It takes a lot of staff and volunteer hands to transplant well over 6,000 plants to date, along the banks of Cascade Creek that will stabilize the environment, regulate water temperatures, and enhance the habitat.
Parks Canada is in a multi-year restoration project at Cascade Creek just north of Banff that’s fed primarily by Lake Minnewanka. The creek flow has been restored and turned into a viable habitat for native west slope cutthroat trout.
Now Parks is getting help from volunteers to replenish its vegetation along the waterway.
“Our goal here is to plant several different types of plants,” said Nicole Sulewski, a Parks Canada.Cascade Creek restoration field biologist.
“(There are) lots of willows, balsam poplar, as well as some sedges and other native plants primarily to fill spaces where we’ve recently removed some non-native grasses, specifically reed canary grass, which has been really taking over this area next to …