Staff Christmas Trees

Mid-January really isn’t the best time to show off staff Christmas Trees…

Except we’re the type of people who possibly get more excited about the trees’ second life as a refuge for salmonids in the Columbia Slough than we do when the tree is all gussied up with lights and decorations.

After consulting with local agencies, FoT’s Logan Lauvray and Katie Farmer took on the task of rounding up 16 used pines to create a habitat.

The trees will form a barrier, protecting the fish from predators, offering a water break to keep the fish from getting pushed out of their homes by increased spring water flow and offering a habitat. After reading about how trees, free of tinsel, spray ‘snow’ and paint can be used as a natural refuge for salmonids— a general term for members of the salmon family—our Green Space team first worked on with a local boy scout troop on a similar project and repeated the activity this year.

F0T staff and volunteers sunk 13 trees, left 3 as floating barriers and because we don’t do things half way, fished out a few tires from the slough.

Way to regift.