While most people were sleeping in on Saturday morning, 65 ambitious students were standing in the mud at 7a.m., preparing to plant over 1000 trees in the backyard of MHCC.
The greenspace endeavor was a collaboration between the Natural Resources program, the Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships and the Oregon Leaders Institute, with some help from Metro Park Ranger Scott Moulten, a 1999 graduate of MHCC in the Forestry Tech Program. Moulten, who also works at Oxbow Park and other open green spaces for METRO, mowed a large portion of the planting grounds with a tractor earlier in the week to help prepare the old “Beavercreek Canyon” for the tree planting program.
Kate Holleran and Dr. Michael Jones of the Natural Resource Technology program at MHCC headed up the day, starting at 6:30 am, in preparation for the large group of students coming in from NRT, CASS, and OLI. Tools, trees and stakes were lined up while the students fueled up on doughnuts and juice, brought in by Scott Brown, one of the assisting fathers.

The CASS program, which is an International Development program through Georgetown University, involves many students from many nations, such as Central America and the Carribean, that are immersed in their first year of language and hands-on natural resource education, with their second year being mainstreamed. “MHCC is the only one in the country that does the Natural Resources Program in cooperation with the CASS program, thereby giving us a uniqueness, and offering the students a wider learning experience,” said Jones. “Our main vision is to preserve, conserve, and restore the greenspaces for the educational and community use. We are working on a large plan, with an NSF grant in Natural Resources, to create an ecological eco-laboratory convergence that will benefit the City of Troutdale and the future of the Metro spaces. This includes the Old Beavercreek Canyon, which houses many species of animals,” said Jones.

Holleran started the huge group off with a safety talk on the use of the tools and the equipment, and then sent the students with team captainsto certain groups of test plots. “We want to restore the habitat while we get rid of the blackberries, where the wetland area is thriving in wildlife,” said Holleran. “We intend to plant 1,000 trees, and 500 shrubs by noon today. The trees are conifers that provide shade, like the Western Red Cedar. The shrubs are all natural species , like the Oregon Snoberry, the Red Currant, the Oregon Grape, Pacific 9-bark known for its many layers, and many others.”

Jones even brought his 10-year-old son Gavin in to help, who has worked alongside his dad on several occasions. Damon Weinmann, one of the team captains and a sophomore in the program, headed up one of the groups down in the wetland area, home to several tree frogs, northwest salamanders, and a wide variety of birds and mammals. Asked why they didn’t bring in a bulldozer to clear the area rather than all the hard work of hand cutting with machetes, his reply was, “Because blackberries thrive on disturbance, and they would actually come back in thicker in a straight path where they were mowed. It’s more productive to hand-cut them, and plant shade trees that choke out the light from the blackberry bushes, providing a richer environment for the other species. We are improving our techniques with a combination of removal and spray that is better for the environment.” Asked why he got into the program in the first place, he replied, “Because I love to be outside, and I care about the environment, so if I have to work, I figured I should get a job that I’ll love and meets those desires.”

MHCC student and team captain Chris Schafer headed up a group involved in the marking, planting and watering aspects of a test plot, and has also been a very integral part of the program. Asked how that many trees could be planted in so short a time, he replied, “Very easily, if each student plants 15 trees and six bushes.” He also pointed out that forestry engineers and planters working for the forestry service usually plant 300 a day by themselves. CASS student Fanor Cerna,, while leaning on his shovel, agreed, “It’s good practice for the future.”

“We didn’t do so well, but at least we came out and won one game,” said Attleberger.
“I just wish we would have won more games,” she added.