Hello Joe, and welcome; you have a dirty job, but someone has to do it! … There are probably 20,000 of you in Skagit County. And; how much do your owners know about you? How much do they spend on you every year? Nearly half of your kinds have probably had no attention for a long time! Poor babies.
If your owners lived in a city they would not have you. No, they would use a sewer connection and pay about $40 every month! Hardly any of you get THAT kind of money thrown at you! Seems like a few bucks a month set aside for your periodic inspection and service would not be too bad!
Fortunately lots of owners are stepping up to caring more about you all! On Saturday morning, the nicest Saturday morning of the year so far, nearly 50 owners sat in the Guemes Island Community Hall, for 3 hours, to take the county Septics 101 class and learn how you work and what awful things happen when you fail - awful things to you, your owners, their water supply, and Puget Sound.
Good for them, and good for all the other hundreds of owners who are taking the action to learn about you, to make sure you work right, and to help keep this NaturalSkagit nice!
The Local-Organization-You-Might-Want-To-Be-Involved-With this week is the Padilla Bay Foundation. http://www.PadillaBay.gov/npfriends.asp
As with many Government funded operations (like the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve), the mandate and opportunity almost always exceeds the budgets and fundings. So non-profit groups can be formed to find other ways to raise money and support programs, thus making more use of the existing facility.
That is the Padilla Bay Foundation, started in 1987, and they encourage your membership and contribution and volunteering. Their efforts support many programs of education and research, including a yearly Environment Presentation. This year it will be July 26 at the Padilla Bay Facility from 1pm – 3pm and will be about the potential for a tsunami event around here.
The Foundation is also in the middle of a project to establish an endowment fund, which will assure their activity for far into the future. Great for helping to keep the NaturalSkagit nice! Consider checking this out on their web site and Digging In to the old wallet to help!
Here are some near-term activities to consider:
Sat. July 5 Beach naturalists at Washington Park 1:00pm – 3:00pm Beach education with the WSU Beachwatchers.
Wed. July 9 Public Hearing on Wetland Mitigation Bank – County Hearing Examiner 9:00 am 1800 Continental Place, Mt. Vernon.
Sat. July 12 Barr Creek Property Celebration 1:00pm – 3:00pm 54787 Conrad Rd, Rockport, Wa. RSVP or (360) 428 7878 http://www.skagitlandtrust.org for directions.
Many similar events and activities and opportunities are posted on the GoSkagit Event Calendar. Check it often!
(This blog is a service of the Skagit Conservation Education Alliance http://www.skagitwater.org Your comments will be helpful. New ideas to consider, and changes we should make are especially welcome. Corrections and further enlightenment will help as well. You can email to . Thank you.)
