We're Looking for Feedback on our 2017 Work Plan
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Would you like to provide feedback on our 2017 work plan? Now's the chance, our 2017 work plan is open for comments and review from now until Monday, May 16 at noon.
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Gratitude to our Boeing Rain Barrel Building Volunteers!
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We all know that Boeing is in the business of building high-quality planes. As it turns out they are also great rain barrel assemblers! Last Friday, April 15th Boeing partnered with Snohomish Conservation District, Mukilteo Elementary and Boy Scouts to turn a whole truckload of 55-gallon drums into rain barrels. In just over 2.5 hours they assembled 150! These barrels were taken to a public rain barrel sale on Camano Island, where 46 were sold to happy locals. Those who bought rain barrels will be able to store and re-use roughly 2,530 gallons of water! St. Aidan's Episcopal Church and vicar Fr. Drew supported the sale by providing the venue, helping to promote, and assisting with set up.
In addition to assembling rain barrels, Boeing Volunteers also laid mulch in the Mukilteo Elementary outdoor classroom and helped hand dig a rain garden. Young Boy Scout leaders, who were pivotal in the creation of the outdoor classroom, and teacher Sue Idso, gave volunteers a tour of the outdoor classroom – pointing out the habitat structures purposely built to provide a haven for urban wildlife while providing memorable outdoor science opportunities for elementary students. This year alone, over 90 classes have taken place in the Mukilteo outdoor classroom.
All in all, this group of Boeing employees and family members did an incredible job! District Community Engagement Manager, Kate Riley, couldn’t say enough good things about working with Boeing Company.
“Boeing has been an incredible partner – from their active volunteerism and their commitment to supporting local environmental work, to their desire to address stormwater pollution at their factories by installing rain gardens.”
This year, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Boeing provided $90,000 of funding to support Snohomish Conservation District and partners in implementing key conservation initiatives including rain garden demonstration projects in Edmonds and the regional Better Ground Campaign.
The 2016 Plant Sale Rocked - Thank you volunteers, customers and supporters!
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Our 2016 plant sale was loads of fun and okay, loads of work, too. We couldn’t have done it without our hardworking staff, volunteers, conservation crew and booth folks.
Read MoreJust Released: A Great New Series of Videos for our Sound Horsekeepers
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We partnered with Alayne Blickle, from Horses for Clean Water, to create this informative series of short videos on a range of essential horsekeeping topics. The best news? Each of the 9 videos is under 2 minutes long!
Read MoreThe Grass is Growing: T-Sum 200 has been reached
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Soil temperature mirrors air temperature. So instead of putting a thermometer in the ground, you can use a formula called “T-Sum 200” to track soil temperatures indirectly and determine when grass will begin to grow.
Read More2015 Annual Report
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2015 was another exciting and productive year here at the Snohomish Conservation District. We have enjoyed our opportunity to engage with such a diverse and committed set of landowners and partners. The accomplishments for 2015 are based upon and driven by the willingness of private landowners and managers to actively manage the natural resources they control. Additionally, the accomplishments for 2015 are significantly impacted via project collaborations with partners. We sincerely thank everyone that has made a positive contribution and impact on natural resource management this past year.
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Fall is a Great Time to Lime
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From pasture to potatoes, and pumpkins to hay, lime is more often than not a key component in creating the ideal soil for our current agricultural activities. Without the addition of lime, native soils are usually too acidic for many of the crops we want to grow.
Read MoreHelping our Neighbors: Okanogan Fire Needs
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If you want to help those affected by the Okanogan Complex fire, firefighters and/or locals, here is information on what is needed and who to contact, from Craig Nelson of the Okanogan Conservation District. Please share this so that we can help our neighbors to the east as much as possible!
Read MoreThanks for entering!
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We were blown away by the number of submissions and the sheer enthusiasm for our first Lawns to Lettuce Un-Contest! Thanks so much to Garden Nursery - Arlington Co-op Supply In and to all our participants.
Read MoreWCC Recruiting for Upcoming Crew Year
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WCC Crew Openings
Description: The Snohomish Conservation District crew is based at the county's native plant nursery in Lake Stevens. The crew works on a wide variety of projects including riparian habitat restoration, volunteer supervision, construction projects (fish passage/large wood), fencing projects, outreach workshops/fairs, one or more rain garden/LID project, one NGPA project, one or more agricultural and forestry BMP construction and NRCS practice specification training. Members will complete one-on-one shadowing days with Farm Planners, Engineers, Water Quality, LID and Habitat Restoration Specialists to gain skills and experience in site assessment and design, engineering surveys, landowner education, construction supervision, GIS.
Projected Start Date: October 5
Lawns to Lettuce Un-Contest
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To kick off the program, we want to hear from you-- and you can earn prizes for sharing!
Read MoreGoodbye Lawn, Hello Lettuce!
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The Snohomish Conservation District is proud to announce the launch of our new Lawns to Lettuce Program! The goals of this latest effort are to encourage landowners to convert a portion of their lawn to growing edibles, and to highlight landowners who’ve already done so.
Read MoreCity of Edmonds Rain Garden Pilot Project
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The City of Edmonds is working with the Conservation District and WSU Extension to start a Rain Garden Program to promote the use of rain gardens around the City. As a way to jump start the program, we're organizing a rain garden cluster installation in a neighborhood in Edmonds.
Read MoreThanks for joining us at the Better Ground Showcase
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Thank you to everyone who joined us in Mukilteo on April 1st for our Better Ground Showcase. We enjoyed meeting new people and reconnecting with our friends and partners.
From the talented group of young musicians who helped create the festive atmosphere at the beginning to the dedicated award winners who were honored for their incredible work, it was great to see so many wonderful examples of people celebrating local efforts to plant trees, produce healthy food, protect habitat and keep water clean and healthy for fish.
Everyone seemed to enjoy seeing so many young people being honored, from the environmental youth leaders to an innovative young farmer, we all felt hope for the future. Honoring lifelong environmental leaders like Barbara Brock beside students who are growing food, enhancing habitat and teaching their peers was especially enlightening. We look forward to another great year of working with our partners, residents, schools, and others to create better ground for all. If you would like to view the video about this year’s winners, go to this link: https://youtu.be/ASIOe77E9eY.
2015 Plant 'Sale-abration' a Hit
/We hoped you enjoyed our 30th annual Plant 'Sale-abration' as much as we did.
About 40,660 native trees, shrubs and groundcover plants went home with eager folks, and our classes were a popular new addition.
Three Local Winners Honored for Conservation Efforts
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The Washington Association of Conservation Districts recently held their annual meeting in Cle Elum and presented awards to three individuals and groups from Snohomish County and Camano Island. The Tulalip Tribes, Kristoferson Farm, and Mukilteo teacher Sue Idso were recognized. The annual awards recognize individuals and groups that support conservation districts in their work on natural resource conservation.
The Kristoferson family and Kristoferson Farm won the WACD Wildlife Farm of the Year Award for their conservation and wildlife habitat restoration efforts. The Kristoferson Farm on Camano Island has been in the family since 1921. It’s currently managed as a working forest for small-scale timber harvest, organic hay production, a canopy zip-line tour and event venue. The Tulalip Tribes received the WACD Tribal Partnership Award. The Tribes worked with the Snohomish Conservation District to implement stormwater educational efforts and projects on tribal lands. Terry Williams and the Tribes have also been leaders in establishing and growing the Snohomish County Sustainable Lands Strategy. This collaborative, cross-boundary approach to net gains for both fish and farm producers has provided many opportunities for the Tribes, District, and other partners to secure funding to implement a wide variety of farm/fish/flood projects.
Sue Idso, a fifth grade teacher at Mukilteo Elementary School, received the Educator of the Year Award. With help from habitat specialist Ryan Williams, Sue and her students created an outdoor classroom - a place where teachers of all grades could hold science and language arts classes outside. After the District helped clear brush,
Sue contacted a group of local Eagle Scout candidates to develop and build projects including: a trail network, an amphitheater, a bird blind, and a series of bat boxes. Sue also recruited dozens of volunteers for monthly work parties to remove invasive ivy, blackberry and laurel, which were replaced with native trees and shrubs. The outdoor classroom was ready for the entire school to use in March 2014.
