Earth Share of Washington

Elwha Restoration Project Underway

- By Josh Walter from Earth Share organization National Parks Conservation Association

If you have not heard of or seen the Elwha River and the restoration project taking place, get ready to watch history being made. Two dams along the river are scheduled to be removed in 2008 marking the largest dam removal project in the history of the United States. The Elwha Dam, 105 feet tall, and the Glines Canyon Dam, 210 feet tall, have been the topic of concern since the mid 1970s when the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) first heard the opposition to the dam's relicensing. Over 25 years later, Congress passed a law to fully restore the Elwha River to its original pre-dam state. In the next three years, this restoration project will become a reality.

You may ask why these dams are being removed. There are a number of reasons, including public safety and tribal reconciliation, but the most exciting and important of these reasons is the return of wild salmon to over 40 miles of nearly pristine and untouched waters within the wilderness of Olympic National Park. Neither dam when constructed was equipped with fish passages. The park's largest watershed has been without its most important and abundant piece of its ecosystem, salmon.

This past year has seen a number of successes in the scheduled dam removal. The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) initiated a citizen restoration volunteer program to have community members come out to the Elwha River to help with the restoration efforts and learn more about the restoration project. Since March, volunteers have pulled invasive plant species from the banks of the river. This activity is import so that when the waters start to recede behind the dams there will be less of a threat to native plants and trees to take root. NPCA will continue to hold these volunteer workdays through September of 2005 and will be continuing volunteer efforts next year.

Another success was the creation of the Partnership for Elwha Restoration Education (PERE). PERE -- consisting of organizations such as NPCA and American Rivers and agencies such as Olympic National Park -- will work together on the educational aspects of the restoration project. This informal working group has helped coordinate efforts in outreach to Olympic's gateway communities as well as helped create a new curriculum for middle school and high school students to learn about the Elwha in the classroom.

With the dam removal just three years away, NPCA will continue efforts to educate groups and individuals on the importance of restoration. The return of wild salmon to the upper stretches of the Elwha River will only happen with the support of the community. For more information on NPCA's volunteer opportunities or PERE, please contact Josh Walter at jwalter@npca.org or call 206-903-1444 ext. 25.

Policing the Wilderness - A pilot study with big results

- Submitted by Tania Holden from Earth Share organization Friends of the Trail

Friends of the Trail (FOT) was instrumental in acquiring funding for "emphasis patrols" in areas that needed help - not only with illegal dumping on public land, but also in curbing some of the illegal activities that seem to have a strong relation to the problem, i.e. illegal target shooting, illegal off-road vehicle use, drug labs, teenage drinking/partying, and the like. The patrols are carried out by off duty King County Sheriff's officers.

Using grant funding from King County to hire deputy sheriffs to work on weekends and holidays, officers patrolled back country roads in eastern King County, especially the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road. They were to patrol locations where shooters were either shooting guns illegally or shooting in a fashion to create a large amount of litter, and make enforcement actions as appropriate.

From May 28 through December 4, 2004, a total of 15 officers participated with the total of 164 patrolling hours. The individual officers varied from 4-32 hours of patrolling, each.

The principal objective of the program was to discover and warn illegal shooters, or legal shooters who were leaving litter, ask for cleanup of the area, and to ticket them as appropriate. The officers kept logs of their activities using the standard sheriff's officer's form.

Study finds patrols worthwhile
This pilot study confirmed that it is feasible to find and hire deputy sheriffs to patrol back country roads on weekends to try to suppress illegal activity. The principal objective was to reduce illegal shooting, or legal shooting but associated with littering in the woods. 16 such episodes were identified, and in each case the officers admonished or warned the people involved. This included warning for littering, discovery of abandoned or stolen cars, discovery of persons with outstanding warrants or engaged in illegal activities, illegal tree cutting, and assisting people injured or lost. The study shows that there is substantial value to the citizens of the County to have officers patrolling these areas on weekends, over and above the impacts on illegal shooting/dumping.

Friends of the Trail is actively working with the King County Sheriff's office to assign officers to patrol these areas on weekends, routinely and on a rotating basis, as part of their regular schedule.

Becoming a Native Plant Steward

- Submitted by Catherine Hovanic from Washington Native Plant Society

"There was life before the Stewardship training program and then there is life after. They are wildly different. I cannot sufficiently express how valuable the experience was for me. So many new doors opened. Learning about native plants has been thrilling. At the risk of being too dramatic, I can report frequent flushes of glee at new discoveries and an insatiable appetite for more ..." - Cleveland Hall, Native Plant Steward

The Native Plant Stewardship Program is one of the Washington Native Plant Society's (WNPS) major outreach programs. Begun in 1996 in response to numerous requests for public information about native plants and native plant habitats, the program has graduated 288 stewards who have contributed over 50,000 volunteer hours promoting the awareness, appreciation, education and restoration of native plants in Washington State. Thousands more volunteer hours are diligently contributed but not reported. According to WNPS records, Native Plant Stewards have made over 236,000 outreach contacts with the public concerning native plants by teaching, leading walks, supervising other volunteers, and training or advising citizens in the Puget Sound region since the beginning of the program.

The success of the Stewardship Program has largely resulted from its ability to recruit citizens who have a potential passion for native plants and to nurture that passion so the individuals become motivated ambassadors and leaders in the preservation and conservation of native plants and their habitats. This is a unique cadre of people from all walks of life - housewives, educators, doctors, landscapers, master gardeners, and retired professionals - who band together for about 10 weeks training and become lifelong native plant advocates.

Stewardship Programs
There are currently two stewardship programs within the Central Puget Sound Chapter: a Spring Program taught in King County and a Fall Program taught in Snohomish County. In exchange for approximately 100 hours received for training, stewards make a commitment to return at least 100 volunteer project hours in the year following training. Restoration of degraded habitats, native plant conservation and environmental education are the activities that Stewards become involved in to return their hours in service projects. WNPS encourages Stewards to take leadership roles in community restoration projects and the average trainee puts in 172 volunteer hours.

The training and curricula for both Stewardship Programs are similar. Twenty-five trainees are selected to receive instruction in basic botany, native plant identification, Puget Sound ecosystems, the use of native plants in gardens and landscapes, and habitat restoration methods and techniques. Field trips are required in addition to classroom instruction.

In Kind Support
No discussion of the Native Plant Stewardship Program would be complete without recognition towards the phenomenal support this program has received from professionals who so generously give of their time and expertise to teach classes and to lead field studies. Calculation of in kind support from professionals for this program averages about $18,000 per class. What a gift to the Washington Native Plant Society and all those Stewards whose minds have been engaged through this program!

To learn more about native plant stewardship or get involved with their program. Please contact the Washington Native Plant Society at 206-527-3210.

PAWS Enrichment Study

- By Corrie Hines, from ESW organization PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

New this summer at the PAWS Wildlife Center is the creation of the Environmental Enrichment Program. This program is part of a ten-year research project investigating the claims that environmental enrichment speeds recovery time by reducing the stress of captivity.

Wild animals that are kept in captivity experience an enormous amount of stress created by the fear of being attacked by predators and having to live in unnatural surroundings. Unfortunately, stress of this nature weakens the immune system and delays healing. Animals in prolonged captivity often begin exhibiting destructive behaviors, focused either on their cages or on themselves. Concerned about the animals in their care, animal keepers in zoos began creating "toys", enrichment devices that would stimulate normal wild behaviors. These devices began with items the animals would normally encounter in the wild: natural branches, rotten logs, even scents and sounds that the animals would normally experience in nature. The keepers discovered that if stimulated properly, the animals reverted to natural behaviors and ceased destructive ones. Furthermore, zoo veterinarians began to notice that injured or ill animals that received enrichment seemed to heal more quickly.

The concept of environmental enrichment is fairly new in the world of wildlife rehabilitation. Although rehabilitators across the nation employ environmental enrichment to some degree, no one has ever undertaken a scientifically based project to discover if it is effective as the zoo veterinarians suspected. PAWS has been awarded a grant to fund the first three years of the ten-year enrichment project. The first phase of the project investigates what types of devices crows and raccoons find engaging, and whether age has any bearing upon interest of the animals in various devices. Raccoons and crows were chosen as subjects because of their high level of curiosity about the world around them. Specially trained volunteers offer each cage an enrichment device, retreat behind a visual barrier, and observe the animals' reaction to the device. Every 15 seconds, the volunteer records the actions of the animals in the cage in relation to the enrichment device. After 10 minutes, the observer moves on to the next cage. Approximately an hour later, the volunteer returns to the cages and observes the animals for another 10 minutes to see if the device is still engaging the animals. Even though the project is only 2 months old, "favorites" among the devices are already emerging.

The second phase of the research project will focus on injured adult crows. Adult crows were chosen as the subject species because they seem to engage in destructive behaviors while healing more frequently than other animals. Utilizing the information gathered by volunteers during the first three years of the project, various enrichment methods will be introduced to injured adult crows to see if the devices reduce stress and decrease healing time. This will be measured by analyzing the stress hormones in the crows' fecal material so that stress will not be compounded by observation.

If successful, the enrichment program will be beneficial not only to the animals at the PAWS Wildlife Center, but also to wildlife rehabilitators everywhere. Reduced stress would mean decreased time spent in rehabilitation, and earlier releases of healthy animals back to the wild.

Help Hiking Trails this August - Just Go Hiking!

- Submitted by ESW organization Washington Trails Association

Every hiker knows the rewards of hiking that "extra mile"... lunch at a cool alpine lake, a breathtaking scenic vista, or a bit more solitude. This August, there is a new motivation for hikers to keep up the pace. Every single mile you hike can mean more needed funds for protecting and maintaining Washington's hiking trails.

Hike-A-Thon, an annual benefit for Washington Trails Association, kicks off August 1st. Participating hikers will collect pledges from friends, family and co-workers, then log their miles hiked all month long. Those pledged dollars go directly into programs to protect and maintain trails at Washington Trails Association.

"Hike-A-Thon connects hikers with the trails under their boots in a really meaningful way," said Lace Thornberg, Development Coordinator for Washington Trails Association. "And it offers hikers the chance to give back to the trails they love."

"The amount you raise for trails is up to you!" she added. "Set a fundraising goal for yourself and a strategy to meet your goal. Ask everyone you know to help you help trails and earn some new hiking gear along the way."

Anyone can participate, whether you hike a lot or a little, uphill or downhill, in boots or in sandals! Hike-A-Thon participants will be eligible for cool prizes, and have the satisfaction of knowing that each and every mile hiked goes towards protecting and maintaining hiking trails.

To help you to go that extra mile, WTA and Hike-A-Thon's corporate sponsors are offering a few tantalizing incentives you can accumulate as you raise more and more money. Get a gorgeous nature poster from Good Nature Publishing if you raise $50 for trails. If you raise $100, you also earn a National Geographic Map for Washington State. Keep going to $400 and get a hiking guide book by Wilderness Press. Raise $500 and add a WTA logo T-shirt to the prize pile. Keep going to $600 and choose a Green Trails map pack, with several topo maps of your favorite area. The biggest Hike-A-Thon money raisers, those who bring in $1250 or more, are thanked with an Arc'teryx day pack.

WTA also has new Montrail Boots and Camelbak packs for winners in the following categories: Most Miles Hiked, Most Trails Traveled, Most Money Raised, and Most Pledges Collected, and Top Youth Hiker.

And, WTA's added two new prize categories this year - Most Miles Hiked and Most Trails Traveled on the Olympic Peninsula.

Interested hikers can register for Hike-A-Thon online at www.wta.org, or call (206) 625-1367. There is no fee to register for WTA's Hike-A-Thon. All Hike-A-Thon materials are available at the WTA website, or can be mailed to you. The Hike-A-Thon Sponsor Form makes it easy to gather and record pledges for your Hike-A-Thon, and the Mileage Log Form helps you keep track of your miles hiked throughout the month of August. Completed forms and donations should be turned into WTA by September 9, 2005, to be eligible for Hike-A-Thon prizes.

Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities

• August 3 & 27 - Kayak and Canoe Volunteers Needed in Grays Harbor - Join Washington Water Trails Association to help conduct invasive plant surveys on the Grays Harbor Elk River and Chehalis Rivers. Map locations of Japanese Knot Weed and Spartina on the Elk River on August 3 with the state's Department of Natural Resources. On the Chehalis Surge Plain slough area, a unique tidal wetlands/swamp area between Montesano and Cosmopolis, it's mapping Purple Loosestrife and Japanese Knotweed. Contact Ken Guza at 360.754.7371 or email dianaken@olywa.net for more information or to sign up.
• August 6 - Island County Spartina Dig Day - 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at Oak Harbor Beach - People for Puget Sound needs volunteers! Spend a rewarding day on the beautiful shoreline of Island County digging up Spartina and removing it from an important shorebird habitat area. Snacks, drinks, and tools are provided - bring a friend and have some restoration fun! For more information, please contact Britta Eschete at beschete@pugetsound.org or call (360) 336-1931.
• August 8 - 2005 Urban Sustainability Forum - LEED for Neighborhood Development - 5:30-7:00 PM - Seattle Central Library Auditorium - Hosted by Doug Farr, Principal, Farr Associates and Co-chair, LEED for Neighborhood Development. What is LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND)? This is a standard being developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the Smart Growth Coalition and the Congress for New Urbanism a standard that could be applied to the redevelopment of neighborhoods in Seattle. Doug will introduce the standard, discuss the goals identified for creating sustainable communities, and illustrate how the goals can be achieved with case studies. Sponsored by the City of Seattle, ULI Seattle, BetterBricks and the Seattle Public Library, this event is hosted free of charge, open to the public, and seating is on a first-come basis. No RSVP is required. View the complete forum flyer or read about individual events and guest speakers at www.seattle.gov/dpd/Sustainable_Building/COS_004334.asp.
• August 13 - Hitt's Hill Restoration Site Stewardship - 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM - Join EarthCorps, Seattle Department of Parks, and Recreation, Seattle Works, United Way of King County and the Friends of Hitt's Hill as they continue to restore one of Seattle's newest open spaces located in Rainier Valley. Fall work parties will consist mostly of planting native trees, shrubs and ground cover as well as the removal of non-native plant species. For more information about this event, please contact Chris LaPointe at 206-793-8030 or email chris@earthcorps.org.
• August 20 - Golden Gardens Restoration Work Party - 10:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Join EarthCorps and the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation Department as they work to restore Golden Gardens Park. Located in Ballard on Puget Sound, this popular park offers extraordinary views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. The projects build on the successful work done by Earth Share's Day in the Park volunteer on June 11. For more information or to signup for this event, please contact Jammie Stauffer at (206) 793-8844, ext. 204 or email jammie@earthcorps.org
• August 20 - Elwha River Restoration and Exotic Removal Project - 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM at the Olympic National Park Visitor Center - With the removal of two dams within Olympic National Park slated for 2008 (see article on page 1), the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has at least three years of work ahead of them. NPCA is coordinating an exotic plant removal campaign along the banks of the Elwha River throughout the summer months and is organizing volunteer parties to grub out invasives near the Glines Canyon Dam. For more information contact Josh Walter at 206-903-1444 ×25 or email jwalter@npca.org.