What’s Happening in the World of Salmon?
By Liz Leavens
Volunteers across Skagit County have teamed up with the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group to tackle salmon habitat restoration projects head on. Whether volunteers are assisting with outreach and awareness events to educate the community on salmon issues, walking creeks counting salmon, cleaning up wildlife habitat, or planting trees to stabilize banks, individuals and groups of all ages have been showing up to SFEG events with knee boots on and garbage bags in hand. SFEG cannot thank everyone enough for their contributions toward the protection of salmon and wildlife habitat and it is unimaginable what would happen to the effort towards salmon protection if our community did not care what was happening in their local watersheds.
On October 8, Girl Scouts from Troops 2399, 193, and 929 in Anacortes earned their Save Our Waves badge by taking part in a storm drain stenciling project along Commercial Ave. The stencils were painted near storm drains, which read, “DUMP NO WASTE, DRAINS TO BAY,” to inform the community of the potential hazards of allowing chemicals, garbage, oil, etc. to enter the drains. Anything entering storm drains is not treated and flows directly into the nearest water body, having detrimental effects on salmon and other wildlife.
Anacortes Stenciling group: Three Girl Scout troops stenciled storm drains in Anacortes on October 8.
A little pond in Mount Vernon’s Bakerview Park, which is rearing ground for young coho salmon, benefited from the work of a small group of volunteers who deemed it important to clean up the pond and surrounding area. So on November 2, armed with skimming nets, rakes, garbage bags, and a canoe, 6 volunteers joined SFEG staff to pick up litter, clear out blockages preventing the flow of water, and skimmed the top layer of the pond removing the blanket of decaying algae consuming oxygen in Trumpeter Pond.
Every Saturday between October 29 and November 19, volunteers participated in native tree planting parties alongside partnering organizations, such as Skagit Land Trust, Seattle City Light, The parties took place along the Skagit River at the Iron Mountain Ranch, Anderson Creek/Ross Island Slough, and Logan Creek. Five hundred native trees and shrubs were planted along the Skagit River, 375 along Ross Island Slough, and 330 rooted plants and willow cuttings along Logan Creek. Planting native trees and shrubs helps stabilize river and creek banks from premature erosion and absorbs excess water and pollutants from draining directly into the water.
Students from Skagit Valley College American Cultural Exchange class learned how to plant trees at Anderson Creek November 12.
Thank you to all the volunteers who took time out of their busy schedules to participate in SFEG events; your time and effort are always appreciated. Thank you to Cascades Job Corps for sending groups out to the planting parties. It was great to see everyone show up, especially Job Corps in their bright yellow ponchos. Thank you to the landowners who have been so willing to allow SFEG to work on their property or provide access to work sites. Your cooperation is what keeps SFEG progressing in the right direction. SFEG would also like to thank Mount Vernon Red Apple, Thrifty Foods of Burlington, and Mount Vernon Safeway, for providing refreshments and Wizards of Ooze for providing porta potties. And of course, thank you Jean Leib and Jeanne Glick for the tasty hot soup and chili at Anderson Creek! You made our day!
