Monday again huh. Tess and I have started our little side gig again (check it out here). Its a hard job but someone has to do it. In other news I spent today waste deep in a rather cold river chopping invasive plants and getting my arms tore up by thorns. It was a lot of fun.

We were working with a local chapter of trout unlimited (specifically Francis Smith, who is an amazing guy) to restore the Quashnet River. A project that has been in the works for over 30 years now. At one time the Quashnet was one of the worlds largest cranberry bogs, now it is a thriving trout stream that is home to many types of fish. Its simply amazing what sort of work has been done.

The bogs had been left to over grow, at one point the river was about 80 feet wide and about 3 inches deep due to the growth of the the plants and the damage from the bog. The river is now what you would think of as a river. With a bed, a current, and real moving water.

The project we worked on today involved the removal of sweet gale (a nasty invasive bush) and swamp rose (an even more nasty bush that is COVERED in thorns my poor arms look like hamburger) and stacking them on the bank in order to create a place to trap fines (the sand and muck of a river). In this way we scour out the bed and produce a deep cold river that has a hard sand and gravel bottom (perfect for trout and herring).

It is amazing work and I am proud to be a part of such a long chain of environmental restoration.

before

after

Did I mention the Poison Ivy? There was lots. Take a look at this little guy, dripping with oils, just waiting to make you itch. Lucky for me I was encased in a pair of rubber waders.