At the beginning of August 2003 construction work began on the ecological restoration of an eroded portion of Redwood Creek Watershed. This heavily eroded portion of the creek lies within Muir Woods National Park near a field formerly used to commercially produce flowers. The farm closed in 1986 and was purchased by the Park Service. The site is now referred to as the Banducci site, for the name of the former farm family that worked it.
In wintertime, when the rains are heavy, this section of the creek would historically flood over the banks and turn the nearby field into floodplain. It is at these times that the salmon are able to swim up from the ocean to spawn. Because a floodplain is not conducive to farming, dikes were installed along the areas that the river flooded over. This caused the creek to flow more swiftly, increasing the rate of erosion. Over several decades this has degraded the habitat enjoyed by salmon populations. And it has been mentioned that within the last twenty years the salmon populations in the watershed have declined by as much as 80%. For the past five years, efforts have been made to restore this section of the creek to a viable ecosystem for the federally endangered Coho and King salmon. The reconstruction has required many hundreds of thousands of dollars from donations by private
funds.
The reconstruction took several steps to ensure the protection of current fish populations, and the encouragement of future ones. This was accomplished by regarding the creek banks. Through making the banks a gradual slope, rather than remaining a sharp cut-off, water would be able to again flood over into the field, as it once did. The construction crews also installed no less than 40 eucalyptus logjams into three sections of the creek. The root balls protrude out from the banks, creating scour pools in which fish may hang out in and lay eggs. The root balls also slow the current of the stream, thus preventing erosion. A willow mat, exceeding 100 feet, was laid down on the bank of a particularly eroded area of the creek. The willow mat is made from dead branches of willow, the tree that naturally shades the creek. Salmon require water no warmer than 70 degrees to live in, so shade for the creek is essential. The material is laid along the bank and tied down tight, with rooted cuttings of live willow having been planted in it. This will receive much of the force that winter rains will bring, rather than the recently graded bank. In a year or two, the cuttings will be rooted enough that they will be able to hold the creek bank together on their own. In the future, they will again shade this now exposed portion of the creek.
My role in this project was to produce a film documenting the restoration of the creek. Before being able to film, I would have to requisition camera equipment through the Media Lab at the Crissy Field Center. This required me to have healthy working relationships with Rob Weinberg, the Media Lab Specialist to Crissy Field Center, and the other office staff employed there. When filming, I would visit the site frequently, sometimes several times a week to check up on and film the progress of construction. Upon arriving at the Banducci site I would locate the head of the reconstruction project, Carolyn Shoulders. She would inform me what was being done at the site that day and I was allowed to freely film the construction site and the goings-on there. I would conduct on site and off site interviews with key players in the project, such as Carolyn Shoulders, or the manager of Redwood Creek Native Plant Nursery, Betty Young, or off site consultants, such as fluvial engineer, Phillip Williams. The construction portion of my project finished the first Friday of October. However, filming will continue into the Spring of 2004 to observe the running of salmon this winter, see the seasonal cycle the creek will experience, and obtain several more interviews with important figures, such as Amadeo Banducci, who grew up playing in the creek and who personally took part in the construction work being done.
Part of my formal education was in the field of film production. The Park Service has an idea of what it wants, but the overall development of the concept, design, and scope of this film has laid, for a large part, in my control. It
was a tremendous challenge and undertaking that I am proud to see has come to fruition. Completion of the film is expected by the summer of 2004 and a final copy will be submitted to the funders of the restoration effort, to show the result of their donations on the ecology of Muir Woods. The film will also be used as an educational tool for K-12 classrooms and basic ecology restoration classes at the University level. |
