This is that wonderful time of year in Langley when the rain falls. What did I just say? I’m talking about good times for fish.
At night when it’s dark and you hear the rain pounding down on your roof, think of the salmon. On such nights when salmon sense the rivers are rising, they swim for all their worth upstream, seeking their birthplaces via their extraordinary sense of smell and uncanny sense of direction.
If you want to do more than just sitting at home thinking about it, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved in our community. For almost every watershed that crisscrosses our community, there is a stewardship group you can join.
As a long-time member of the Salmon River Enhancement Society, I can attest to the joy of doing something to help the fish. Every day I cross the Salmon River via the Trinity Western bridge, knowing that the activities of the SRES help keep a healthy population of Coho salmon swimming up the river to breed at this time of year.
Lisa Dreves of the Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) coordinators some of the groups and helps support all the various stream stewardship groups of Langley. It’s an incredible confluence of streams and stewardship.
As Lisa says: “volunteering with a stewardship group is an amazing experience, not only are you having a direct, positive impact on our local environment but also you get to hang out with the most amazing people in our community.
“Our volunteers are excited to work in the rain, engage in public meetings, pick up trash and get filthy planting trees. We also have monitoring programs that people can participate in right in their own backyard or local park so stewardship is accessible to everyone.”
So find out what group is operating in your neighbourhood, and get involved. Here’s the list from the LEPS website:
• Bertrand Creek Enhancement Society
• Little Campbell Watershed Society
• Salmon River Enhancement Society
• Glen Valley Watersheds Society
• Yorkson Creek Watershed Stewardship Committee
• Nicomekl Enhancement Society
And here’s a couple of events that you could get in on:
• Tree planting on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Vanetta Park (Aldergrove)
• Garbage clean-up on Sunday, Nov. 15 at Langley Meadows Park (Willoughby)
Contact Lisa for details, stewardship@leps.bc.ca
David Clements is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Trinity Western University.