Earth Share of Washington

Earth Month 2006

April is Earth Month, offering numerous opportunities to get outside do something good for the planet. Earth Share organizations will play host to dozens of educational and volunteer activities in April. Find one in your neighborhood and get involved today!

• April – all month long – Hiking Trail Restoration - Washington Trails Association (WTA) is the most active trail restoration and advocacy organization in Washington State. In 2006, volunteers already contributed more than 9,500 hours of volunteer service restoring hiking trails. Join that effort and be a part of protecting and maintaining trails around Washington State. This month, WTA hosts more than 20 trail work parties. To find a work party in your neck of the woods, please visit the Washington Trails Association Trail Maintenance Schedule and signup today at www.wta.org.
• April 4, 8, 11 - Sound Stewardship Training - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM weekdays, 9:00 AM -3:00 PM Saturday - Port of Seattle Headquarters, Pier 69: Room 2D East, 2711 Alaskan Way - Want to get involved in the restoration community? This free three-class series will teach you how to be a local habitat hero. Class topics will include an introduction to ecology, native vs. invasive plant identification, and weed control and planting techniques. In return for 12 hours of training, you are asked to commit to 40 volunteer hours over the next year on a People For Puget Sound restoration site of their choice. Food and refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Bronwyn Dexter at stewardship@pugetsound.org or by calling (206) 382-7007.
• April 5 - Toxics in Puget Sound: Connecting the Marine Environment with Human Health and the Economy - 7:00-8:30 PM - Seattle, Washington at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Avenue - Following a day-long conference that encapsulates the state of toxic pollution in Puget Sound and its connection to human health, this will be a public-friendly event that connects the mammals of Puget Sound (i.e., orcas and humans) with regard to toxics. For more information about this event, please contact Heather Trim, 206-382-7007 X215 or htrim@pugetsound.org.
• April 8 - Seward Park - Earth Month Event - 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM - Work with EarthCorps and the Green Seattle Partnership as they continue to remove English ivy from this stand of old growth forest right in the city! Home to diverse wildlife and impressive trees, Seward Park is enjoyed by walkers, cyclists, and those who love the outdoors. English ivy is a threat to urban forests. “Ivy Desertsâ€? are areas so dominated by ivy that no other vegetation can survive and by adding weight to trees, making the trees more susceptible to toppling over and to disease. By manually ripping ivy out of the park, we are helping to prevent this invasive species from taking hold and spreading. For more information go to: www.ivyout.org. For more information, contact Elizabeth White, Outreach Project Manager at (206) 255-4160, ext. 221 or email elizabeth@earthcorps.org.
• April 15 - Volunteer planting days on the prairie preserve - 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM - Glacial Heritage Preserve Planting Days, Thurston County – Join The Nature Conservancy's efforts to restore native plant habitat. Springtime on Thurston County prairies offers something for the young and the young at heart. Volunteers will be working at the Glacial Heritage preserve, which is normally not open to the public. They will plant native plants and discover the prairie by participating in an interpretive walks. It’s a great time to get to know Thurston County prairies - the wildflowers will be starting to show their colors and the prairie is a birder’s paradise! Contact Gabby Byrne for more information: gbyrne@tnc.org or call (360) 357-6280. Check for upcoming dates at www.southsoundprairies.org.
• April 22 - 7th Annual Olympic Coast Cleanup - During the April 22, 2006 weekend volunteers are needed to collect and remove marine debris from Washington Pacific Coast Beaches from the Long Beach Peninsula to Cape Flattery. Each winter ocean storms wash ashore ropes, plastics, nets, tires and a lot of junk. Volunteers may come for just the one day, April 22. Many dedicated volunteers will spend 3 or 4 days on remote beaches in Olympic National Park. For additional information call Jan Klippert 206-364-2689 or log in to olympiccoastcleanup.us.
• April 22 - Duwamish Alive! Earth Day 2006 Restoration Work Party – 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM – At restoration sites along the Duwamish River - Join Earth Share organizations EarthCorps and People for Puget Sound this Earth Day. Hundreds of volunteers are needed to roll up their sleeves at five work sites to restore the health of Seattle's Duwamish River. Volunteers will plant trees, remove invasive weeds, restore shorelines, and collect garbage. The day’s highlights include a noontime Earth Day ceremony at Georgetown's Gateway Park, an afternoon celebration at the South Park Neighborhood Association building, and an evening party at the County Line Tavern in South Park. This will be a family-friendly, no-experience-necessary event. Dress to work and get dirty. For more information contact Robin Clark, People For Puget Sound, at 206-382-7007 or rclark@pugetsound.org.
• April 22 - 4th Annual Swinomish Earth Enhancement Celebration - 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM - Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, 1727 Reservation Road, La Conner, WA - Join the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, People For Puget Sound and Skagit Public Works for a rewarding day of activities! Come help with community enhancement projects such as removing invasive weeds or picking up beach debris. After projects are finished, volunteers are invited to round out the morning with a traditional salmon lunch, prepared by members of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. The afternoon will be spent viewing educational displays, meeting local artists, participating in cultural activities and listening to traditional music. A special thank you to Puget Sound Energy and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community for their generous donation and funding to support this event. Advanced registration requested! Please contact Britta Eschete at 360-336-1931 or beschete@pugetsound.org with questions or to RSVP.
• April 29 - NE Queen Anne Greenbelt Volunteer Work Party - 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM - Join EarthCorps and the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation Department as they work to restore the NE Queen Anne Greenbelt in Seattle. The Greenbelt is a combination of two new parks: Trolley Hill Park and MacLean Park. Trolley Hill Park is home to a P-Patch and picnic area while MacLean Park commands a terrific view of the Cascades and Mt. Rainer. These parks are home to beautiful and interesting native plants that are being threatened by non-native, invasive plants such as English ivy. Volunteers will install “Survival Ringsâ€? around trees covered with ivy, performing restoration site maintenance, and spreading woodchips. For more information, contact Elizabeth White, Outreach Project Manager at (206) 255-4160, ext. 221 or email elizabeth@earthcorps.org.

Bicycle Alliance Supports Safe Routes to School

- Submitted by Bobby Mullins from ESW organization Bicycle Alliance of Washington

Safe Routes to School (SR2S) programs integrate safety, fitness, health, traffic relief, and environmental awareness in an effort to get more children biking and walking to school. It encourages schools, communities, and local government to create a healthy lifestyle for children and a safer, cleaner environment for everyone.

Currently, only about 13% of American children bike or walk to school, yet 30 years ago, more than 66% did. Children that bike or walk to school have a sense of freedom and responsibility. It allows them to enjoy the fresh air and provides the opportunity to get to know their neighborhood while arriving at school alert and ready to start their day.

According to recent research, 20-25% of morning traffic is the result of parents driving their children to school. This results in traffic congestion increasing around schools. The impacts to our children's health and community well being are wide-ranging.

Denmark established the world’s first program in 1970s in response to Europe’s highest child pedestrian casualty rates. The City of Odense responded by starting a pilot program in all 45 of its schools by identifying specific road dangers. It then created a network of multi-use paths, narrowed roads, and established traffic islands. In 10 years, child pedestrian and cyclist casualties fell by more than 80%. After Denmark's program caught on, other programs began in Great Britain and Canada. America first formally adopted the program in the Bronx in 1997.

SR2S programs are happening in dozens of countries worldwide. In cities and towns across the U.S. participation rates vary from a few students to thousands. There are dozens of programs across Washington State.

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington has been working with schools, law enforcement, public health officials, and other public and community organizations around the state to learn about and implement safe routes to school programs. A brief sampling of success stories in Washington includes:

• Eliminating all but one school bus route at an Auburn school.
• Getting 71 students to participate in the Quinault Tribe's 3-month frequent walker program.
• Getting a commitment of at least $25,000 from county officials for trails in Moses Lake.
• Providing more than 100 students with free bicycle helmets.
• Purchasing 30 bicycles for schools and students.
• Continuing to hold free trainings and presentations around the state.
• Launching and maintaining a web site.
• Holding 2 weeks of bike skills training for over 130 students.
• Publishing and distributing brochures and posters in 4 languages promoting the health benefits of biking to school.

Starting (or expanding) your own program is exciting and provides the opportunity to meet a lot of parents, members of your community, and work with a wide variety of stakeholders. Ways to do this include getting people involved by identifying neighborhood champions, forming safe routes to school teams, and community task forces.

There are four factors (the "Four Es") that are key to a successful SR2S to school program.

Encouragement - Make biking and walking more attractive by holding special events such as parties, and sponsoring classroom activities and contests. Bike trains and walking school buses are popular with kids and parents.
Education - Everyone that uses the roads, multi-use paths, and sidewalks could be educated about traffic laws and safe and courteous behavior on the road, paths, and sidewalks and about the health, environmental, and safety benefits of bicycling and walking.
Enforcement - Enforce existing laws and pass new ones to make sure it is safe for children and adults to bicycle and walk. Media coverage helps spread the message. The more people biking and walking, the more drivers see them.
Engineering - Build a better environment for biking and walking by constructing or maintaining sidewalks and bike lanes, installing traffic signals and traffic-calming structures. In some communities, local government and school staff, parents, and children work together to identify dangerous areas that are part of their routes to school.
Evaluation is becoming the fifth “E� and is being implemented in many communities in order to determine program effectiveness. It is a good tool for building on success.

Help your community by starting a safe routes to school program. It is a great community builder!

The Bicycle Alliance of Washington offers free trainings, assistance, and resources to schools. To find out more, contact Dave Janis at the Bicycle Alliance of Washington at 206.224.9252, or Davej@bicyclealliance.org.

NOAA Scientists Investigate Stormwater Link to Dying Salmon

- By KIRO 7 News Reporter Penny LeGate, also a Board member of ESW organization Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. First, the fish began to swim erratically. Then they lolled over on their sides, mouths agape. Hours later, the salmon were dead. People patrolling Longfellow Creek first noticed coho salmon dying off several years ago and sounded the alarm. NOAA Fisheries scientists arrived on the scene in 2002 and began the long and complicated task of tracking down the killer.

Longfellow Creek in West Seattle is one of several urban waterways that local citizens and government have fought hard to reclaim. Countless volunteer hours have been invested to rebuild the banks and riverbed. But the coho salmon introduced to this restored creek weren’t thriving. In fact, some years, up to 90% of the “spawners,� as the fish are called when they head upstream to lay eggs, were dying prematurely.

Nat Scholz, a research zoologist and head of the Ecotoxicology Program for NOAA Fisheries, says a team of scientists from several different regional agencies began by exploring the obvious potential causes for such a die-off: 1) low oxygen levels 2) high water temperatures 3) infection, parasites, or disease. No evidence could be found to support any of these theories, he says. So, what else could it be? Four years later, Scholz says they still don’t know the precise cause. But through the process of elimination, researchers are reaching the conclusion that toxic stormwater run-off is the most likely culprit.

Stormwater runoff going into small urban streams such as Longfellow Creek typically contains trace amounts of heavy metals and hydrocarbons that come from cars, as well as low levels of common chemicals used in homes and lawns. But Scholz admits a clear conclusion is still difficult: is it one of these pollutants or the combination that kills fish? Are coho more vulnerable than other fish due to their biological makeup or because of the timing of their returns? Are salmon most susceptible to environmental pollution during spawning because of the stress of transitioning from salt water to fresh water? OR—is it a combination of ALL those possibilities?

Scholz says that no single chemical jumps out as a red flag, so more study is needed. But he also said that heavily urbanized creeks that flow near roads, streets and parking lots consistently see a higher rate of fish die-off than streams in remote areas. If a strong link can one day be made between toxic stormwater and fish kills, Scholz says it would certainly be helpful in predicting how urban growth could one day affect wild coho runs.

If polluted stormwater is the cause, he says it is not a matter of if, but when we will see those precious wild runs affected by development, so the race is on to get the hard facts. It could be the difference between a future world where streams run chock full of healthy coho, or a day when salmon become extinct. And while the scientists continue their work, we ordinary folks can also do our part. Restrict use of harmful chemicals and pesticides at home, drive less, wash cars only at a commercial car wash where the runoff is collected and treated, and be aware of how growth and development are affecting our dwindling wilderness. Together, hopefully, we can find the answer before it is too late.

Developers' Initiative I-933 Threatens Clean Air, Water, and Livable Communities

- Submitted by Angela Uhl from ESW organization Futurewise

On February 8th, the Washington State Farm Bureau filed Initiative 933 proposal to roll back over a decade of community protections by forcing local governments to either pay landowners for claims of diminished property value due to land use laws, or not enforce those laws at all. Effectively, the initiative would force waivers of our safeguards for land, air, and water because local governments would be unable to pay developers to follow the law. Washington voters rejected a similar initiative, Measure 48, ten years ago.

I-933 in Washington would overturn safeguards that ensure that development keeps pace with schools and roads, so that children have a good education and parents don't sit in traffic for hours each day. It would rollback protections that keep drinking water aquifers free of contamination, and that keep wells from going dry. It would strip away limits on the size of junkyards and gravel mines in communities across the state.

The Community Protection Coalition is working tirelessly and effectively to show the initiative's true colors and to build the coalition opposing the initiative. To join the coalition, please contact Aisling Kerins at aisling@protectcommunities.org or call 206-323-0520.

Home Consultations for Native Plant Gardeners

The Washington Native Plant Society is offering garden consultations for people who want to add native plants to their gardens. Northwest wildlife co-evolved with our native plants, so it makes perfect sense that natives are the ideal habitat for supporting our birds and wildlife. Washington Native Plant Society (WNPS) has revamped its program dedicated to spreading knowledge about northwest native plants and helping gardeners incorporate more native plants in their yards and gardens. The program, known as Growing Wild, provides house calls for gardeners.

Growing Wild offers a one-time on-site garden consultation for people interested in native plant gardening, low maintenance gardening, and landscaping for wildlife, in return for a donation to WNPS. During the consultation, Growing Wild consultants spend time addressing the specific concerns of each gardener. After the site visit, applicants will receive a report from the consultant and additional resource materials, including the Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary kit from the Washington Department Fish and Wildlife. Consultants are trained volunteers, and many are Native Plant Stewards.

Native plants provide shelter, food and pollination opportunities for native wildlife. Natives are adapted to our climate of wet winters and dry summers, and require less water than non-natives once they are established. Native plant species resist native pests and diseases need less fertilizer and no pesticides, and improve water quality. Gardening with native plants is a low maintenance approach that uses resources wisely.

For more information about the Growing Wild program, call 206 527-3210 or e-mail growingwild@wnps.org.

Host an international EarthCorps volunteer in your home

Benefits include:

• Expose your family to world cultures and perspectives
• Build international friendships
• Earn a monthly stipend

2006 participants come from: Armenia, Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Columbia, Dominica, Ghana, Liberia, Philippines, Russia and Tanzania

EarthCorps hosts emerging environmental leaders from around the world for six months of hands-on training. Homestay opportunities start as soon as June 2006 and offer flexible short and long-term options.

For more information, contact Mark Howard, International Coordinator by phone at 206-322-9296 X 224 or email mark@earthcorps.org.