December 2008

Creosote Inventory Maps are Online

The inventory map of the Cherry Point area and a map the larger scale Sound wide removal efforts are now online at our Whatcom County Beach Watchers website. To take a peek at these, point your browser here:

Cherry Point Creosote Map

Creosote Removal Map

Continuing Education Interests

Thank you to everyone who gave me your feedback on continuing education ideas. Below are the results of the survey. The most popular ideas were:

Intertidal Night Walks

Touring Point Whitehorn

Talks on

Eelgrass ecosystems: The Web of Life

Coastal Cleanups and Plastics

Seabirds

And Viewing Flow. For the Love of Water. An award winning film about the privatization of water

There were also a lot of great additional ideas such as exploring connections between fresh water tributaries and salt water; tide-pooling at Deception Point, and the San Juan Islands; touring fresh water ponds and wetlands; political action, water rights, and photographing marine life.

If you didn’t get a chance to participate in this you still can and it still will influence the events I plan in the coming months for you. Just follow this link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ylB78yT2xAx_2f8zLBoot39g_3d_3d

The Built Green Conference

Sue Brown gave a great presentation on the rain garden demonstration project aided by Master Gardener Dac Jamison, and Master Composter / Recycler Kay McMurran. Excellent work everyone.

Thanks also to Jean Waight and Jeanne Bogert for helping with the rain garden booth and providing moral support. The conference was very well attended and you all stirred up a lot of enthusiasm for rain gardens!

Environmental Heroes

The 7th Annual Environmental Heroes Banquet is coming up.
RE Sources honors everyday heroes including students, volunteers, community activists, businesses, and youth. To nominate a hero simply fill out and return the nomination form.

Beach Monitoring data

Finally, a big thank you to Jane Lewinski for her work entering your great beach monitoring data into an online data base. It’s a big job and I surely appreciate Jane’s dedication!

End of the Year Reporting Round-Up

I'm writing up my end of the year reports for WSU, for our grantors, and, of course, I'm bragging about all of the great work you all do. If you haven't reported your hours please do so now. If you don't find an online category that encompasses your work, please let me know so that I can update the system. If you just can't stomach the online system please send me an email and let me know in writing what you've been up to. Whatever you do, please don't be shy about your contributions!

And thank you very, very much for all you do!

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

Seismic Hazards of the Bellingham Waterfront: Expert Speaks December 4

On December 4, the Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee will host a presentation about the geology of the Bellingham waterfront, with a focus on seismic hazards. The half-hour presentation will be held in the second-floor conference room of the Whatcom County Forest Street Annex, 1000 N. Forest Street, Bellingham, beginning at 7:45 p.m., with a question-and-answer period to follow. The event is free and open to the general public.

The speaker will be Bob Mitchell, a geology professor at Western Washington University.

Certain loosely packed soils, such as fill, have a tendency to “liquefy” during earthquakes, causing structural damage to buildings that are constructed on them. The presentation will discuss the Bellingham waterfront’s two geologic deposits that are prone to liquefaction, and the state’s requirements for safety measures for development on the site.

For more information, contact Chris Fairbanks at 647-1748 or Whatcom County Public Works at 676-6876.

Storming the Sound

Padilla Bay Reserve, National Park Service and People For Puget Sound

Invite YOU to attend the 8th Annual “Storming the Sound” Conference

Friday, January 30th, 2009 Maple Hall in La Conner

Registration is officially open! If you are interested in attending, consider registering NOW because conference attendance is limited to 130 participants. To attend the North Sound “Storming the Sound” Conference, you must either work/reside in a North Sound County (Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Clallam, Jefferson, Island or San Juan) or if you live outside this area, have programs/resources accessible to North Sound teachers.

Why attend “Storming the Sound” - “Storming the Sound” is an annual conference that brings together environmental education resource providers, teachers in the private, public and home school sectors and students interested in pursuing an environmental education career. This is the place to attend fabulous and unique breakout sessions, participate in the annual story and song swap, hear the keynote speaker and enjoy a delicious organic lunch.

What else do I need to know? If you register via online, you will receive a confirmation message in January (all else, as we receive them) with a simple what to bring list. Most importantly, we encourage you to plan on bringing a $10 conference attendance donation, a name tag, a travel mug and consider carpooling to this event! Visit the web page at www.padillabay.gov/storming to learn more.

How do I register for “Storming the Sound”? There are two options –you can register online at <http://www.padillabay.gov/storming> or contact Britta Eschete at 360-336-1931 or beschete@pugetsound.org.

Coastal Training Program

Registration is now open for Coastal Training Program classes to be held January through March 2009! To read class descriptions, instructor bios, and to register, please go to

http://www.coastaltraining-wa.org.

January

Grass, Sedge, and Rush Identification for Western WA Puget Lowlands, January 14-15, 2009, Mt. Vernon, $150

How to Administer Development Permits in Washington’s Shorelines, January 21, 2009, Mt. Vernon, $60

Protecting Aquatic Ecosystems: A Guide for Puget Sound Planners to Understand Watershed Processes, January 28, 2009, Bellevue, $60

February

Grass, Sedge, and Rush Identification for Western WA Puget Lowlands, February 18-19, 2009, Mt. Vernon, $150

March

Planning for Climate Change, March 4, 2009, Mt. Vernon, $60 – NEW CLASS!

Planning for Climate Change, March 18, 2009, Olympia, $60 – NEW CLASS!

Using the Revised Washington State Wetland Rating System, March 25-26, 2009, Olympia, $125

November 2008

Tim Cooper, Global Climate Change Online

If you haven’t had a chance to see this yet you can view it online here:

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/environ/water/gw.html

Community Presentations

As our busy field season winds down I’m turning my attention to preparing for our next training session and part of that is recruiting. One way I do that is to reach out to existing community associations and neighborhood groups.

So far this year, I’ve presented to The Kiwanis club. I’ve scheduled presentations for The Coastal Conservation Association, The Newcomers Club, and the Soroptimists. And I’ve made initial contact with the Happy Valley Neighborhood Association and the Lion’s Club. If you belong to an association or church group that might welcome a 20 to 30 minute presentation about Beach Watchers, I would love your help in making that connection. Also, if you would like to join me for any of these upcoming presentations and perhaps say a few words about your experience, I would welcome the company!

Happy Valley Neighborhood Rain Garden Worskhop

This was a debut presentation of our Rain Garden Demonstration Project and it was very well received. The DVD is not yet ready for release so Dac Jamison with the Master Gardeners and Sue Brown, one of our own Beach Watchers, told their story with the help of photos taken during the project. Well done Dac and Sue!

They’ll be presenting again on Saturday at the BIAs Built Green event 11 am at the Ferry Terminal. You can stop by and cheer them on.

Creosote Survey,

Cherry Point area

We had a fantastic experience working with high school students in Blaine on this project. Thanks go to Lisa Balton, Clint Duncan, Erin Fortenberry, Marie Hitchman, Gene Hoerauf, Jane Lewinsky, Joe Ssebanakitta, twelve Blaine Borderites and their wonderful teachers, George Kaas, and Mice Couto! Thanks especially to Michael Wallace our 4-H Youth Development Educator for helping me connect to these great students and train them.

I was mistaken about the survey history of the area. This area had been surveyed before and lots of materials were removed in 2003. On Saturday we found 170 pieces of creosote and pressure treated material in this same stretch of beach. The source of material is not known and it has been difficult to determine how the rogue logs move on the beach. The general drift cell pattern is to the south but tracked pieces mostly moved north.

We also removed 4 large trash bags full of assorted garbage. The source and movement of this material was not hard to assess at all. There was a clear concentration of garbage close to the Gulf Road parking lot. The most unusual piece of garbage was a couple of car bumpers found by my team!

Continuing Education Interests

Doug Stark of Beach Naturalists fame and I have been scheming to work together to bring you as well as the Beach Naturalists some events and activities you’ll enjoy and find interesting, too. To do that, Doug and I would like to take your “interest pulse.” Below is a link to an online survey. It’s short – 4 or 5 questions total. It should take 5 minutes or less.

Click Here to take survey

Saturday, November 1, 10am to 5pm, Building Industry Association's Built Green Conference, Bellingham Cruise Terminal

Beach Watchers, Master Composter/Recyclers, and Master Gardeners will be giving a slide show presentation on the Rain Garden demonstration project they completed this summer, and we will host a booth on Rain Gardens as well. There will also be sessions on solar power, weatherization, rain barrels, and other green building topics. $5 per person.

Thursday, November 6, 7:30 to 8 pm. How Sea Level Rise will affect our Beaches and Bays by John Rybczyk, Associate Professor Western Washington University. 322 N. Commercial Street, 2^nd Floor

Join the Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee as they learn how sea level rise affects life in the sea.

Saturday, November 22, 9:00am – 4:30pm COSEE-Ocean Learning Communities and Washington Sea Grant, FREE Event for Beach Watchers and other marine volunteers,University of Washington Seattle campus

Learn about current ocean research and effective science communication

Continental Breakfast and Lunch Will be Provided

The day will include:

• Keynote speaker on communicating science to diverse audiences
• Formal and informal presentations by marine scientists on current ocean research
• Training on how to collect and contribute data to the ongoing “Spices in Puget Sound” research with your own “spice sampling kit”
• Opportunities to help marine scientists communicate research findings to the public

To learn more or reserve your spot now contact:

Susan Bullerdick 206. 838. 3916 susan@aquariumsociety.org or

Janice Mathisen 206.386.4365 janice.mathisen@seattle.gov