View our latest posts: From the Field

We The People, Can Make A Difference

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By Taylor Schmuki & Edited by Lindsay Warne

Volunteers: ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

In 1787, the famous words “We the People…” built the scaffolding for a better future powered by the hearts and minds of everyday people. Today, the challenges of our day loom large. In Washington State alone, salmon populations decreased by forty percent, critical estuarine habitat decreased by seventy percent and human generated pollution threatens people and animals alike. Under these conditions, it seems practically impossible to out-swim the wave of hopelessness.

And yet, people from all walks of life show up—an aspiring ecologist, a woman in her first trimester, a neighbor up the road, an old friend— looking to make a difference. As a non-profit, Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group (SFEG) would not exist without our persistent and devoted volunteers.  During the three volunteer work parties this fall, our volunteers removed 15 shade clothes, built 18 capillary beds (which house around 200 nursery plants), potted 120 live stakes, and planted 1,160 plants.  These efforts directly improve salmon habitat and build greater capacity for SFEG to continue restoration work.

Utopia Complex Project: A Success Story

Utopia Complex is an old farm turned restoration site now managed by Skagit Land Trust. This year, in partnership, we planted 12 new acres of conifers and willows. Our new plantings will grow among full-grown conifers and cottonwoods that were planted by SFEG volunteers 15 years ago.  These plantings have reduced invasive species such as blackberry and reed canary grass while providing salmon and wood duck habitat.

Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization. They help us accomplish ambitious projects, such as Utopia, that we could never complete alone. Every volunteer helps. You have made a difference and we at SFEG are so grateful.

You make a difference!

One tree in a forest may be forgotten. However, it still produces 6,000 pounds of oxygen a year, houses numerous animals, filters water, and provides beauty for thousands of people.  We can take cues from the trees and see that by donating 25 dollars or volunteering a few hours you have helped our community.

Thank you for your commitment to service and we hope to see everyone in many days to come.

Remember: ‘We the People’ can be successful.  ‘We the People’ can make a difference.  And ‘We the people’ make change happen.

Volunteers

 

Hamilton Crowdsources Flood History

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by Lindsay Warne

Seventeen community members gathered in Hamilton on Thursday night, the 17th, to start planning a new restoration project for Carey Slough. SFEG is working with adjacent landowners and consulting partners to gather information to create a technical plan that benefits both people and fish. Restoration projects cannot increase the flood level of an area; therefore  accurate, on-the-ground data from the community is invaluable to correct and supplement existing information.

Hamilton Community Meeting

This project is the first phase of a multi-phase project. SFEG is currently collecting data, building relationships with local landowners, and working with those landowners and the Town to identify constraints and opportunities for habitat restoration.  We will ultimately identify and develop preliminary designs for one or more early-action projects that can be implemented (Phase 2).  Once we have achieved community support and have developed a solid conceptual restoration program and process we will move forward with developing designs for additional restoration and/or acquisition actions in Phase 2, and ultimately implement those projects to restore habitat in Carey’s Slough and the surrounding floodplain as part of Phase 3.

Working with Hamilton shows that every person can make a difference in their community. This meeting was the first of many in designing a working conceptual model that is supported by the community. Check the calendar for updates on our next meeting sometime in January.

For more information on SFEG projects check out our Current Project page: Current Projects

To join our project mailing list fill out the form below.

Inside the Classroom by KayLani Siplin

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Being only two months into my WSC term with Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group, I can definitely say it has been quite the learning experience, and not just for the kids I work with.

As the Education Associate here at SFEG, I have the pleasure of teaching over 500 7th graders about salmon and their habitat through our Junior Stream Stewards program. Each month we go to the classroom and focus on a specific topic whether that is the life cycle of a salmon or the chemistry of the water the salmon like to live in. At a minimum I feel it is my job to help the students become aware of the issues salmon are facing that contribute to their declining populations, but ultimately the goal for me is to get these kids excited about learning and feeling a want, maybe even a need to go out and do something to help the environment.

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Eggs spilling from a female Coho

Being in this position has definitely been a change of scenery for me. I came into SFEG with a background in outdoor environmental education, so standing at the front of a classroom was the last place I thought I would ever see myself. And I was very nervous about it. In the past I have always felt very contained and uncomfortable being in a room with 30 children as opposed to the open space an outdoor classroom like a beach or a forest had to offer. But now having stood at the front of a classroom over 40 times, I have not once felt that discomfort. And it’s great! I felt like I could do anything…That is until October’s salmon dissections came along.

At the beginning the idea of dissecting a salmon seem-

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KayLani and the specimen!

ed like no big deal. How hard could cutting open a fish be? Well, it proved to be very difficult upon receiving my first fish to practice on and being reduced to tears. It took a lot of strength, but I was able get past it and get into it (literally). Donning my lab coat, I managed to overcome two obstacles at once and share with these students the external and internal anatomy of many salmon. I felt a great deal of pride when Lucy said to me that I am a role model for kids that may be intimidated by science by being confident and excited about what I was doing. And of course, what better way to make my heart melt than with the voice of a student exclaiming that “science is so amazing!”

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Reviewing external anatomy with students at Cascade Middle School

Although it has only been two months, being here at SFEG has helped me grow as a person and I hope this trend continues throughout my term. One cannot expect their students to be excited and confident in their abilities if you yourself are not.