Celebrating Earth Day 2022

Photo: Blooming red flowering currant

April 22, 2022, marked the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day. To give you a brief history, Earth Day is a global celebration that promotes the education of environmental issues. It was originally founded in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin Senator, who wanted to create public awareness and inspire change within the federal government about unregulated environmental degradation (The First Earth Day).

I am not sure why, but this Earth Day felt more significant to me than in the past. It could be because for the last few years I have been enthralled with a constant influx of pressing environmental issues, which are seemingly impossible to ignore. From podcasts, and books, to the current global news, you could say that I have gone down a deep rabbit hole into our global environmental issues and climate change research. Suffice it to say, I have blown past passion and onto obsession. If you are interested, I have created a list of my favorite environmental science Podcasts and books at the end of this post, and please feel free to comment with your recommendations as well!

Photo: Work truck full of recently harvested willows

So, while working at the Refuge, I was excited to celebrate this Earth Day in the field with our dedicated habitat volunteers restoring Gee Creek, a tributary of the Columbia River. Throughout the week leading up to Earth Day, I harvested several truckloads of various native willow species (Salix spp's). From my experience, spring is the best time to harvest willows because they form straight new softwood shoots that can be easily processed (where leaves and branches are removed) and planted, although it is possible to plant willow cuttings any time of the year. After processing, the four to five feet long willow stakes are inserted approximately two feet in the ground where hopefully they will take root quickly. I can gladly report that we successfully planted 400 willows total, a true Earth Day achievement.

Photo: A bee enjoying the nectar from the pile of willow catkins (tube-shaped flower clusters) that were recently processed

Photo: Volunteers and Keith (Habitat Restoration Coordinator) planting willows along Gee Creek 

 

Photo: Volunteer Tom enjoying the Earth sugar cookies I made for the occasion

Wildlife News

Photo: Garter snake (Thamnophis spp’s)

With spring in full swing, this is an exciting time for wildlife on the Refuge. The birds are nesting, the reptiles are emerging from hibernation, and hopefully, we will be seeing sprightly new fawns soon. Most notably, I have observed the return of many swallow species to the Refuge, including the infamous Purple Martins (Progne subis), which migrate all the way from South America to breed in this area. You can usually observe the Purple Martins nesting in the white gourds hanging on metal rods around the Refuge complex. 

More recently,  I had an amusing wildlife encounter while driving to Bachelor Island in the early morning hours. While driving along a road with water on adjacent sides, I came across 3 young Columbian white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus) and a pair of Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis spp's) with goslings. The deer desperately wanted to get by me and the geese, but were conflicted on how to pass by without going for a swim. I sat and watched the interaction between the deer and the geese for several minutes, which was quite hilarious. At one point, there was a standoff between one deer and the geese who stood their ground and forbid the deer from passing (think Gandalf from Lord of the Rings "you shall not pass" situation). Eventually, all the deer skirted past me, on the opposite side of the road from the geese, making it safely to the nearest field.

Photo: The standoff between the young deer and the family of geese - note the deer in the upper right corner running for its life

Being the human that I am, I must anthropomorphize the deer in this situation. So after being bullied by the geese, the deer felt utter humiliation in the moment, and could no longer look a goose in the eyes ever again.

 

-Justine Casebolt

Environmental Science Podcast and Book Recommendations

Outside/In Podcast - New Hampshire Public Radio

The Jane Goodall Hopecast by Dr. Jane Goodall

The Wild with Chris Morgan Podcast - KUOW News and Information 

How to Save a Planet Podcast - Gimlet

A Matter of Degrees Podcast - Leah Stokes and Katharine Wilkinson 

Threshold Podcast- Auricle Productions

Braiding Sweet by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams

The Nature of Oaks by Douglas W. Tallamy

Under the White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert 

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter by Ben Goldfarb

All We Can Save: Truth Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K Wilkinson

ENJOY!! ☺