By John Stockman
NSEA Board Member & Bellingham High Science Teacher
30 For Thirty #14

I noticed the blackberry thorns growing in my neighbors’ Clematis back in April. By June, it was reaching over our fence and in July it was tangled in our Scarlet Runner Bean patch. By August it was past time to take action on the invasive species introduced to Seattle by the Eugenicist Luther Burbank, before it takes over the garden. Blackberries can obviously spread easily (just look around western Washington).  They produce giant thickets that shade other native plants and make it difficult to access creek side habitat. Over the 20 years of volunteering at work parties with NSEA, I have seen giant brambles and have the experience now of knowing how to fully remove a blackberry bramble. 

My son and I attended a work party this past spring removing a blackberry bramble the size of a school bus along the Nooksack in Ferndale.  It is not easy work, and a well-established bramble is a stubborn foe.  A problem of this size is extra difficult because of the challenge of not knowing where to start. But it is truly amazing what a dedicated group of volunteers can do together! There was a dozen at this work party of limited size. We worked together for three hours and only put a dent on the prickly monster, but it was a good- sized dent and we knew that reinforcements would return to the site in the future. Like every other work party that I have attended with NSEA, I felt a strong sense of accomplishment and pride working alongside people in my community toward a common goal.  It is this feeling that has kept me returning to work parties year after year.

I got permission from my neighbor to remove our own blackberry bramble. I put on some tough gloves and long pants, pulled out and snipped one long vine, and then stuffed it piece by piece into my compost toter. Over and over again I snipped, and it felt like the bramble was endless.  Vines and thorns twisted and tangled through the garden, slowly and steadily found their way into my bin.  Finally, I got out the shovel, dug down deep, and removed the crown root (aka “the brain”).  My backyard blackberry removal task was complete, but it laid bare the challenges of how to tackle a complex problem.

In the nearly 3 years that I have served on the NSEA board of directors I have learned of some of the heroics performed by dedicated community members over the history of NSEA’s thirty years. I have wondered what it felt like at the beginning of NSEA’s time and I imagine the daunting task of Salmon habitat restoration made it difficult to decide where to start.  But we have done it, one little piece at a time, working together toward this one common mission.  I have toured locations throughout the county to observe new and old projects completed by NSEA staff and volunteers. We have made an impact, we have made a big dent, and yet we still have a lot of work to do.  Together, we can do it, one little piece at a time.  Snip, snip, snip.

Thirty for 30 #14