CREEDE— On Friday, Nov. 3, volunteers with the Headwaters Alliance and the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee (WCRC) planted roughly 250 pounds of native grass seed on the Willow Creek floodplain, just south of Creede.
During Creede’s mining days, the Willow Creek Floodplain was used as a tailings deposit site. For the past 20 years, WCRC has been working to restore the floodplain to its original natural beauty through a variety of activities, including stabilizing banks and revegetation. There are plans underway for a recreational path through the floodplain.
The species that the volunteers planted included Western wheatgrass, Indian ricegrass, fringed sage and Rocky Mountain penstemon, all species chosen to control erosion and to thrive on places affected by mining. These seeds will get their water from the winter snow and sprout in the spring.
It started out with eight volunteers venturing to the east side of the floodplain, where they emptied about 200 pounds of seed in less than two hours. At noon, Creede High School teacher Michele LaZier brought three high school volunteers with the National Honors Society and finished off the rest of the available seed.
Jennyfer Kemper, a junior at Creede High School, was among those who planted that day. “It was nice to be out in nature doing something good for the community” says Kemper. “I can’t wait to see it in the spring.”
The Headwaters Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering a sustainable environmental and economic future for the Upper Rio Grande Basin through advocacy, education, stewardship and resource conservation. For more information, contact us at 719-658-0178 or visit us on the web at http://headwatersalliance.weebly.com/.