaver Dam Day 1
Beaver Dam Day 2 Beaver Dam Final Day
Bat Box