CWU’s Student Leadership, Involvement, and Community Engagement (SLICE) club and the Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group met at Wilson Creek on Saturday Oct. 9 to plant native grass species along the creek bank.

Aaron Balagot, a CWU alumnus who works as a stewardship supervisor with the Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, explained that the project aimed to create more biodiversity and a healthier environment.

“We just want to put as many native species as we can in there, like willows and cottonwoods,  because there’s a big bloom of invasive species,” Balagot said. “And by providing a lot of shade cover, complexity to the creek, it will in turn provide more fish habitat.”

Mid-Columbia Fisheries has done similar plantings throughout central Washington. Balagot said that previously they were in the Teanaway, “plugging in native grasses, like Idaho Fescue and bluebunch.”

CWU’s SLICE has been partnered with Mid-Columbia Fisheries for several years. Kahlia Mafua, a senior and a marketing coordinator for SLICE, said the club aims to connect students with the community through projects like this.

“We’re just trying to promote more involvement on the campus,” Mafua said. “We’re trying to help develop people’s leadership skills, and trying to help better the wider Ellensburg community by connecting students with opportunities like this.” 

Mafua said that she was satisfied with how many people turned out for the event, but that they always would appreciate more help.

“I’m really pleased with the turnout. I think that we could always have more,” Mafua said. “The Mid-Columbia Fisheries has been working on the streams and rivers here for a long time, and there’s a lot of work to be done. The environment is so important to our longevity of life as well, so I think the more students we have come out and do work the better.”

The two groups were also accompanied by Girl Scouts troop 2001. Troop leader Cheri Didenhover said that it was an important learning experience for the children.

“So they’re learning about how to protect our environment and how to help it,” Didenhover said. “They’re learning about the native plants. They didn’t know what ‘native’ meant before today so they learned what ‘native’ means, and how to keep our waters clean.”

SLICE is planning another cleanup on campus Saturday, Oct. 16. Interested students can meet SLICE at the SURC east patio at 8:30 a.m.