Service Learning - Carkeek S.T.A.R.S.

1. For my service learning I participated in trails maintenance at Carkeek Park with their S.T.A.R.S. program. The project was done on Saturday, November 18th, from 9am to 12pm, though we finished about a half of an hour ahead of schedule. This event was lead by Dale Johnson, at carkeekstars@gmail.com. On his sheets I am listed as Trevor Payne.

2. The purpose of this event was to clean up and maintain the quality of the trails at Carkeek Park with the S.T.A.R.S. program.

3. Depending on when you go there are different task with the S.T.A.R.S. program. At our time we focused on raking leaves from the trails, though I happened to find a trail where a wind storm several days prior took out some trees and blocked the trails. Myself and the volunteer lead (I'm afraid I don't remember his name), went back to our tools trailer to grab saws and loppers to use to clear up these downed trees.

4. I will be the first to admit that I wasn't at all excited for this project. On the surface, when they told me the plan for the day, I felt sort of cheated. I was expecting to come out and do something that would positively impact the wildlife in Carkeek, not just make the park less slippery to joggers. Fortunately for me, I had several instances during this project that made me realize that what I was doing did in fact help the wildlife in more ways that I ever anticipated.

Midway into the project and caked in my own sweat I was approached by an older gentleman who was out walking the trails. He wasn't the first person I saw while working, however, he stopped to chat. To thank me. My first instict was to take the thanks and continue with my work. It was only after he left and I got back to raking the thick coat of leaves that I really reflected on why that mattered.

Carkeek Park is an important habitat in the state. It's a massive plot of public land where people come leave the comfort of their homes to be surrounded by nature. They go out to see the water, forest, and wetlands and appreciate the world that surrounds them. These people, the people who go forth into the wild, are the people who care enough to recycle. They care enough to cut down on fossil fuels and waste and manage their carbon footprint. It is these same people who buy sustainable products, and push the market and world as a whole to be more ecologically minded. By keeping the trails clean and maintained, S.T.A.R.S. ensures that there is a community who cares about and is invested in the environment.

Later, when I started working on the downed trees, I was lucky enough to have a lead volunteer as a conversation partner. We talked about why we were both here, and he even helped me work on plant identification. What was really great though, was when I told him that I was upset that I didn't get to work on the salmon streams, which was what I thought I was going to get to do. He explained to me that I was helping the streams by doing trail maintenance. 

The leaves piling up on the trails doesn't just make them a hazard to joggers. The leaves actually speed up erosion of the trails themselves. When the trails begin to fail the buffer that filters water to the streams is weakened. Further, dirt, gravel, and rocks will break free from the eroding trails, polluting and damming the water that the salmon swim though. Just like I've said before, everything in this class comes back to salmon.

5. Four Questions

1. How can we get more people interested in ecological service?
2. How can we make a difference in local ecosystems without having to go thorough the red-tape of government agencies?
3. In what ways do activities like trail maintenance help biodiversity in our parks?
4. Is it ethically okay to use non-native species to restore struggling ecosystems? (One of the other projects S.T.A.R.S. does is to replace non-native plants with native ones)