Sound Salmon Solutions

Thank You Volunteers!

Christi — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:19:06 +0000

By volunteering adults pass on stewardship values to children.

Since Fall 2011, Sound Salmon Solutions has been involved in the Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project, and we’re sad to see it finish this December. Qwuloolt is a project in Marysville that the Tulalip Tribes has worked diligently on over the past 20 years. The ultimate goal is to remove part of the levee along the Snohomish River, restore fish access to the estuary and side channels, and restore tidal influence to the area. As part of this project Tulalip Tribes hired SSS to control invasive species and plant native species in riparian areas along the perimeter of project. While our crew spent many hours controlling Himalayan Blackberry and Reed Canary Grass, the true heroes of the riparian planting project are the community members and volunteers that helped us install thousands of native plants. With everybody’s hard work almost 10,000 native plants were installed across 7.5 acres!

In total 674 volunteers from the community gave their time to show support for salmon habitat restoration. These volunteers whacked blackberry, stomped down grass, dug through the seemingly impossible root mats of the Reed Canary Grass, and some even came back for more! Time and time again we were thoroughly impressed with the amount of people that came to our community events, the corporate support we received: from of paying their employees to volunteer with us to coffee and pizza donations, and students willing to not only learn about water quality, but also make a difference within their own community.

It would be impossible to restore the same amount of land without the incredible support of the community in the short time this project was completed in. We are so thankful to work with such a caring and committed community. Time after time in sunshine, pour rain, or biting wind, community members displayed their support, planted trees without a single complaint, and were eager to hear more about the project. Thank you to everyone involved!

Students battle the blackberry to help SSS install native plants during fieldtrips in November 2012.

Volunteers battle the November cold while planting trees.

A group of volunteers uses teamwork to help SSS get more plants in the ground!

Staff changes at SSS

Christi — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:15:40 +0000

After seven years with our organization Cara has stepped down from her role as Program Manager for the Education Department. She is going to be greatly missed by all staff members at Sound Salmon Solutions as well as educators and students in our watersheds. Her contributions to the organization will be long lasting in the curriculum and educational materials she has developed, as I am sure those of you who have experienced her lessons well know. Sarah Nelson, who started working with the organization in September 2010 in the education department, will be filling in as Interim Program Manager while we search for a new full time manager. If you have any questions in the meantime feel free to contact Sarah at 425-315-4679!

PS I Love You Project Wrap Up

Christi — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:48:09 +0000

This past summer and fall, 101 youth participated in Sound Salmon Solutions’ Puget Sound – I Love You (P.S. – I Love You) program. The goal of P.S. – I Love You is to inspire youth to become environmental stewards by connecting them to the environmental processes working in their own backyards as well as the long-reaching effects their everyday actions can have from the mountaintops to Puget Sound, and by providing a platform for youth to be heard in their communities. In other words, P.S. – I Love You is a catalyst to empower youth to become part of the solution to the challenge of cleaning up and protecting Puget Sound!

Read the entire project wrap up here.

Seafood Watch App for Android and iPhone

Christi — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:31:51 +0000

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has developed an app for your Android and iPhone to help consumers find sustainable seafood. A few of our staff are already using it to figure out which seafoods are ocean-friendly in the grocery store or at a restaurant. Simply open the app and type in the seafood in question. It will tell you which fish are the best choice, which are a good alternative, and those to avoid.

This app is the newest addition to the Seafood Watch program. If you don’t have an iPhone or Android, you can download and print a Seafood Watch Pocket Guide to carry with you to help determine optimal seafood choices. The app is simply a convenient, easily updated version of the pocket guide.

If you want to be a positive influence in promoting sustainable fisheries, try downloading this app and choosing fish that are good for you and good for the oceans.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iPhone.aspx

Sound Salmon Solutions Selected for Pilot Project

Christi — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:02:30 +0000

Sound Salmon Solutions was recently selected by Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) to participate in launching a new restoration field crew program – the WCC Puget Sound Corps. Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) is a program administered by Ecology that provides a number of AmeriCorps Individual Placements and Field Crews to agencies and organizations throughout Western Washington (including SSS – check out our staff page!). The WCC program offers environmental job training for young adults and military veterans in partnership with the Federal AmeriCorps program. The newly created WCC Puget Sound Corps program provides dedicated crews that work to restore Puget Sound.

The new program is called the Puget Sound Corps, which focuses on providing field-based opportunities around the Puget Sound region. Sound Salmon Solutions was selected to receive one week of crew time to “kick-off” the program. During the week of November 14-17, four project sites were selected to provide a variety of work opportunities for the crew members. The areas were in the Snohomish Basin, including work on the Tolt River, Snoqualmie River and the Snohomish River estuary.

The first task of the week was spreading wood straw on slopes where invasive blackberry had been removed. The wood straw will help reduce runoff and erosion at the Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration, a project funded by the Tulalip Tribes. The crew also helped to remove more blackberry on the site to prepare for the planting of native plants.

The week continued with more removal of invasive blackberry on the Lower Snoqualmie River near Duvall. Sound Salmon Solutions was recently awarded a grant by the King Conservation District to help restore a section of the Snoqualmie River. This marked the first day of field work on the project and about 1 acre of black berry was cut down with hedge trimmers.

On Wednesday the crew moved to a project on the Tolt River near Carnation. The property was purchased by Seattle City Light to protect salmon habitat. Along with students from the River View School District and SSS staff, 245 native plants were installed along the river.

The last task for the week took place at Camp River Ranch which is owned by the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. King Conservation District also provided a grant to restore parts of this property on the Tolt River near Carnation. The crew constructed a native plant nursery on the property and potted over 300 bare root native plants which will be grown and later planted by Girl Scouts along the river.

Sound Salmon Solutions would like to thank Ecology for selecting our work sites for the Puget Sound Corp pilot program. Our project sites provided the work area and Ecology provided the field crews. That is a recipe for success that we hope continues.

To learn more about WCC, AmeriCorps, and Puget SoundCorps, please visit this website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/wcc/index.html

The Arlington Times reports on stormwater wetland planting

Christi — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:33:19 +0000

By KIRK BOXLEITNER
Arlington Times Reporter
December 14, 2011 · 10:29 AM

ARLINGTON — Arlington’s stormwater treatment system now has the equivalent of a kidney, according to city Natural Resources Manager Bill Blake.

“We’re looking at having a total of 1,500 trees and shrubs here,” Blake said at the city’s new stormwater wetland. “The Douglas Fir, Red Cedar and Sitka Spruce trees will shade the third cell of our stormwater wetland to cool it down, as well as provide a vegetative buffer between the wetland and Highway 530.”

While the wetland at the north end of town near the Stillaguamish River is also intended to provide a breeding habitat for wildlife and a public trail system for human visitors, its four cells are an extension of the city’s wastewater treatment plant to the immediate east by Haller Park. Blake explained that the sequence is designed to help clear out garbage and sediment, before filtering out pollutants such as oils, pet waste, heavy metals and antibiotics, with the final stage being a babbling brook of cobbles that deoxygenates the water. Before that last cell in the circuit is the forested area.

Salmon Recovery Funding Board Awards SSS Funding for Cherry Creek

Christi — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:17:25 +0000

The Salmon Recovery Funding Board has awarded Sound Salmon Solutions funding for work on Cherry Creek, a tributary of the Snoqualmie River near Duvall Washington. The project is named Cherry Creek Feasibility, will run from Jan 2011 – June 2012 (18 months) in the amount of $63,597 cash, and $12,380 in-kind funds by Sound Salmon Solutions for a total project of $75,977. The objective of the project is to conduct a feasibility study to identify opportunities to restore instream and riparian habitat to benefit Chinook salmon, steelhead trout, bull trout, and resident sea-run cutthroat trout, on the lower 1/3 mile of Cherry Creek. A preliminary design will be developed for the preferred restoration alternative in conjunction with the studies.

More Fish Flings!

Christi — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:11:41 +0000

Nine volunteers along with four Sound Salmon Solutions AmeriCorps Interns had fun chuckin’ chum in the Pilchuck Creek Basin! The Stillaguamish Tribe Hatchery provided the salmon after they were spawned out to be raised in the hatchery and released in Harvey Creek. Volunteers then got to do the fun and dirty work of flinging 120 chum salmon in the creek and surrounding forest. These carcasses will provide nutrients to keep the forest and ecosystem healthy, where there is no longer a chum run. Studies have found that not only do trees take in the marine derived nutrients salmon bring back from the ocean, but they are also essential to keeping a healthy forest ecosystem. The event was a lot of fun, and Sound Salmon Solution’s was glad to spend time with volunteers flinging fish. Thank you to our brave volunteers! For more information on the importance of carcass distribution check out our previous post , Flingin’ Fish in the Stilly.

Tree Connections program successfully wraps up at Eagle Creek Elementary

Christi — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:05:52 +0000

In early November, the four 5^th grade classes at Eagle Creek Elementary participated in our one of a kind Tree Connections program. We started off in the classroom where the 5^th graders learned how to use and create identification keys for local tress such as Sitka Spruce, Western Red Cedar, and Big Leaf Maple. They learned to identify the leaves based on characteristics such as needles or no needles, jagged or smooth edges, and lobed or not lobed leaves. Some of the students became so enthusiastic about tree identification; they brought in leaves after recess, and had us help identify them!

Next, the students were able to create models in their classrooms to see exactly how trees affect erosion. Students take two models, add sand and soil on top of clay, and plant trees (toothpicks) on one model. Then they take “rainclouds” (cups with holes poked in the bottom to simulate rain) and “rain” the same amount of water on both models. This involved lots of mud, comments on how cold the water was and dirty hands, but the students were thrilled to see that trees actually prevent erosion.

The last component of our program was a fieldtrip to Twin Rivers Park and Country Charm Park. At the Twin Rivers Park, the students were led along the muddy paths and through puddles down to the river. At the edge of the Stillaguamish River, the students were able to actually measure the amount of dissolved oxygen, temperature, turbidity, and phosphate in the river. High levels of dissolved oxygen, low temperature, high turbidity, and low phosphate meant that all of the tests resulted in meeting the standard of excellent, except for turbidity which was due to heavy rains earlier in the morning. Then the students were led back into the forest where they practiced their plant identification skills, and identified new species such as Salmonberry, Snowberry, and Sword Fern. The students were particularly excited to find the butterfly shape within the bottom two leaves of the Salmonberry.

At Country Charm Park, students started out in our tree GPS station. Each student learned what a GPS is, how it uses satellites to find longitude and latitude, and how to actually use a GPS. Then the students went on a scavenger hunt to find all dead or dying trees in an area that the city of Arlington had planted. The tall Reed Canary grass made finding the trees a little bit more challenging, but the students became very animated and excited every time they found a tree. As an added bonus, all of the data the students collected will be passed onto the City of Arlington. After the GPS station, all of the students were able to take their new knowledge about trees and erosion, and be able to take action within their own community. Each student planted one or two trees at Country Charm Park, and took individual responsibility in preventing erosion.

Lastly, we went back to the classroom with the students and taught a lesson based upon the ecological interactions in an urban forest and how it ties to Salmon. Students were assigned different parts of the ecosystem (the sun, Chinook salmon, Big-Leaf Maple, etc.), reconstructed an ecosystem, and created a web of life by passing a ball of yarn around and creating a web. This activity shows students that if we remove one piece of the web, for example: Salmon, the whole web is affected, and sometimes the entire ecosystem collapses. This emphasized the importance of salmon, and why we need to save salmon!

We are sad to be finished with the Tree Connections program at Eagle Creek Elementary, but we leave knowing that the students are well informed about native plant species, water quality, and erosion. These students now know how to create healthier Salmon habitat, and did just that. We hope that we left a lasting impression upon them, and we leave knowing that the future of Puget Sound is in good hands.

We’d like to thank our partners for helping us provide this program. Thank you to Snohomish County Surface Water Management, the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, Washington Service Corps, Washington Conservation Corps, and the City of Arlington. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Read more about our Tree Connections program.

Flingin’ Fish in the Stilly

Christi — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:27:59 +0000

By Monique Silva Crossman

Nutrient availability in freshwater ecosystems has been identified as one factor limiting the health of freshwater salmon habitat in the region (Bilby et al 2001, Stockner 2003). Spawning adult salmon bring nutrients (called marine-derived nutrients) from the Pacific Ocean to the relatively nutrient-poor forests and streams in which they spawn. The nutrients from decomposing spawned salmon are introduced into the stream and forest food web after they die –bugs eat the dead adult salmon, and juvenile salmon eat the bugs when they hatch. The salmon carcasses also provide nutrients to the adjacent forest. If you consider that the majority of the “weight” (and therefore nutrients) is added while in the ocean, these carcasses provide a significant source of nutrients to freshwater stream ecosystems.

As salmon runs decline, so too does the marine-derived nutrient input into forests and streams. In the effort to recovery salmon, a Fish fling, or carcass distribution, is one mechanism to utilized enhance or restore nutrients to freshwater streams. During a fish fling, spawned salmon carcasses (usually from local salmon hatcheries) are distributed into creeks where there have been no salmon runs recently. To reduce the risk of introducing new diseases into stream ecosystems, the carcasses are “distributed” into streams in the same watershed.

At Sound Salmon Solutions, the fish flings are a much-anticipated volunteer event that happens for a short, slimy window each year when there are enough fish to toss. In 2011, Sound Salmon Solutions and our partners are excited that we will be able to organize at least two fish flings this year. These volunteers have been on the “fish fling waiting list” since 2010 (when there were not enough salmon carcasses to conduct a fish fling), so the event is already closed. We will post any fish fling volunteer opportunities on our website if we are able to schedule additional dates.

We would like to thank our partners you helped us with the fish fling this year: The Stillaguamish Tribe Hatchery for providing Chum carcasses and the Pilchuck Tree Farm for access to their land for the fish distribution. 150 Chum where distributed on December 8th Northeast of Bryant.

For additional information, you can read Adding nutrients to Enhance Salmon Runs: Developing a Coherent Public Policy by Robert T. Lackey or search the many articles available online.

More photos are available on our Facebook page.