In our fourth year of doing an Orca Recovery Day event at Snohomish Conservation District, we elected for a fun day at Lake Ballinger Park in Mountlake Terrace. The site was a former golf course turned city park and senior center, which has become a very popular walking destination for residents. In our partnership with the City of Mountlake Terrace, we opted to plan for this outdoor activity within our 2021 scope of work.

And, it was a huge success!

Over 100 people registered, and over 110 showed up, including some walk ups on the day of the event. About a quarter of our attendees were school age youth! The focus of our nature walk was connecting people with their surrounding natural environment. Sara Rocero, our Community Engagement Project Coordinator—who has attended all four of our orca day events—led the nature walk and talked about native plants, invasive plants, owl pellets, habitat required for wildlife, and the effects of our activities on land on our waterways.

Also leading the event were Mikaela Montanari and Valeria Lujan from our Youth Education program who provided activities for kids including a scavenger hunt and instructions on how to remember our five species of salmon—chum, sockeye, king, silver, and pink—using five fingers! Valeria also demonstrated how to do a water quality test and what to look for when judging the health of a waterway.

We were pleased to have Mountlake Terrace Mayor Kyoto Matsumoto Wright, Councilmember Steve Woodard, Councilmember Laura Sonmore, and City Clerk Virginia Clough join us, and to also be able to provide American Sign Language interpretation.

You can learn more about the origins of Orca Recovery Day on our Better Ground website — the hub for the 12 Puget Sound Conservation Districts — and find ways to engage in your own community to support our southern resident killer whales.

If you would like to host an event in your city, please reach out to the conservation district.

Read the story in the Mountlake Terrace News by Nathan Blackwell