Volunteers Make a Difference All Across Skagit County
By Laura Clemmer

The Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group would like to extend a big "thank you" to all the volunteers, local businesses, and city organizations that helped us with stream improvements this year. These planting and cleanup events were proof, in action, of what a group of caring, committed people can do for their community and their natural environment, improving streams for people and wildlife alike.

We had a great fall planting season this year, and have many to thank for it. First and foremost, we'd like to thank the local landowners, who were willing to do the plantings on their properties, and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board, who provided most of the funding. We'd also like to thank Thrifty Foods of Burlington who provided much-appreciated snacks, Wizards of Ooze who provided clean outhouses, and the Cascade Job Corps who volunteered their student volunteers for all events. The first planting of the season was right before Halloween, October 30th, at East Fork Nookachamps Creek, where volunteers planted 325 native plants on land that was once a dairy farm. Next was November 6th, at Thunder Creek, where volunteers contributed a total of 78 hours, planting 340 native plants in an area that was once dominated by the invasive Japanese Knotweed. Our third planting was November 13th, at Friday Creek, where 36 volunteers made a short day's work planting 145 native plants. The final fall planting occurred November 20th, at Childs Creek, where 23 volunteers put 100 plants in the ground. Volunteers also removed some invasive species, harvested willow whips, and surveyed the stream for salmon at this site. At most of these plantings, salmon (mostly coho) were sighted nearby in the streams, doing their work as we did ours. All in all, the 910 plants that some 100 volunteers put in the ground will provide much-needed shade, protection, nutrients, and water quality enhancement for salmon and other local wildlife that use these riparian areas.

Many people were involved in stream cleanup events this year. The first was on June 5th, where 12 Stream Stewards volunteers at Logan Creek in Mount Vernon removed about twelve cubic yards of trash from the creek, and a dumpster was provided by the City of Mount Vernon. Then on August 28th, 11 Stream Stewards removed several cubic yards of trash from Brickyard Creek from Sapp Road downstream to the southern property line of Logan Park Apartments. The City of Sedro Woolley graciously provided dumpsters for the project. Next, on October 9th, 67 local Girl Scouts and their families filled half a dumpster, provided by the City of Mount Vernon, with trash from Trumpeter Creek in Mount Vernon's Bakerview Park. Fred Meyer assisted this project with a generous $20 donation for snacks. Most recently, on November 19th, a group of 31 Mount Vernon girl Scouts that have also helped with some of our planting events did a cleanup at Sedro-Woolley's Brickyard Creek. If we put that all together, these 121 volunteers took out over sixteen cubic yards of trash from local streams, the approximate equivalent of a football field's end zone piled eight feet high!

Thanks to all involved in these important restoration efforts, and we hope to see more of you in the upcoming year!

This fall nearly 100 volunteers planted over 900 trees and shrubs at East Fork
Nookachamps, Thunder, Friday and Childs creeks.

Local Girl Scouts helped remove dozens of cubic yards of trash from
Trumpeter and Brickyard creeks.