Portland-based organization to receive $1.9 million to help underserved forest landowners in WA, OR access climate markets

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The Forest Service announced it will award more than $1.9 million to Bonneville Environmental Foundation to help connect underserved and small acreage landowners to emerging climate markets.

This funded project will expand the foundation’s Carbon Credit Regional Operator Program, which provides local forest restoration partners with tools and training to reach small-acreage forest landowners and support their access to voluntary carbon markets.

Bonneville Environmental Foundation and collaborators will recruit new implementation partners, perform focused outreach to landowners, and develop landowner payment structures.

Key partners include Snohomish Conservation District, Spokane Conservation District, Trout Unlimited, Whatcom Conservation District, Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council, Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group, City Forest Credits, and Upstream Tech.

Read the announcement on the USDA Forest Service website.

Countywide wildfire survey will be backbone of ideas to reduce life, safety risks

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As wildfire risks in Western Washington increase, Snohomish County officials are developing a county-wide protection plan. 

The county is surveying residents to provide information about the area’s preparedness that will be used to develop the plan. The survey went live in early August and will be available until mid-November. Fire districts, as well as cities, community organizations, the Snohomish Conservation District, the forest service and the state Department of Natural Resources are participating in the planning effort.

Read the article at the Snohomish County Tribune.

Lynnwood awarded $1.3 million federal grant to revitalize urban forests

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Lynnwood awarded $1.3 million federal grant to revitalize urban forests

The City of Lynnwood is receiving $1,308,198 of the Urban and Community Forest Grant for its South Lynnwood Urban Forestry & Stewardship Program. Overall, municipalities in Washington state were awarded a total of $36,365,854 in funding from the grant for 2023. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service awarded more than $1 billion in competitive grants this fall to plant and maintain trees, combat extreme heat and climate change and improve access to nature.

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Millions of dollars for ‘tree equity’ head to Snohomish County

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Millions of dollars for ‘tree equity’ head to Snohomish County

Thousands of trees are coming to urban areas in western Snohomish County.

“We’re doing 100% underrepresented communities,” said Linda Lyshall, the executive director of the Snohomish Conservation District. “We really wanted to address that tree equity concern, where you have urban areas where there’s just no greenery.”

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Washington State district explores forest farming opportunities

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Washington State district explores forest farming opportunities

Agroforestry has made its way into Snohomish Conservation District (WA), with landowner interest flourishing and new programs specific to forest farming in the works.

The conservation district has been implementing about a half a dozen agroforestry practices around the north Puget Sound for the past five years, but the rising interest in forest farming is taking the lead and shaping the district’s vision of the region’s future.

Read this article by the National Association of Conservation Districts here.

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Boosting Cripple Creek’s ecosystem City, conservation district using native plants to buffer waterway

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Boosting Cripple Creek’s ecosystem City, conservation district using native plants to buffer waterway

The city and Snohomish Conservation District teamed up for the planting project, which was conceived in 2014. That’s when Bertrand and Alex Pittman got together, “when the emails started flying.”

Pittman was looking for a way to cool down water in the French Creek sub-basin. Warm temperatures affect the amount of dissolved oxygen in its tributaries. Low levels create a chronic barrier to fish passage, according to the conservation district. 

Cripple Creek enters the Monroe Wetlands to the north, and then exits via the southwest corner. The waterway connects with French Creek, which then flows into the Snohomish River.

The conservation district has been focused on French Creek for a while, according to Pittman. Salmon struggle to survive in its warm waters.

Photo Credit: Kelly Sullivan, Monroe Montior

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Bringing nature back to Livingston Bay

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Bringing nature back to Livingston Bay

Away with those nasty blackberries, deadly nightshade, poison hemlock, invasive morning glory, ivy and thistles.

Residents of the Livingston Bay community on Camano Island received assistance from Snohomish Conservation District to plant much nicer, beach-friendly native plants in a project that has been in the works since 2013.

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