Original Post Date: 5-14-2008
In late April a huge plume of bad stuff went down the Samish River and on out into Samish Bay. The levels of fecal coliforms at some locations were higher than ever recorded, and the Samish River and Bay have been measured often and for many years.
Shellfish harvesting in Samish Bay was halted for several days; much shellfish was recalled and destroyed. Fortunately the river and bay flushed themselves clean in a few days, as did the resident shellfish! No Name Slough and Padilla Bay also had very high counts. The cause is not yet reported.
Fecal coliforms are almost always evidence of human, animal, or bird waste. That stuff has other “bugs” in it that are seriously harmful to humans. It is important to keep animals away from rivers and streams, and clean up after your pets. Pet waste far from a stream can still get washed down into a storm sewer and wind up in the stream that way.
Many of the 20,000 septic systems in Skagit County are near shorelines. Is yours working properly? To learn how to have your system inspected, get into the Skagit County Health Department Septics 101 class (http://www.skagitcounty.net/Common/Asp/Default.asp?d=HealthEnvironmental&c=General&p=septic101.htm) – they give away money there too! A big THANKS to everyone who already has participated. Talk about your Digging In!
The organization that brings you this weekly blog, the Skagit Conservation Education Alliance, has a program for placing temporary portable toilets near stream/lakes/rivers at seasonal hi-use recreational areas. If you know of such a spot that might benefit from a temporary potty, email details to and we’ll do our best to accommodate that.
The Local-Organization-You-Might-Want-To-Be-Involved-With this week is The Skagit Parks Foundation http://www.SkagitParksFoundation.org This outfit is formed to help improve the various Skagit County park facilities beyond what the Parks and Recreation Department is able to do.
The mission: To provide private individuals and groups the opportunity to advocate for and enhance through private means the high quality parks, facilities and recreation services provided by the Skagit County Parks and Recreation Department.
Private groups, individuals, organizations, and companies can get involved in any of several projects such as Adopt-A-Trail, Art in the Parks, and the Northern State Recreation Area development. If you have a way to gather up some willing bodies, there is a project in one of the parks that is waiting for you.
Get on their website and take a look, contact them, and Dig In. You won’t ever be sorry.
Here are some near-term activities to consider:
Wed. May 14 The State of Puget Sound - Talk by Kathy Fletcher from People for Puget Sound, panel with local experts, open-house discussions Maple Hall in LaConner 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Fri./Sat. May 16 & 17 Sustainability Fair - Skagit Valley College Speakers, Activities, Exhibits 10:00 am - 3:00 pm http://www.skagit.edu/sustfair2008
Fri. May 23 Low Impact Development Workshop Padilla Bay Reserve Facility 8:30 am – 3:30 pm No charge, includes lunch to reserve a seat
Sat. May 24 Trail and Brush Clearing at Cumberland Creek 10:00 am – 1:00 pm http://www.skagitlandtrust.org or for details
Wed./Thur. May 28/29 In-stream Monitoring Workshop 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group to register/for details
Sat. May 31 Birding at Cumberland Creek 7:30 am – 1:00 pm Skagit Audubon Society http://www.fidalgo.net/~audubon/ Meet at S-W Food Pavilion Dress for walking through brush, bring binoculars, lunch
Sat. May 31 North Cascades Institute Annual Free Picnic 11:00 am – 4:00 pm Environmental Learning Center at Diablo Lake, 1 ½ hrs up Highway 20. http://www.ncascades.org/picnic for info. and RSVP Try to car pool.
Many similar events and activities and opportunities are posted on the GoSkagit Event Calendar. Check it often!
(Your comments about this blog 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.)
