More than 200 people will welcome the damp weather this weekend by planting trees in Spokane. The Lands Council hosts their 4th annual Reforest Spokane day Saturday at five locations along Hangman Creek.
When dozens of cars pull up Saturday morning, Lands Council staff will have about 1,000 trees ready to go into the ground. The holes will already be there, dug out by jail inmates this Friday. Conservation Programs Director Kat Hall says they focus on Hangman Creek because it’s a very degraded watershed.
Hall: “For lots of different things like sediment, and bacteria, and temperatures are too high, the dissolved oxygen levels are low, the ph is off. So planting widespread numbers of trees will help to correct all of those issues.”
She says they could plant at Hangman Creek for years before seeing results. But Hall says its important work, because the creek and its tributaries lead into the Spokane River, which will benefit from healthier water upstream.
Reforest Spokane volunteers will plop trees into the ground near the creek, helping the soil and overall ecosystem. Volunteers will plant water-loving trees like quaking aspen, a couple kids of willow, black cottonwood, dogwood, sitka willow, and some Ponderosa pine because its Spokane’s official tree.
Hall says the Lands Council is asking volunteers to register in advance, and please bring a shovel, but they won’t turn away anyone that shows up Saturday.
Register for Reforest Spokane: click here
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