This September We Build the Wetland!
By rachael roussin
North Jubilee Wetland: Summer Udate
(Editor’s Note: this article was sent in a format that I was unable to alter to “fit” the Telegraph’s template — resulting in some odd gaps. Just keep scrolling down past them … thank you!)
Rehabilitating the Wetland:
Ø The Build
The machine work to build the wetland ponds will take place September 14 – 17. The public is invited to drop-in and observe from a distance as excavators move soil and plan the layout of the wetland park.
Ø The Plant
Planting the wetland ponds will take place September 18 – 20 with up to 1,500 perennial shrubs and trees. Everyone is invited to come out and help seed the foundation for a thriving wetland habitat!!
School group planting day: Friday, Setpember 18, 2015.
Community planting day: Sunday, September 20, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
We LOVE the Community Support and Youth Involvement:
Field trips: Know Your Watershed Program and RSS
· This spring, two field trips to North Jubilee gave over 50 students a hands-on experience to learn about wetland functions. Students started 60 wetland willow plants at a plant propagation workshop.
Wetland fundraiser: “The Lorax” play by Bridget O’Malley’s RSS Grade 6 Class
· The Lorax raised almost $900 to buy plants for the wetland!
Contributions: WSP Engineering and local youth donor
· WSP representative Elise Pare secures a $500 company donation! Local youth Audrey Hall donates money from her family’s bottle drive.
Bridge construction: Steven Doyle with Roots Carpentry
Steven made designs for the footbridge (an in-kind donation) and is helping find creative ways to get it built such as donated supplies and potentially having the Kootenay Columbia Learning Centre School’s wood working class manufacture the pieces.
Drone footage!
· Thank you to David Calhoun who took drone photos of the wetland (One illustrates this article) and who will continue to document the project.
Support from our City
· The City of Rossland will remove the old basketball court prior to the wetland build and contribute feature rocks.
Project construction is made possible with funding from CBT. Support also provided by the Rossland Society for Environmental Action, The City of Rossland, Morrow BioScience and BCWF.
Opportunity to help bats!
The Kootenay Bat project supported by Juliet Craig received funding for bat-house building materials. School groups are moving forward with building bat houses for the wetland and other places in Rossland. http://www.kootenaybats.com/
