2017 Fall Nexus
/ Snohomish CDVolume 28: Issue 2
Happy Fall!
By the time this issue reaches your hands the days might be feeling a little shorter and the nights a bit colder, but there’s a hint of something else in the air. And no it’s not the smell of pumpkin spice or crisp fall leaves, it’s something more. It’s that feeling of togetherness and coziness—for wrapping up in your favorite knit blanket on the couch after picking manure or drinking a cup of coffee before watching the big game. It’s a time for reflection and thankfulness, gathering with friends and family, and pie (lots of pie).
Whether we’ve met in person or only through the pages of the Nexus, all of us at Snohomish Conservation District are grateful for your support and the District could not exist without your willingness to partner with us year in and year out. If we’ve only been introduced through the pages of this publication, we welcome you to get in touch for assistance with your property concerns. Let’s jump into 2018 together.
Articles in This Issue
The newly installed stormwater projects at these six schools will help divert and filter an estimated 436,700 gallons of stormwater each year! This number is based on an estimated 10 refills of the rain barrels and cisterns, which is the average usage rate. All of this adds up to cleaner, colder, and clearer streams and untold numbers of happy salmon.
Several schools recently finished up their participation in a National Fish and Wildlife funded grant, Puget Sound Starts at My School. This program involved 658 students in the planning, design, and installation of stormwater projects on school campuses. In total, the projects completed through this grant will divert and filter an estimated 435,769 gallons of stormwater every year!
At the end of August, Snohomish Conservation District gathered dozens of local volunteers together behind the Stanwood Camano Village to help restore a bare and degraded landscape right in their own backyard. Our Community Conservation team has been working hard to reach businesses and community members within project areas.
Native bees and other pollinators pollinate approximately 85% of the flowering plants on the planet that produce one-third of the food we consume. With land-use changes causing the decline of native habitat, native pollinator populations are declining with some species at risk of extinction.
Traveling the back roads of Snohomish County, you’ll pass a variety of scenic farms. Farms have been a crucial component of the landscape, history, and economy of this county and most of Puget Sound, and will hopefully remain so. The types of farms and the products grown vary and farm stability relies on resilience to adapt to changing markets, climatic variations, consumer preferences and rising land and equipment costs.
Back in August, we went back to visit one of our cooperators, Bill Cayford, who is the type of guy who just wants to do the right thing with his land.
Bill has 20 acres total, half of which is pasture and open space