Children help restore plant life in wildfire areas

Children on the Colville Indian Reservation have been dispersing "seed bombs" in areas affected by wildfires in recent years to help restore native species to the areas. 

The "Healing the Earth" program is conducted by the Washington State University Colville Reservation Extension 4-H program, which partners and collaborates with the Colville Confederated Tribes and Bureau of Indian Affairs natural resource programs, including Environmental Trust, Range, Fish & Wildlife, and Mt. Tolman Fire Control. 

"Caring for the Earth and helping it to heal after catastrophic wildfires is vital to the ecosystem," a June 6 press release from the WSU Extension office reads. "Colville Reservation youth are demonstrating their ability to help in this process by contributing to the rehabilitation of the rangelands on the Colville Indian Reservation." 

The program teaches youth "how to make seed bombs to attract pollinators," and "about wildland fire and the damage that it causes to the lands." 

The seed bombs are a throwable mixture of clay, potting soil, and seeds of plants native to the area.

"The objective of this project is to promote environmental stewardship and awareness in youth by encouraging them to take an active role in helping the environment," the release states. 

Linda McLean, Director of the 4-H Extension program said that "in the summer of 2021, as in previous seasons, the Colville Reservation was ravaged by wildfire. The difference between the 2021 fires and previous fires is that the 2021 fires threatened more residential areas. Many families, including youth, were negatively impacted by smoke, flames, and the need to evacuate. This seed bomb project allows for reservation youth to learn about the damage that wildfire can create and how they can contribute to healing the Earth."

Throughout April and May, staff from Colville Tribal Natural Resources and WSU Colville Reservation Extension visited local schools, to help educate students about wildland fire, pollinators, and soil health. 

Through hands-on activities, they created the seed bombs. The seed used for the seed bombs is a special seed mix that contains plants that are native to the Colville Reservation area. Distributing seed bombs on the rangelands will allow plants to grow and attract pollinators to the area. In addition to gaining education, the youth are directly contributing to the healing of the burned lands by dispersing their seed bombs on the burned areas."

The seed bombs included seeds for native species, including arrowleaf balsamroot, Carey's balsamroot, Chelan penstemon, cushion fleabane, fern leaf biscuitroot, nine-leaf biscuitroot, Oregon sunshine, firecracker penstemon, shaggy fleabane, sulphur buckwheat, western yarrow, and Lewis flax.

"We worked with a WSU Master Gardener and the Colville Tribes Range Conservationist to ensure that the weeds are all native and there are no noxious weeds included," McClean told The Star. "All of the plants are native to the Colville Reservation and can be found growing here naturally. The seed bombs will just help increase the plant populations."

The seed bombs will lie in wait for natural rainwater to soften and melt away the clay, water the soil, sprout the seeds, then "grow beautiful native plants," the release explains. "These plants will attract pollinators to the area, while also helping to restore the environment. This will contribute to the regeneration of a healthy habitat for animals, birds, and insects. Having healthy plant life growing in the burn areas will also help control erosion issues that often plague the land after a wildfire."

The program worked with 551 students from Lake Roosevelt, Nespelem, the Paschal Sherman Indian School, Keller School, multiple Boys & Girls Clubs, and other programs, with each student making an average of five seed bombs.

"The seed bombs are made with three ingredients," the release explains, "air-dry clay; potting soil; and a native seed mix specially blended for the Colville Reservation. 

The seed mix is composed of native plants that naturally grow on the reservation and will attract pollinators, the release says. This will benefit the natural plant communities, as well as the local agriculture crops, by attracting pollinators to the area.

Field trips were scheduled to disperse the seed bombs in places affected by wildfires, including the Nespelem area affected by the Chuweah Creek Fire.

"The expectation is that the seed bombs will sprout and grow plants that will help regenerate, rejuvenate, and revitalize the Colville Reservation rangelands," the release says. "Once the plants begin to grow and flourish, it will provide a nice visual for the youth, and the public, to see their contributions to burn rehabilitation."

Field trips are planned in the future for students to see the plants they helped disperse grow.

"We also plan to continue this project in future years," the release says. "The Colville Reservation, like so many other places in the Pacific Northwest, experiences wildfire on an annual basis. There are always sites that need extra help with the rehabilitation of plant communities and soil health."

McLean can be contacted for more information on this, and other Extension programs, at (509) 634-2305 or ljmclean@wsu.edu.