Students plant trees on lake bed

Published 12:01 am Friday, April 26, 2013

PORT ANGELES — Dry Creek Elementary students in Nancy McHenry and Gunnar Thomason’s fourth-grade classrooms planted trees in the bed of the now-drained Lake Aldwell for Earth Day.

Led by Wayne Fitzwater of the state Department of Natural Resources and Cam Field of Merrill & Ring, students planted 300 western red cedar trees on Monday.

The outing continued “a 24-year tradition of student-involved tree planting,” said district spokeswoman Tina Smith-O’Hara.

The former Lake Aldwell was behind the Elwha Dam, which was demolished last spring as part of the $325 million Elwah River Restoration Project.

Its sister dam, Glines Canyon Dam upstream, is partially removed.