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

Andrew Albert

“To project a positive image of farmers and farming to the community and to help keep agriculture a viable industry for years to come.”

— Andrew Albert's better ground reason

ndrew is a great example of what we hope to find in our next generation of farmers and in our ag communities. On his farm, he consistently and sustainably balances the need for an economically viable local agriculture industry with the need for protecting our natural resources. He’s progressive in implementing numerous practices on his farm including nutrient management, compost utilization, soil health management, controlled-release fertilizers, conservation tillage, and perennial cropping. Additionally, he’s always willing to help neighboring farms and is an active member of his community.

Karen & Scott Clark

“To protect our environment for the future of our children.”

— Karen & Scott Clark's better ground reason

Karen and Scott practice Sound Horsekeeping and make an effort to reach out to other horse and livestock owners. They manage mud with a heavy use area, gutters and downspouts, and regular manure cleanup. They are also very conscious of not overgrazing their pastures even though they don’t have much land. Karen saw our manure compost bin display at the fair in 2013 and Scott built their bins according to the plans. Not only have they done a good job on their property, they also hosted a farm tour in 2014 and helped us reach out to the Sultan community by providing a good example of real-life practices in action.

Karen Clark poses with her Sound Horsekeeping sign next to her compost bins

Heather Margo

“So we have wonderful land to hand over to our children.”

— Heather Margo's better ground reason

Heather worked with her neighborhood to restore a small section of stream in her neighborhood. She has organized hundreds of volunteers to plant and maintain the site. Heather first contacted SCD to look at a small piece of right-of-way at the end of her cul-de-sac, adjacent to her property. She wanted to remove invasive species and plant a riparian buffer. Heather worked with us to get materials and organized several neighborhood events to remove weeds and plant trees and shrubs. 

Katherine Staberow

“We need to be a part of the solution for urban sprawl.”

— Katherine Staberow's better ground reason

Katherine has been a huge driver of restoration and stormwater work on her own property and her neighborhood NGPA. She has led projects with enthusiasm, working cooperatively with this group of over 30 properties. Her initiative has been a huge driver in implementing these conservation efforts, as she has brought great enthusiasm and easy communication. In December, Katherine coordinated a volunteer planting event to kick off restoration activities, with over 20 neighbors coming together to plant over 400 plants! 

Colleen Keller

“Children, they’re the ones that will impact our communities for years to come.”

— Colleen Keller's better ground reason

Colleen is Principal of Utsalady Elementary, Colleen leads her school’s fantastic work to lighten their footprint on the environment. She involves students in teaching their peers and others how to implement more sustainable practices, and she supports her teachers and students in their ongoing efforts to reach more sustainability goals. She supported student teams that taught their peers how to recycle and they’ve now reduced their cafeteria waste by half! Colleen helped with the 5th grader/kindergartner buddy program in the school garden. This year she is working to initiate composting.