Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group

Orca Recovery Day
2019-10-19 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | WA
Orca Recovery Day is October 19, and you can help them by pitching in at one of many volunteer events around our area. SFEG is partnering with Skagit Conservation District at March Point, and with Northwest Straits Foundation at Cornet Bay.

Sign up to volunteer by emailing: bill@skagitcd.org

For more information and to sign up: https://www.betterground.org/ord/

Make a Difference Day at Riverfront Park
2019-10-26 10:00 - 13:00 | Riverfront Park, 901 River Road, Sedro-Woolley, WA, 98284
Join us for Make a Difference Day on Saturday, October 26. We’ll partner with Sedro-Woolley Parks Department to build a walking trail, install interpretive signs, and plant native plants in a newly restored section of Riverfront Park. Your effort at this event will #makeadifference for local wildlife and humans!
All ages welcome, we provide the tools, work gloves, coffee, and snacks. You provide the elbow grease and energy!
You can sign up here!
More info: outreach@skagitfisheries.org or 360-336-0172

Planting Party at Riverfront Park
2019-11-02 10:00 - 13:00 | Riverfront Park, 901 River Road, Sedro-Woolley, WA, 98284
Continuing our Make A Difference Day work, join us in partnership with Sedro-Woolley Parks Department as we wrap up tree planting and trail building to improve habitat and recreation at Sedro-Woolley’s Riverfront Park.
All ages welcome! You can sign up here. Large groups please let us know you’re coming: 360-336-0172 or outreach@skagitfisheries.org
We provide tools, work gloves, and snacks!

Salmon Sightings Oyster Creek
2019-11-09 12:00 - 15:00 | WA
Join us at noon November 9 at Oyster Creek to view the spawning chum salmon. In partnership with Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association and Taylor Shellfish.
There are no guarantees with wild animals, but this has been a great spot for viewing salmon the past few years.
Knowledgeable staff from SFEG and NSEA will be available to teach about salmon life cycle and habitat restoration done locally by both groups.
Parking is extremely limited, so please carpool!

Planting Party- Ann Wolford Park
2019-11-16 10:00 - 13:00 | Ann Wolford Park, 8512 Robinson Rd, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284, WA, 98284, United States
Help restore native vegetation at Ann Wolford County Park on Saturday, November 16.
All ages welcome! Large groups please let us know you’re coming by signing up here.
For more information: 360-336-0172 or outreach@skagitfisheries.org
We provide tools, work gloves, and snacks!

Hamilton Planting Party
2019-11-23 10:00 - 13:00 | Hamilton, 1190 Maple Street, Hamilton, WA, United States
In partnership with the town of Hamilton, come help restore native vegetation along the Skagit River.
You can sign up here!
For more information: 360.366.0172 or outreach@skagitfisheries.org

Annual Meeting 2020
2020-01-30 17:30 - 20:30 | WA
We invite our Members, Volunteers, Project Partners, and their guests to attend our 2020 Annual Meeting

Join the celebration and reflection as we look back on this last year of habitat surveys, restoration projects, field trips, and salmon monitoring!

This year we are honored to hear from Mindy Roberts of The Washington Environmental Council for her presentation on topics relating to her book, We are Puget Sound. She’ll discuss topics within this book, such as; population decline among salmon and orcas, pollutions and barriers impacting the sound, and, most importantly, the shared value that all Washingtonians have toward the Puget Sound.
If you would like to attend this years meeting or renew your membership, please buy a dinner ticket at the bottom of this page.
We are also looking for volunteers for this event. If you are interested, please click here!

Our Annual Meeting 2020 starts at 5:30pm on Thursday January 30th at the Sedro-Woolley Community Center (google maps).

Pay Here For a Ticket to Our 2020 Annual Meeting
This form will allow you to purchase a ticket as well as renew your membership if needed.

Riverfront Planting Party
2020-03-07 10:00 - 13:00 | Riverfront Park, 901 River Road, Sedro-Woolley, WA, 98284
Come out and get your hands dirty! Saturday, March 7th, we’ll be continuing our planting efforts at Riverfront Park. We will be planting a variety of native plants throughout Riverfront Park in Sedro-Woolley.
Tools, gloves, and snacks will be provided!
To RSVP, click here or email outreach@skagitfisheries.org

Riverfront Planting Party
2020-03-14 10:00 - 13:00 | Riverfront Park, 901 River Road, Sedro-Woolley, WA, 98284
Due to public health concerns, Skagit Fisheries will be cancelling all volunteer events in March of 2020.

Help plant with us for our final planting at Riverfront Park! Saturday, March 14th, we’ll be planting native plants in Riverfront Park. Come out and help to restore salmon habitat with us.
Tools, gloves, and snacks will be provided!
Please RSVP here, or email outreach@skagitfisheries.org for more information.

Earth Day 2020
2020-03-24 22:21 | Scott’s Point, Samish Island, 11633 Scott Rd, Bow, Washington, 98232, United States
This event has been postponed due to public health concerns. We are hoping to re-schedule this ivy pull to later in the summer. Once plans are finalized, the information regarding re-scheduling will be up on the website. Thank you for your patience.

Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 18th, 2020! It will be at Scott’s Point on Samish Island from 10am until 2pm. Come out to remove invasive ivy and participate in our other family friendly events! Some of which include: water quality tests, a scavenger hunt, and a raffle! So let’s all celebrate and help our beautiful shared Earth!
Tools, snacks, and gloves will be provided!

For more information, you can email outreach@skagitfisheries.org or call 360.336.0172

This event could not be possible without the support of our wonderful partners.

Earth Day Photo Contest Winners
2020-04-30 | WA
In lieu of a physical Earth Day, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group hosted a photography and art Earth Day contest!

There were four different categories where people submitted their work, three of them were photography and one was any other type of visual art. We chose two winners for each category; one 17 and under winner and one 18 and over winner.

Category 1: Best Bird or Beast
Go out and find inspiration among wildlife. Whether it be an eagle, a bear, a salmon, or a spider, this is your chance to show us what birds and beasts you can find. For this category, you must have at least one animal in your photograph. Once you’ve got your wildlife in sight, snap away!

Winners
Megan Jewell, 17 and under

Timmy Moser, 18 and over

Category 2: Water is Life
The life of the Skagit comes from its water, and we want you to go out and capture that. You must have some kind of connection to water in your photograph. It can be a river, creek, bay, or anything else you can find! If your connection to water seems abstract make sure to explain it to us when you submit your photograph.

Winners
Jordan Janicki, 17 and under

Tessa Perler, 18 and over

Category 3: Everyday is Earth Day
Regardless of the day, everyday should be Earth Day. Your task is to show everybody why! Show how we can help the Earth even when nobody else is looking. This could mean showcasing a relationship between person and wildlife, conservation efforts within the Skagit, and everything in between!

Winner
Maddie Hicks, 18 and over

Category 4: Scenic Skagit *This category is for non-photography based visual arts*
This is our category for forms of visual art that are not photography. From paintings, to drawings, to sculptures, this is your time to show off all of your artistic skills! This category is also the most open to a wide array of submissions. Like the other categories, this must be based on things that you have seen or experienced within the Skagit Watershed. We want to know what Skagit means to you. Show us the beauty you see here, the reasons why you love it, and the things that scream Skagit to you. As long as your art portrays an aspect of life or nature here, we would love to see it!

Winners
Samantha Jepperson, 17 and under

Anders Rodin, 18 and over

We had so many amazing submissions that we decided to include an honorable mention section as well. We hope these incredible photos bring some beauty to your day!

Honorable Mentions
Anders Rodin
Samantha Jepperson
Amy Fenlon
Anders Rodin
Timmy Moser
Anders Rodin
David Wright

Bowman Bay Summer Work Party
2020-08-07 10:00 - 13:00 | Bowman Bay, 4402 Bowman Bay Rd, Anacortes, 98221, United States
Volunteer to help maintain coastal habitat in beautiful Deception Pass State Park!
Help weed and water habitat restoration projects
Enjoy the sunshine!
Bowman Bay: Friday, August 7 10am-1pm
Consistent with SFEG’s Covid-19 protocol, and with Washington State’s Safe Start Plan for Covid-19, until the state is in Phase 4, we ask that any volunteers considered “High Risk” for Covid-19 please stay home.
Work parties limited to 4 volunteers (plus 1 SFEG staff) at a time.
Register Here- Limit 4 people per event

Cornet Bay Work Party
2020-08-14 10:00 - 13:00 | Cornet Bay, 195 Cornet Bay Rd, Oak Harbor, WA, 98277, United States
Volunteer to help maintain coastal habitat in beautiful Deception Pass State Park!
Help weed and water habitat restoration projects
Enjoy the sunshine!
Cornet Bay: Friday, August 14 10am-1pm
Consistent with SFEG’s Covid-19 protocol, and with Washington State’s Safe Start Plan for Covid-19, until the state is in Phase 4, we ask that any volunteers considered “High Risk” for Covid-19 please stay home.
Work parties limited to 4 volunteers (plus 1 SFEG staff) at a time.
Register Here- Limit 4 people per event

Bowman Bay Work Party
2020-08-21 10:00 - 13:00 | Bowman Bay, 4402 Bowman Bay Rd, Anacortes, 98221, United States
Volunteer to help maintain coastal habitat in beautiful Deception Pass State Park!
Help weed and water habitat restoration projects
Enjoy the sunshine!
Bowman Bay: Friday, August 21 10am-1pm
Consistent with SFEG’s Covid-19 protocol, and with Washington State’s Safe Start Plan for Covid-19, until the state is in Phase 4, we ask that any volunteers considered “High Risk” for Covid-19 please stay home.
Work parties limited to 4 volunteers (plus 1 SFEG staff) at a time.
Register Here- Limit 4 people per event

Cornet Bay Work Party
2020-08-28 10:00 - 13:00 | Cornet Bay, 195 Cornet Bay Rd, Oak Harbor, WA, 98277, United States
Volunteer to help maintain coastal habitat in beautiful Deception Pass State Park!
Help weed and water habitat restoration projects
Enjoy the sunshine!
Cornet Bay: Friday, August 28 10am-1pm
Consistent with SFEG’s Covid-19 protocol, and with Washington State’s Safe Start Plan for Covid-19, until the state is in Phase 4, we ask that any volunteers considered “High Risk” for Covid-19 please stay home.
Work parties limited to 4 volunteers (plus 1 SFEG staff) at a time.
Register Here- Limit 4 people per event

Annual Meeting 2021
2021-02-11 18:30 - 20:00 | WA
Please join us virtually via Zoom for our Annual Membership Meeting!

We will be:

Celebrating 30 years of salmon habitat restoration

Electing board members

Awarding volunteer of the year

Honoring Susan Madsen’s contribution to Skagit salmon

While there will be no delicious Salmon BBQ prepared by our Board this year, when you RSVP, we will share a compilation of some of our past Grill Team members’ favorite salmon recipes!
Attendance is FREE, but you are welcome to donate!: RSVP with a donation amount of your choosing.
Optional Membership/ Donations Appreciated

$ 20 Membership- Individual
$ 35 Membership- Family/Household
$ 100 Membership- Supporter
$250 Membership- Patron
$500 Membership- Benefactor

Please RSVP to secure your attendance. Zoom link provided upon RSVP.

We look forward to seeing you on February 11th, 2021!

Weekday Potting Party Feb 25
2021-02-25 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States
Are weekdays your thing? Then join us on Thursdays this spring getting baby plants into pots at our nursery. SFEG staff will be on site all day each Thursday, and we invite YOU to join us 9am-noon. Stay an hour, stay longer! Your choice.
Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, registration for these and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Maximum participants is 12 for each event.
Register HERE

Planting Party at DeBay's Slough February 27
2021-02-27 09:00 - 15:00 | Debay’s Slough Wildlife Area, 22767 Francis Rd, Mt Vernon, WA, 98273, United States
Join SFEG to help restore native vegetation in the Skagit Watershed! In Partnership with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, join us at DeBay’s Slough Swan Reserve off Francis Rd.

Sign up for a “Shift” 9:00-11:30 or 12:30-3:00

Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, RSVP for this and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Each “Shift” will be limited to 25 people; volunteers will be in separate groups of 5 volunteers each.

Register for Shift 1 9:00-11:30am
Register for Shift 2 12:30-3:00pm

Weekday Potting Party March 4
2021-03-04 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States
Nursery Potting Party
Are weekdays your thing? Then join us on Thursdays this spring getting baby plants into pots at our nursery. SFEG staff will be on site all day each Thursday, and we invite YOU to join us 9am-noon. Stay an hour, stay longer! Your choice.
Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, registration for these and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Maximum participants is 12 for each event.
Register HERE

Planting Party at DeBay’s Slough March 6
2021-03-06 09:00 - 12:00 | Debay’s Slough Wildlife Area, 22767 Francis Rd, Mt Vernon, WA, 98273, United States
Join SFEG to help restore native vegetation in the Skagit Watershed! In Partnership with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, join us for our second day at DeBay’s Slough Swan Reserve off Francis Rd.

Sign up for a “Shift” 9:00-11:30 or 12:30-3:00

Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, RSVP for this and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Each “Shift” will be limited to 25 people; volunteers will be in separate groups of 5 volunteers each.

Register for Shift 1 9:00-11:30am
Shift 2 is FULL!

Weekday Potting Party March 11
2021-03-11 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States

Potting Party March 13 9am-Noon
2021-03-13 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States
Want to get your hands dirty and take in some fresh air? Then come to our potting party! From 9am-Noon we will be out at our nursery potting native plants. These plants will spend some time growing in our nursery before they get planted all around the Skagit and Samish watersheds!
Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, RSVP for this and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Maximum participants is 12 for this event
Register Here

Weekday Potting Party March 18
2021-03-18 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States

Potting Party March 20, 9am-noon
2021-03-20 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States

Weekday Potting Party March 25
2021-03-25 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States

Weekday Potting Party April 8th
2021-04-08 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States
Potting Party Fun!
Are weekdays your thing? Then join us on Thursdays this spring getting baby plants into pots at our nursery. SFEG staff will be on site all day each Thursday, and we invite YOU to join us 9am-noon. Stay an hour, stay longer! Your choice.
Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!

Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, registration for these and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Maximum participants is 12 for each event.
Register HERE

Nursery Work Party April 10
2021-04-10 09:00 - 12:00 | SFEG Native Plant Nursery, 21109 Kelleher Road, Burlington, WA, 98233, United States
Join us for some spring cleaning at the nursery. We may be potting more plants, we will for sure do some weeding, and hopefully installing new shade cloth structures too! 9am-Noon
Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, RSVP for this and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Maximum participants is 12 for this event
Register Here

Earth Day Ivy Pull April 24
2021-04-24 09:00 - 15:00 | Scott’s Point, Samish Island, 11633 Scott Rd, Bow, Washington, 98232, United States
Help celebrate Earth Day 2021 by helping to free the trees from invasive English ivy! In partnership with Samish Island Camp and the Samish Indian Nation, we’ll remove invasive ivy from the ground and trees along Scott’s Point on Samish Island. English ivy climbs the native trees and eventually causes them to die, removing important coastal erosion buffers. By removing the ivy we’ll give these trees a new lease on life!
Sign up for a “Shift” 9:00-11:30 or 12:30-3:00

Bring your own gloves if you have them. If not, we will gift you some! All ages welcome, masks required. Dress for the weather!
Due to ongoing Covid-19 health and safety concerns, RSVP for this and all volunteer events is required, in order to maintain small group numbers. Each “Shift” will be limited to 25 people; volunteers will be in separate groups of 5 volunteers each.

Register for Shift 1: 9:00-11:30am
Register for Shift 2: 12:30-3:00pm
Contents of our #EarthDay2021 goodie bags!

Join us and get a goodie bag of your own!
In addition to the contents of our giveaway bag, we will also be giving seed packets from Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board and cookies from Breadfarm!

INaturalist Project
We will be launching our INaturalist project at our Earth Day event! iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. We created a project folder for Earth Day volunteers to collect observations on plants and animals observed at Samish Island Camp! Instructions below:

SFEG Spring Speaker Series: A Natural History of the Skagit Valley
2021-04-29 18:00 - 19:30 | WA
Please join us for Skagit Fisheries’ virtual spring speaker series!
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jon Riedel, who will present on the history and geological changes of the Skagit Valley, for our first talk.
A Natural History of the Skagit Valley
Geologic Evolution of the Skagit Valley is based on more than 30 years of research by geologist Dr. Jon Riedel. This talk traces major changes in the watershed and river caused by glaciation, landslides, volcanic eruptions, and colossal ice age floods. Dr. Riedel will also briefly discuss how knowledge of the Skagit’s development has helped us understand the peculiar genetic diversity of some species in the watershed.

Dr. Jon Riedel
Jon Riedel is a geologist with the U.S. National Park Service at North Cascades National Park. He holds a M.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and a Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University, and is a licensed geologist in Washington. The focus of his research during the past 30 years is the response of Washington’s glaciers to climate change, from the last ice age 30,000 years ago to the modern warming climate. Dr. Riedel established glacier monitoring programs at Olympic (2013), Mount Rainier (2003) and North Cascades (1993) national parks to track changes in more than 500 glaciers. Recent publications have quantified changes in volume and runoff from glaciers in several regional watersheds and detailed the retreat of the last Cordilleran ice sheet from the North Cascades. Jon is also a founding member and president of the Skagit Climate Science Consortium, a nonprofit organization focused on studying the impacts of climate change in Puget Sound’s largest watershed and making this information available to local decision makers.
This is event is FREE, however, donations are appreciated.
Thursday, April 29th 6-7:30 PM RSVP

Orca Observation and Photography Showcase: Spring Speaker Series
2021-06-10 18:00 - 19:30 | WA
Join us for the final lecture of our spring speaker series!
We are so thrilled to invite wildlife photographer Bart Rulon to share his insights about orcas with us.
Thursday, June 10th, 6-7:30 RSVP
Orca Observation and Photography Showcase

Join wildlife photographer Bart Rulon to learn more about the spectacular orcas we see here in the Salish Sea through the lens of his camera. Bart will show us amazing photos, and talk about some of the challenges involved in photographing killer whales and some of the techniques he’s learned along the way. He will also talk about the orcas’ connection to salmon, the differences between the southern resident and transient whales we see here, and how things have changed in the 21 years since he started focusing on whales. Bart will share stories of some of his favorite experiences illustrated through his award winning photography.

Bart Rulon
Bart Rulon’s love of wildlife started at a very young age, and after graduating from the University of Kentucky in a self-made biological illustration major he moved to Washington State to start a career making images of wildlife and never looked back. During that time Rulon’s travels have taken him on long photography trips to Africa, India, South America, Alaska, and Costa Rica, and he has traveled all over the contiguous United States and Canada. After a life changing kayak trip in the San Juan Islands where he came across J-pod killer whales, Bart realized that he should also be spending more time with the amazing animals that were right in his backyard! As a result he has spent thousands of days on the water over the last 21 years photographing and studying the whales of the Pacific Northwest. He’s inspired to share these wildlife adventures with the rest of the world through his photography, and art. Bart has always enjoyed going the extra mile to photograph something unique and he often uses a sea kayak, camouflaged floating blind, or a custom made photography boat in order to get closer to his subjects for a more intimate view. Bart’s award winning art and photographs have been shown in over 60 museums in North America and abroad. He teaches at the University of Washington and was awarded their “Teaching Excellence Award” in 2009. After overwhelming demand from fellow photographers, Bart started leading wildlife photography tours to some of his favorite spots both local and exotic! You can see his photography, art, and books at www.BartRulon.com
Thursday, June 10th 6-7:30 RSVP
Thank you to the Skagit River Salmon Festival for donating funds, making this event possible.
This is event is FREE to attend, however, it does take funding to put on high quality virtual events such as these and donations are appreciated.
If you like having events like this delivered to the comfort of your own home, please consider a donation.
