Mill Creek neighbors to launch restoration work

Last year, Sue Geniesse and her neighbors stood near the banks of the creek which flows through their backyards. They didn’t like what they saw.

“We’re looking at the banks, and there’s a lot of ivy, blackberry, invasive stuff along the creek. And one neighbor said, ‘Will the city take this ivy out?’” she said. 

Geniesse didn’t know the answer, and it ended up being a complex one. But within the year, following hours of emails, phone calls and applications, the neighbors landed $42,000 in local grants to transform the banks of the creek and replace invasive species with native ones, while improving the quality of life for its animals and filtering pollutants.

“If they plant these trees, and it’s greater shade for the water, then it’s better for the fish. And if the native plants provide food, shelter, whatever for all the sorts of insects, all sorts of critters, it just makes it a healthier system,” Geniesse said.

The work will start in the next month.

The creek is a beloved feature of the neighbors’ backyards, many who have lived in the homes just east of the Oregon State Capitol for decades. Geniesse moved there in 1997, when she said Oregon Fish and Wildlife were still stocking fall Chinook salmon. The creek starts south of Silver Falls State Park, winds through Stayton, Aumsville and Turner before shifting north to drain into the Willamette River. 

“It was very exciting, because in the fall we would see these fish, but they never really took root, so that died out and they stopped stocking,” she said. 

There are still spring Chinook which pass through it, she said, and it’s considered an essential salmon habitat. The protection of Mill Creek’s fish is a central goal of the restoration project for neighbors.

Most of the neighborhood’s picturesque backyards end in a slope, about a five to ten foot drop, toward the water. Most of those slopes are completely covered in invasive plants which cause soil erosion, destabilize the banks and reduce foliage and shade. They’ve also supported a growing non-native nutria population digging into the hillsides.

After Geniesse’s neighbor planted the idea about fixing up the side of the creek, she began to look for support for the task.

She said her first call was to Luke Westphal, the city’s urban streamside program coordinator. He told her about the Marion Soil and Water Conservation District, which offers grants for community projects along waterways. They and the district’s conservation manager, Kassi Roosth, began discussing options.

“And then, in the meantime, more neighbors decided they wanted to get in on it,” Geniesse said. 

Westphal also told her that the more people who joined, the better chances they’d have to secure a grant. So, she went across the creek and got more neighbors involved. 

They ended up with ten properties, over 900 linear feet of the creekside along Northeast Chemeketa Street between 15th and 17th streets.

One of the early supporters was Geniesse’s next door neighbor, Frankie Bell, longtime visitor services manager at the Oregon State Capitol. 

“The ivy is ridiculous. And then stupid people like me who plant things they shouldn’t plant,” she said of the need for restoration, and laughed. “The quality of the creek is just so important to our environment in so many ways.”

Bell and Geniesse became friends over the years because of their abutting properties, and Bell admires the master gardener’s yardwork. She said Geniesse’s background as an urban planner gave her essential skills to get the work done.

“She puts her money where her mouth is. I’m enthused because she’s heading the project up,” Bell said. “She’s done so much work, she needs to get citizen of the year because applying for grants is a horrendous thing.”

The hardest part of the grant process was securing a contractor to take up the project, Geniesse said. The work includes removing invasive plants, stabilizing the creek and planting new native vegetation over several seasons.

Geniesse spent hours calling, writing emails and taking photos of the proposed project area for prospective contractors, and was met with rejections or unanswered requests. Finally, she was able to partner with Ash Creek Forest Management based in Hillsboro to complete the work.

Geniesse said the effort would have been easier if Salem had a distinct watershed council for Mill Creek in the urban area.

She said that Brandin Hilbrandt at the North Santiam Watershed Council is “being really nice” in adding this project to her packed portfolio that’s still dealing with post-fire restoration elsewhere. Mill Creek is part of the extended service boundary of the North Santiam Watershed Council, which covers 766 square miles. Geniesse said there’s been several attempts to make a Mill Creek watershed council, but none have lasted.

Focused projects like the one by Mill Creek’s neighbors help incrementally improve the watershed’s health, Hilbrandt said in an email to Salem Reporter. She said she hopes more people in the community will become interested in launching similar projects. 

“These kinds of improvements are crucial in urban settings. It’s wonderful to have so many partners and neighbors involved in this project because we are able to restore more acreage at one time, as well as harness stewardship and pride for the community and this creek,” she said.

The project was awarded a total of $22,500 in grants from the Marion Soil and Water Conservation District and $20,000 from the city of Salem’s watershed protection and preservation grant.

While seeking grants, Geniesse sought guidance from the North Santiam Watershed Council who ultimately agreed to receive the grants and run the project for her. 

Beyond protecting the watershed, Geniesse said she hopes the project will help show that native plants can be incorporated into landscaping. Not every neighbor was immediately excited about the prospect, but no one will be made to remove anything they’re fond of. One neighbor wants to keep a patch of echinacea, a non-native bright daisy-like flower.

The project will take two years, starting this fall with removal and limited planting of trees, shrubs and ferns to take root over the winter. Then, there will be a pattern of removal, planting and monitoring until it’s completed.

“I’m really hoping people are pleased with what turns out at the end,” Geniesse said.

Despite sharing a creek, the neighborhood hasn’t been historically tight-knit, with most enjoying their privacy, Bell said. An early project kick-off meeting brought neighbors together under one roof for one of the first times in recent memory, she said.

“I’m really excited for it to get started. It’s going to take two years to come to fruition, but I think it’s moving in the right direction,” Bell said. “I think there’s enough enthusiasm to – well – it’s going to happen.”

Bell said she hopes to live long enough to see more salmon return to the creek as a result. 

“This project, I hope, will inspire others to take on other segments of the stream,” she said.

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.

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