Scott Chase

“Scott’s dedication to protecting and conserving the region’s natural resources, in part by continually bringing together organizations with similar objectives and hordes of dedicated volunteers, is what makes his partnership over the years so inspiring.”

— Lois Ruskell, SCD Public Relations Coordinator

Scott is one of SCD’s most steadfast partners on Camano Island. Scott served as the Washington State University (WSU) Island County Shore Stewards Coordinator for many years and is an active volunteer for Sound Water Stewards and WSU Waste Wise. His commitment to protecting and conserving the health of shorelines and water resources, in part by continually bringing together organizations with similar objectives and hordes of dedicated volunteers, is what makes his partnership over the years so inspiring. It seems that Scott knows every environmental group on Camano Island and Snohomish County. Scott believes that we can accomplish more when we share our strengths, ideas, and energy. Scott retired from his position with WSU in November 2017, but vows to remain an avid and committed volunteer. We are grateful for his dedication. 

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Nomination Highlight Video

Terry Williams

“Terry has worked tirelessly to establish collaborative forums to tackle some of the tough issues surrounding salmon recovery and the restoration of Puget Sound.”

— Monte Marti, SCD Manager

Terry is, and has been an important leader in the tribal and salmon recovery communities throughout the Pacific Northwest since the 1980’s. Previously as the Tribal Liaison to the Environmental Protection Agency, and currently as Commissioner of Fisheries and Natural Resources, Terry often speaks to groups about tribal treaty rights and the importance of working together with private landowners. He has dedicated his lifetime working tirelessly to establish collaborative forums to tackle some of the toughest issues surrounding salmon recovery and the restoration of Puget Sound. He has lead efforts to establish a number of important groups that foster and implement his collaborative spirit including: the Northwest Straits Commission, Marine Resource Committees, Qualco Energy, Snohomish Salmon Recovery Forum, Snohomish Sustainable Lands Strategy and the Puget Sound Partnership Local Integration Organizations.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Event Photos of Terry

Monte Marti

“Every generation has a few individuals who embody a spirit of selflessness and who pour their whole being to making their community a better place to live. Monte is one of those few individuals and Snohomish County is blessed to have him tirelessly working for us.”

— Tristan Klesick, Klesick Farms

Monte has been affiliated with and a driver for Snohomish Conservation District for close to four decades. He is our greatest champion and an avid conservationist who is passionate about Washington State’s natural resources, and particularly our farming heritage.

Monte has been SCD's District Manager since 2010. Before becoming the manager, he served for 25 years as a volunteer Board Supervisor at the District, a volunteer for the Washington Association of Conservation Districts for 16 years and on the WACD Plant Material Center Advisory Board. Before joining the District Board in 1985, Monte was a technician with the District in the early 80’s, just as the Centennial Clean Water funds were coming into place to help fund water quality incentives and technical service to farmers.  Monte brings 25 years of business management experience at Verizon Communications. He has a Master’s Degree in Agriculture Economics (Natural Resources emphasis) from Washington State University and was raised on a crop and dairy farm in the Columbia Basin in Eastern Washington.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Event Photos of Monte

Brea Dormaier

“Brea goes above and beyond to give her students experiences both inside and outside of the classroom to learn about environmental issues and solutions.”

— Lily Cason, SCD Youth Educator

Brea is a dedicated 4th grade teacher, who, every year, with her teaching team, invites SCD to teach their students about environmental education. The classrooms host a tank of salmon so students can make observations about their growth. With her administrators and teaching team, Brea also helped champion student involvement in the installation of green schoolyard projects like rain barrels, rain gardens and garden beds that create impactful environmental education learning opportunities for years to come!

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Nomination Highlight Video

Eric Fritch

“Eric is selfless, he inspires others thru his motivation and passion for helping others. He gives of his time, provides assistance and education, and he wants to make his farm a better place for all.”

— Bobbi Lindemulder, SCD Operations Program Manager

Eric currently supports four farms on his farmstead, all of which promote conservation and sustainability. He has a strong passion for generational farming and spends time mentoring youth about animal husbandry and proper care. Eric is highly engaged in the agricultural community and he also has his own sustainable grass-fed beef operation, with a fully implemented farm plan and extensive riparian fencing.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Holy Cross Catholic Church

“We are blown away by Holy Cross’ commitment to the earth- they plant potatoes for the food bank, help organize volunteer planting events to protect their section of the Pilchuck River.”

— Ashley Shattuck, Former SCD Restoration Project Assistant (WCC)

Holy Cross Catholic Church completed a large native planting project along their section of the Pilchuck River in March, 2017. They recruited over 50 volunteers, including the baseball team from Archbishop Murphy High School. Together they planted over 426 plants. The Church has also planted native species to restore their NGPA area. Not only are they responsible stewards of the environment, they also grow vegetables to share with local food banks, and provide firewood from their tree lot to those in need. 

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Nomination Highlight Video

Carol McMahon

“Carol is an enthusiastic neighborhood steward. She installed her rain garden many years ago before we began our cluster project, and she was excited to continue to add GSI solutions to her property.”

— Alicia Kellogg, SCD Community Conservation Project Coordinator

Carol is an enthusiastic neighborhood steward who has worked with SCD to install a rain garden and a rain barrel system at her home to reduce stormwater runoff. Carol then took initiative to share her projects with neighbors by inviting them to participate in a cost-share opportunity with the City of Lynnwood and SCD. Carol’s neighbors followed her enthusiastic lead by installing rain barrels and rain gardens at their homes, resulting in their neighborhood collectively capturing and filtering substantial stormwater runoff and protecting local waterways.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Carol in the News

Holly Small

“Holly is an educator that is passionate about farming and wants to make sure people have the best information and tools available as possible. Her mission is to not see people fail.”

— Bobbi Lindemulder, SCD Operations Program Manager

Holly is passionate about farming and uses her own experiences, including a background in cattle ranching, to provide real-world scenarios in her classes. She has developed farming programs that have been adopted statewide. Beyond education, she is a thoughtful and caring person who has comforted those who are struggling and has helped farmers who are passing their farms onto the next generation. SCD staff have enjoyed working with Holly on the development and implementation of the WSU Cultivating Success program.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Robyn Smith

“Robyn is always striving to be a good steward of natural resources and to farm in a sustainable manner while passing this knowledge and experience on to the next generation.”

— Carrie Brausieck, SCD Resource Planner

Robyn runs Equine Life Solutions, an innovative facility that offers horse riding lessons, therapy and natural resources/agriculture education to underserved urban youth. Working with SCD she installed a manure composting system, a rain garden, and a set of cisterns to reduce stormwater runoff to Little Bear Creek creek while collecting rainwater for livestock. Robyn is always striving to be a good steward of the land while passing knowledge on to the next generation.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Stephanie Williams

“Stephanie is a saint!”

— Julie Allen, SCD Grants Administrator

Stephanie has been a volunteer at SCD’s plant sale for the past 8 years and can be counted on to be there from open to close every year, without fail. She can identify the various native plants and their uses for our clients, and uses them in her own yard. “Stephanie is a saint,” says SCD staff member Julie Allen. In her work life, Stephanie is a para-educator in the Mukilteo school district. She consistently spends her own time coming up with project ideas for the classroom to help her students learn and conquer new skills.

Nomination Highlight Video

Snohomish County Farm Bureau

“Dan’s leadership has helped to set the stage for positive conversations that could help to advance collaboration between the agriculture community and others.”

— Monte Marti, SCD Manager

The Farm Bureau, led by Dan Bartelheimer, promotes collaborative, impactful relationship building with diverse community partners- government agencies, other agriculture entities, NGOs, and tribes. Their leadership has helped to set the stage for positive conversations that could help to advance collaboration between the agriculture community and others. The Farm Bureau is bringing the community together to collectively manage our natural resources more effectively through dialogue and trust building.

Nomination Highlight Video

Qualco Energy & Werkhoven Dairy

“Qualco Energy and the Werkhoven Dairy have been very easy to work with, were excited about the project and have a unique ability to use this installation as an educational tool.”

— Derek Hann, SCD Engineer

Qualco Energy has worked in partnership with Werkhoven Dairy to complete many projects that help the environment. This year, working in partnership with SCD, they installed a 10,000 ft2 rain garden to filter stormwater runoff from an existing parking lot. It is one of the first rain gardens built with an industrial/agricultural intention on a dairy. Qualco Energy and the Werkhoven Dairy championed this project from the start, and were incredible to work with. This site will have the unique ability to use the rain garden installation to educate the public about water treatment. 

Nomination Highlight Video

Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs

“This partnership allows SCD to give back to veterans in a whole new way. Not only does it offer professional and personal growth and development, this type of work also provides a type of therapy, eco-therapy. ”

— Cameron Coronado, SCD Community Conservation Project Coordinator

The WDVA has partnered with SCD to host a series of Veterans on staff through its Conservation Corps program. The VCC provides opportunities for Veterans to connect with nature in their own way while restoring Washington’s natural resources. This partnership has allowed SCD to not only give back to our communities through Low Impact Development projects, which help with water quality and quantity issues, but it also allows the District to give back to Veterans offering professional and personal development and growth. 

Nomination Highlight Video

James Osborn

“James has been a very enthusiastic member of his garden club at Discovery Elementary. His commitment to caring for and protecting the garden stands out compared to other members.”

— Sue Sander, Advisor, Garden Club

James is an inspiration to others. He is in his second year of participating in the Discovery Elementary Garden Club, which meets weekly before school. He is excited to learn information about plants and gardens, and shares this knowledge with others. He shows a commitment to taking care of and protecting the garden and an awareness of the value of having it at his school. His club advisor believes that the interest he shows with this project could lead to a future in an environmental field of study/work!

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Nomination Highlight Video

Jarrett Delfel

“Jarrett has worked tirelessly to build an outdoor shelter as part of his Eagle Scout project, over the last 10 months. He managed the entire project with support from a community mentor, family & his scout troop.”

— Lisa Syravong, Stewardship Program Coordinator, Sound Salmon Solutions

Jarrett is an exceptional youth, and is close to completing the requirements for Eagle Scout. All over Snohomish County, Jarrett has shown his leadership abilities, maturity & sense of community. He has a way of connecting with members of the community including his peers, adults and professionals and involves everyone in a collaborative process. A great example of this is his Eagle Scout project, which is a shelter that will last for 20-30 years and used on a regular basis by every 5th Grade student in the Marysville School District as part of the Jones Creek Outdoor Environmental Education program.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Emily McLaughlin Sta. Maria

“Emily is a student leader in community projects to obtain and disseminate scientific data on stream quality and salmon”

— Joe Scordino, Advisor Students Saving Salmon Club

Emily is a leader amongst Edmonds-Woodway High School students in community projects to obtain and disseminate scientific data on water quality. In spite of heavy workloads as a full time International Baccalaureate student, Emily has been in the field to collect data every month regardless of weather. Her dedication to conservation has included hands-on work releasing over 800 juvenile Coho salmon into upper stream areas and habitat restoration in Shell Creek, where students planted 400 native plants along the creek to enhance the habitat for salmon.

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Nomination Highlight Video

Emily in the News