Last year, BRASS demonstrated how large branches from willows growing naturally along the river can be planted into deep holes in order to stem erosion. The willow native to the Boquet is black willow (Salix nigra), but we also have a species (crack willow, Salix fragilis) originally from Europe that is quite plentiful.
This May, BRASS will demonstrate willow posts again, this time incorporated into a log cribbing structure. The workshop is free; any and all can attend, but wear old clothes. Those who come will see how large branches are cut from trees, made suitable for live post plantings, then planted deep into the streambank. Workshop participants will also help plant shrubs at the top of the bank for wildlife, seed a buffer zone between the river and a cornfield, and see how a plow berm can help keep agricultural runoff from the river.
BRASS believes its method of adding trees to a log cribbing structure is fairly unique. Log cribs, built to hold up a failing streambank, can be filled with soil and planted with seedlings and trees. But, on a flashy river like the Boquet, soil and plant material can get washed out quickly before roots have a chance to grow, and soil hastens log decay and weakens the structure. NYCO Minerals generously donates shot rock to BRASS cribbing projects, so we have always filled cribs with stone, held secure at the top with welded wire.
While building a crib last year on a south-facing streambank with an agricultural field, BRASS worried about the lack of vegetation. Shrubs or trees growing along this bank could help take up excess nutrients and eventually provide some shading to cool the river. Therefore, we placed 12-inch diameter flexible plastic pipe, perforated and scored, on the toe of the streambank inside the cribbing structure. The, rock was placed around these pipes. This spring at the workshop, we'll plant willow posts down into these tubes so that 9 trees will be established along a 300-foot section presently without vegetation.
The workshop will be from 10:00 - 12:00, Saturday May 13, in Willsboro at Irwin Sayward's corn field near the Morehous Bridge off County Route 68. The workshop is sponsored by the Lake Champlain Basin Program, and is one of a series that BRASS and the Lewis Creek Association in Vermont are conducting for landowners, agency personnel, local officials, river associations, and the general public.
| Irwin Sayward's streambank before cribbing project |
| Nearly completed cribbing project. Note a buffer zone kept between the corn and the top of the bank. |