This Saturday, Sept. 20 you can go back Up River to the Howard Miller Steelhead Park and be at the big Open House for the new and improved Skagit River Interpretive Center!  It’s a nice spiffy doublewide mobile with a huge deck and blue trim right across the street from the campground.

A lot of effort has gone into getting this place and outfitting it … if you’ve seen the old set-up you’ll really appreciate this new deal!  The party goes I:00pm – 6:00pm with refreshments and representatives from all the partners.  You can check out volunteer opportunities too; later, when the eagles show up, there is a huge need.

While you are there, throw a little money at it as well.  It can use the help and you’ll be supporting a really worthwhile and well-used facility with an even greater future now.

OR – go down to Anacortes to Seafarers Park on Sat. Sept. 20 for Fidalgo Bay Day.  Lots of food, fun, entertainment and education about the great resource we have there.  That is from 11:00am – 3:00pm.  We’ll be there, helping to show how to do water-quality testing.

Have you tried the 2008 Skagit Watershed Letterbox Trail yet?  Lots have!  13 plastic boxes hidden all up and down the river … from Newhalem to Washington Park.  Each box has a notebook with stamp/stickers and some educational material about the neat place it is hidden.  Get yourself a stamp, inkpad, and notebook.  Pick up clue sheets at local libraries, Skagit PUD #1 Office, No. Cascades National Park Visitor Centers or on-line at http://www.scea.homestead.com/ltrbox.html or at http://www.atlasquest.com Then off you go.  Stamp yourself into each box you find, and record their stamps/stickers in your notebook.  Watch for news about a party for “letterbox-questors” in late Oct/early Nov!

Here’s kudos to just about everybody in the NaturalSkagit!  Heard a brief presentation to the county commissioners this week about illegal dumping of junk and garbage here.  There was almost 8 times as much of this going on 10 years ago than there is this year.  Lots of reasons, but partly YOU!  Thanks.

The Local-Organization-You-Might-Want-To-Be-Involved-With this week is the Skagit River Bald Eagle Awareness Team(SRBEAT) http://www.skagiteagle.org Their mission is to increase education about, appreciation for, and stewardship of the Skagit River watershed ecosystem. 

This is the group that puts on the great Bald Eagle Festival at Concrete – this next one is January 24, 25, 2009 and will be number 22!  It will be the 13th year of the Interpretive Center, also hosted by SRBEAT.  There are all kinds of activities and guided tours and walks in early December through late February – out of the Interpretive Center.  Eagle watching up there in Early Dec – Early Feb. is the best – it is not too soon to start arranging for your out-of-town friends, family, and guests to be here for some of it.

They’ll enjoy a grand experience, help juice the local economy, and get out into the NaturalSkagit in the winter! 

Here are some near-term activities to consider:

Fri. Sept. 19 Construction Stormwater Management Practices Seminar 10:00am – 2:00pm Skagit Train Station, Mt. Vernon For builders, contractors, public officials, and citizens as well.  Lunch included – no cost.  Register at

Sat. Sept. 20 Open House at Skagit River Interpretive Center 1:00pm – 6:00pm See the new facility at Howard Miller Steelhead Park in Rockport.  Refreshments!

Sat. Sept. 20 Fidalgo Bay Day 11:00am – 3:00pm Seafarers Park in Anacortes.  Food, Fun, and Education all about the Salish Sea.  Free.

Sat. Sept. 20 Cascade Pass Revegetation Work-party 9:00am – 4:00pm Meet at Cascade Pass parking lot.  Info – or 360 854-7275

Wed. Sept. 24 Watershed Masters Training begins. 6:00pm – 9:00pm Padilla Bay Interpretive Center on Bayview-Edison Rd.  Register Note:  Class sessions every Wed. through Nov. 12, and Saturday field sessions on Sept 27, Oct 11, and Oct 25. 

Sat. Sept. 27 Puget Sound Kids Day 1:00pm – 3:00pm Padilla Bay Interpretive Center on Bayview-Edison Rd.  Just show up!

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.)

Hmmm. Maybe you can answer this for me.  I am going to kind of lump you huggers and hippies into one group.  Invaders works also.

Now there I was, stopped to buy some corn by Kohl’s, (I used to rotate fields in that area) So there was this guy, in the rain wearing Birkenstocks naturally, with socks. (never could figure that one out) driving, yep you guessed it, a Subaru, even had a roof rack.  He was going over the ears of corn and putting them in his “Food Co-op canvas bag.  He was peeling each ear open and if he didn’t like what he saw he put it back.  Now most of those ears were “Perfect”, I mean not picture perfect but yummy looking enough eat.  I told him my family grew corn for years for Associated Grocers and that if he just slightly squeezed the top to feel for almost full kernels then he had a good one.  Otherwise he had maybe to trim it with a knife.  That way he wouldn’t leave others with opened corn.  I told him that Mother Nature doesn’t make all ears of corn perfect to look at but they all will taste great.

Wouldn’t you know it, he told me to **ck off and flipped me the bird and got back into his Subaru.  Funny thing it had Washington plates but the trim ring around it was from Del Ray California dealer.  Can you believe it?  There I was trying to teach one of your fellow “Huggers” something he could use and pass on and he got indignant.  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised huh?  Why are you guys like that?