Back there on May 7 we highlighted the plan to get 500 yards certified as Backyard Wildlife Habitats, by August, on Fidalgo Island. Well! Three years of effort and They did it! And so the big party with a few short speeches, a nice cake, and plenty of dedicated folks is this Saturday, August 23! 11:00am at the old snag boat by the Depot and Farmer’s Market in Anacortes. Thanks everybody involved, enjoy the celebration. It’s a little more NaturalSkagit because of you.
Held a charity car wash lately? Probably be a lot of them coming up. In Anacortes you go down to the Public Works Dep’t and check out a free kit. It has a tub that you put in the storm drain at the lot where your event is held. A long hose with a pump goes in that tub and pumps the dirty, soapy water back out and off into a grassy area or into a sanitary drain, such as a sink. Keeps all that crud out of the streams and bay there.
By the way, you can hold an Anacortes charity car wash at Bubba Sudz too! Just go ask and they’ll arrange for the event and the facility. A real nice service.
Mt Vernon, Burlington, and Sedro-Woolley all are in line to get some of the kits for you to use too. Bug them to pick up the pace there! A lot of streams will be a bit cleaner for it.
Here is a unique opportunity you, or maybe someone you know, might be interested in.
Marine Naturalist Training Program This Fall
The Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, WA
Registration for the Fall Marine Naturalist Training Program, presented by The Whale Museum, is available now. The program dates are Saturdays, September 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18, and 19. The object of this program is to provide a learning experience that assists adult graduates in becoming qualified regionally as professional or volunteer naturalists.
The main focus of the training is the ecology, current status and conservation of Southern Resident Killer Whales and other local marine species as well as discussions about the environments they live in. The course includes presentations on cetaceans, pinnipeds, mustelids, intertidal invertebrates, seabirds, and a variety of other topics such as geology, and marine conservation. Faculty includes Whale Museum staff, professional naturalists, marine scientists, and environmental educators active in the region. Students will also participate in a variety of field trips relating to the topics of study. They will have the opportunity to assemble a Gray Whale skeleton at The Whale Museum and to practice their naturalist skills on board a tour boat. Tuition is $350 and includes an orca adoption and a Whale Museum membership. There are no prerequisites other than high school graduation and a sincere interest to learn.
To take part in this opportunity, please contact Cindy Hansen, Education Curator by email at or by phone at 360-378-4710 ext.23.
Registration material can be downloaded from the Whale Museum website
Cindy Hansen, The Whale Museum
The Local-Organization-You-Might-Want-To-Be-Involved-With this week is the Komo Kulshan Outdoor School http://www.komokulshanoutdoorschool.org
This outdoor school is base-camped at Puget Sound Energy’s Baker Lake Lodge and serves upper elementary students, their teachers, and high school leaders from communities in and around Puget Sound. Its primary purpose is to serve local schools that can’t afford other, similar programs in the area!Komo Kulshan Outdoor School is sponsored by C.A.R.E. (Community Arts, Recreation, and Education coalition), and supported by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), University of Washington’s MESA program, Puget Sound area schools, and local businesses and community members.
The curriculum, designed for upper elementary students, also accommodates and supports a high school student component in a leadership capacity. Classroom teachers, after a pre-season training session, become the main field instructors, supported by professional Outdoor School staff on site and in the classroom. The classroom is right outside - the trails, streams and wild lands of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest at Baker Lake Lodge.
Participants spend most daylight hours outdoors, in “nature’s classroom”. The watershed-based curriculum revolves around multi-disciplinary field studies and includes:
· geography (landforms and map reading)
· chemistry (water quality)
· biology (macro invertebrates and fisheries)
· botany (native, riparian plants)
· social studies (local native cultural history)
· physical education (hiking and recreation time)
· reading/writing/drawing (journaling)
· energy generation and conservation (power house tour)
Late afternoons (and early mornings) find students helping to cook, serve, and clean-up community meals, while evenings are enjoyed around the campfire. Music, story-telling, and original, dramatic productions entertain and educate until bedtime
The fall schedule includes: High School Leadership training from Sept. 13-14, with field sessions beginning Sept. 17th and running M-W & W-F through October 24th. (pre- and post- classroom lessons occur according to individual teacher scheduling)
Spring 2009 scheduling begins with the annual Teacher Training (in partnership with UW MESA) on March 26-28, High School Leadership on April 18-19, and field sessions beginning on Earth Day, April 22 and running through June.
To get you or your school involved, contact:
Christie Fairchild
360-853-8388
K.K.O.S., P.O. Box 842, Concrete, WA. 98237
K.K.O.S. is a project of C.A.R.E., which is a member of S.E.E. (Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs),
a tax-deductible, non-profit, 501.c3
Here are some near-term activities to consider:
Thur. August 21 Open House - expanded Friends of the Forest office 7:00pm Top floor of the historic Keystone Building at 619 Commercial Avenue, #32. Join Denise Crowe and other friends for snacks and a display of activities in our woods.
Sat. August 23 Anacortes Community Wildlife Habitat Certification celebration 11:00am Fidalgo Backyard Wildlife Habitat Group At the Snag Boat Center!
Sat. Sept. 6 Skagit River Family Fest Noon – 6:00pm Howard Miller Steelhead Park, Rockport http://www.skagitfisheries.org/famfest.pdf for more details.
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 (SCEA) 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.)
