Tips, tricks, and a quick peek into the everyday life of the conservation district.
Our Southern Resident orcas survive primarily on one food source: Chinook salmon. When we think about protecting the health of orcas, one of the most important factors is keeping this food source plentiful for them. Unfortunately, Chinook populations have diminished greatly since the 20th century, leaving Southern Resident orcas searching for food.
Read MoreThe life cycle success of a salmon depends directly on the water quality of our streams and rivers. They thrive in cold, clean, and clear water. However, in locations along French Creek, which feeds into the Snohomish River, the water is often warmer than it should be for salmon and other fish, particularly during the summer.
Read MoreIn recent years, the salmon are no longer swimming in Eagle Creek. Laura cites the absence of salmon runs as the main reason why she became interested in hosting a habitat restoration project on her property, which Snohomish Conservation District is now spearheading.
Read MoreIf you were a salmon traveling upstream, your chance of making it to your spawning bed hinges on many factors including the temperature and abundance of water. As a result, continuous streamside tree canopy and resident beavers are critical players in a salmon’s success. Trees shade and cool the water temperature, while beavers’ infrastructure supports consistent streamflow and helps create cool, deep pools.
Read MoreIt can be easy to take water for granted in the Northwest, until you see it through the eyes of a farmer like Jake Stewart.
“I wouldn't call us climate refugees,” said Jake. “But we were certainly climate migrants leaving the droughts.”
Jake and his wife, Aja, were farming near Austin, Texas when their well began to run dry.
Read MoreIn addition to its three riparian buffers, Polestar Farm is home to upwards of 20 beaver dams, creating a wetland nested within the forest. The slowed water caused by a beaver dam helps keep horse waste and other pollutants from entering the stream quickly, and also recharges groundwater.
Read MoreAdults and children from over six countries gathered at the Strawberry Fields Athletic Complex in Marysville for the fifth annual Orca Recovery Day on October 15. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in a guided nature walk, learn about water quality, and plant trees along the Middle Fork Quilceda Creek, which runs through the park. The creek is an important habitat restoration site due to the presence of coho salmon near a high-traffic area. Salmon are a main food source for the Southern Resident orcas.
Read MoreTwenty years ago, Eric Lee-Mäder found a strange-looking bottle in a wine shop that would end up changing the course of his life. The French cider inside was unlike anything he’d ever tasted.
“It was much more complex than sweet,” Eric said. “I got a sense of the whole orchard, from the bloom of the apple tree to the fungus growing in the understory.”
Read MoreAfter two seasons of riparian restoration implementation, I transitioned into a role at Snohomish Conservation District that allowed me to plan and manage similar projects to improve habitat for salmon. Salmon are the bridge between our ecosystems. Traveling from oceans to estuaries, wetlands to streams, they cycle nutrients from the ocean back to the forest. They also hold immense cultural importance to Salish Sea tribes—to lose the salmon would be a loss of a way of life.
Read MoreNick Pate, owner of Raising Cane Ranch in Snohomish, has incorporated several agroforestry practices on his farm. His food forest also serves as a harvestable, multi-functional, or working buffer. The trees and shrubs in the food forest essentially act as a second layer to his native forest riparian buffer, which borders the Snohomish River.
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Snohomish Conservation District | 528 91st Ave NE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 | 425-335-5634
