Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Progress in the Valley

An outstanding crew from the Washington Conservation Corps had a busy week beginning April 26!
  • WCC removed hundreds of feet of wire fences.
  • They removed household garbage from the mule shed, dismantled the building, and piled up recyclable materials for disposal.
  • The 70-tire pile behind the mule shed was also dismantled, and the tires moved across the creek awaiting disposal.
  • They cleaned up several more debris piles around the property, including another 25 tires scattered about.
  • The WCC crew began unearthing what we thought was an old i-beam, but it turned out to be 30 ft long and likely was an old bridge component discarded in the brush.
  • They dug up an old empty barrel.
  • The greenhouse also was dismantled to the concrete foundation, as was the chain link dog run.
  • Wood from the two downed buildings was piled for reuse (we hope-- if you make birdhouses or other crafts out of old wood please let us know!), and the garbage placed in dumpsters.
  • There are hundreds of nursery pots that were gathered and made available to the native plant salvage opportunities in early May (and if you know of someone who could use pots from 4" to 18" diameter, please contact me).
We're very excited that the crew unearthed the stone fireplace from the original homesteaders cabin. Unfortunately, fishing debris and construction materials were tossed on top of the ruins over the years. Once those were removed, the outline of the old cabin was evident.

We're still finalizing a date for a summer work party, but tentatively we're looking at July 25-- please keep that date open because we need your help!