Volunteers help restore the banks of the creek using live staking, a process of cutting new growth from mature trees and planting those pieces into the ground. The cuttings, called live stakes, eventually will grow into new trees and create a root network to prevent soil loss. Think of it like a house plant, Samuels said. “If you take a cutting from the plant and stick it in water, eventually it will grow roots. That’s kind of what we’re doing with live stakes but it is actually happening all along the watercourse,” he said.