| Date: July 20, 2002 |
| Location Dunstan Homestead Preserve |
| Where: Middle Fork John Day |
This was a weekend trip to join The Nature Concervany's volunteer work party at their Dustan Homestead Preserve on the Middle Fork of the John Day River. The preserve, originally homesteaded by the Dunstan family in 1888, was purchased in 1990. The 4 ½ miles of river that runs through the 1,199 acre preserve provides important habitat for wild salmon and steelhead spawning, as the John Day River system has neither dams nor hatcheries.
|
 |
| Dunstan Homestead Our main objective on Saturday was to collect native grass seed to be used in future seedings on the preserve. The 20 some volunteers concentrated on three wild grasses, Bluebunch Wheatgrass, Idaho Fescue, and Blue Wildrye. Crews fanned out in the pine forested hills to seek out the native grasses and collect the seed heads.
|
 |
| Bluebunch Wheatgrass Sunday morning, Jeanette and I volunteered with others to go to war on the teasel, a European invasive species that is a widespread problem. We had lots of experience with this plant from our stay at Clear Lake Ridge last August.
|
 |
| Jeanette wielding a machete against teasel |
