Shiitake, Sheep, and Seaberry at Sweetwater Farm

Shiitake, Sheep, and Seaberry at Sweetwater Farm

It 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.

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Streamside Restoration at Polestar Farm

Streamside Restoration at Polestar Farm

In 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. 

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Cleaner Water for a Healthier Community

Cleaner Water for a Healthier Community

Although most of us refuse to use umbrellas, the fact remains that our annual rainfall averages about 35 inches in the western part of the county and increases sharply as you approach the Cascade Mountains. Managing the stormwater runoff resulting from all of this rain remains a crucial part of Snohomish Conservation District’s work to reduce pollution in our streams, rivers, and Puget Sound.

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Persimmons and Patience

Persimmons and Patience

If you visit Niky Schultz’s food forest, you might get the sense she’s planting her own little Garden of Eden, an edible landscape where bees nap in her “Pollinator Paradise” and salamanders swim like little dragons in her pond. It’s hard to believe that she’s spent most of her adult life living in apartments with only enough space for a container garden.

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Urban Street Trees at Henry M. Jackson Park

Urban Street Trees at Henry M. Jackson Park

This event kicked off the planting of several trees in the Delta Neighborhood of Everett and highlighted the ways that urban trees can reduce stormwater volume and filter water, while also providing wildlife habitat, shade, and improved air quality, human health, and livability.

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Five Years of Orca Recovery Day Celebrated in Marysville

Five Years of Orca Recovery Day Celebrated in Marysville

Adults 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.

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Tales of Two Rivers: Stillaguamish River Film Festival

Tales of Two Rivers: Stillaguamish River Film Festival

Farmers, fishermen, and families gathered at Hazel Blue Acres on September 8 for the second and final part of our “Tales of Two Rivers” film festival.

“It dawned on me as I was listening to the panel responses last night that we got really lucky in this effort to have such amazing participants,” said Lindsey Desmul, Sustainable Lands Strategy Communications Group co-chair.

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