Ian Van Coughran at the Lower Dungeness Prairie, courtesy of Annabelle ByrneStrong
In the past few months Ian Van Coughran has been removing invasive Himalayan blackberry at the Siebert Creek Conservation Area. One of the Land Trust’s newest and extremely dedicated volunteers, Ian keeps himself sharp for school by volunteering with the Land Trust! Ian is currently enrolled at Western Washington University seeking his Bachelors Degree in Environmental Science.
Before volunteering with the Land Trust, Ian assisted coastal researchers from PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) as an intern. After completing his internship, he began working towards his degree in Environmental Science.
Raised on the Big Island of Hawai’i, Ian became an amateur outdoorsman and accredits much of his interest in the natural world to the island’s unique ecosystems. “Coming from Hawai’i, I am no stranger to the impacts of invasives on a fragile landscape, and the goal of this project was deeply personal for me,” says Ian.
As a local of the Agnew area between Sequim and Port Angeles, Ian felt inspired to give back to one of the trails most utilized by his community: Siebert Creek.
Siebert Creek Conservation Area is a 38.5 acre parcel along Siebert Creek between Port Angeles and Sequim. The conservation of Siebert Creek has been more than two decades in the making, first started by Pacific Woodrush, another local nonprofit. Now there are 118 acres of conservation land protecting the 2 miles of creek. To learn more about the property itself please follow this link.
The frequent use of this trail by Ian’s community has allowed him to tie two very important missions into one project: improve your community and protect the land. By removing the Invasive Himalayan blackberry from these sites, Ian has started a career-long journey of serving these two purposes.
This positive difference can be seen in the detailed map of the blackberry removal project, and 19 before and after photos of the removal sites Ian has created to document the project.
We are very grateful for Ian’s hard work and dedication to this project. This kind of work takes many man hours and can have a serious impact when it’s done as intentionally and meticulously as Ian has!
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