Spring Festivities

     Spring is our busiest time with community outreach, due to the sunnier weather and the multitude of Spring festivals. This year, I had the opportunity to attend and provide outreach at the Entiat Swallowfest, Chelan Earth Day Fair, Leavenworth Earth Day Community Fair, Entiat Earth Day at the elementary school, Apple Blossom Youth Day, and Touch-a-Truck. Each festival varied in size, but we reached 75-200 community members at each event. This year we partnered with Team Naturaleza, which allowed us to bring kids arts and crafts as well as educational material to each event.

     As a part of Earth Day, I reinvigorated our district’s Earth Day essay contest. It was open to students in grades 6-8 and I had 37 students from three schools participate. This year’s theme focused on encouraging the students to reflect on an experience they’ve had in nature that inspires them to care for the Earth. The top three essay winners each received student memberships to the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center, as well as hand painted nature journals from local naturalist Heather Wallis Murphy. Prizes were presented at the Leavenworth Earth Day Community Fair.

     Educational outreach is critical to all of our programs. For example, at the Chelan fair I had three groups of people sign up for fire risk assessments for their properties, which is part of our Firewise program. The festivals give us a chance to meet with and talk to the community about all of the programs and services we have to offer. It also gives us a chance to address any concerns or questions that individuals may have. I have learned through the outreach that often times individuals do want to help their land improve, thereby improving their environment, but they don’t know where to begin. That is when we can help bridge that gap by connecting our resource professionals to the concerns and problems facing a particular area. 

Earth Day Winning Essay

          I feel the warmth of the rising sun on my oversized T-shirt. My eyes are closed but I can see what I want to see. I see myself standing on the rocks of the staggered cliff, arms in the air, with a slight breeze combing through my messy brown hair. I see the Columbia River with its gentle current at the bottom of a series of large warm rocks that I just happen to be standing on. The water is the brightest, most shocking blue I’ve ever seen. I see the park, our beautiful park. And I see the world, or at least a small portion of it.

         I don’t want what I see in my imagination to fade so I hesitate on opening my eyes, but I’ve been here enough times to know that when I open my eyes, I won’t be disappointed. My warm eyelids open to see what I imagined, but better. The river is the kind of blue that makes you wonder if anything else should even be considered a blue. The large trees on the other side of the water provide just enough shade to attract a few families along the water line. Bikers and joggers zoom behind me on the public trail. This… this is paradise.

        I look down at the my torn up sneakers, and at my blue bike with the chipped paint. There is no other place on earth I would rather be. I mean the smell of a warm day is just exhilarating. The buzz of bike tires whizzing by is more than a sound, it’s a way of life, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s the only life for me.

         This park, our park, in the small town of Wenatchee is my favorite place on earth. That’s why I need it to stay here. That’s why I want other people to see exactly what they imagined when they open their eyes. I want that water to stay that blue, and I want the smell of a hot day to fill the lungs of others the way it fills me with hope. I want the feeling of sun on your back to become not only the feeling of warmth, but a mindset. And that’s why I want to help in anyway I can with keeping our park beautiful, by picking up trash, encouraging others not to litter, and staying confident that we can change our world, no I said that wrong, and we will change our world for the better. So let’s work together to keep our parks beautiful, and better yet lets keep our world beautiful.

                                                                                                                        Happy Earth Day, Scarlette.

Heather Murphy, Scarlette, and Ava Izdepski pose for a photo at the Leavenworth Earth Day Community Fair. 

Earth Day Essay Contest

Cascadia Conservation District is pleased to announce our 6th annual Earth Day Essay Contest! 

The essay contest is open to students who live or attend school in Chelan or Douglas counties and who are in grades 6th-8th.

This year, the essay question is: 

Describe an experience you have had in nature, and how you connected with that experience personally. How does that make you want to be more environmentally responsible?

As students begin to think about this question, please encourage them to consider their connection to nature and their local environment. This activity is meant to encourage stewardship and integrate creative thought and writing with science.

The top three essays will get hand painted field journals created by local artist Heather A. Wallis Murphy and a student membership to the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center!

Here are the particulars:

•The essays should be 500 words or less, size 12 Times New Roman font, and double-spaced.

• Typed essays are preferred, but hand written essays will be accepted provided they are legible.

• Word count should be included in the bottom, right corner of the essay.

• Essays must be turned in with completed entry form that can be found here.

• Essays are due Friday April 7th, 2017. Essays postmarked April 8th or later will be disqualified.

• Winners will be announced on our website and notified by Saturday, April 22nd.

Submissions should be mailed or turned in to:

Cascadia Conservation District

14 N Mission St.

Wenatchee, WA 98801

~ Ava

Wenatchee River Appreciation

Heading into what is sure to be a warmer than usual spring and summer and with such a measly snowpack in the mountains, Cascadia Conservation District and a group of well-intentioned community members headed to the banks of Brender Creek for our annual Wenatchee River Appreciation event. This year’s event was all about repairing the disturbed riparian area along the Wenatchee River tributary.

The banks of Brender Creek, adjacent to the former Cashmere mill site, has been one of Cascadia’s project sites over the winter and into the spring. It’s a site that has seen extensive cleanup efforts over the last few years, with the Port of Chelan fronting the bill for removal of debris and pollution accumulated over years of mill activity, with the intention to sell the land. 

With funding from the Department of Ecology, Cascadia and partnering agencies Chelan County Port District and Cascade Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group provided about 250 plants (ponderosa, Oregon grape, mock orange and golden currant), planting equipment and refreshments for volunteers. Clad in dusty work clothes and worn leather gloves, nearly 30 community members came out to help plant throughout a couple hundred yards of the Brender Creek riparian.

With so many eager hands getting plants in the ground, the event lasted about two and a half hours, culminating in a raffle in which two Wenatchee High School students won photographs by local artist and Cascadia Project Manager Michael Cushman. Cascadia would like to thank Cascade Quality Water and Crunch Pack for providing refreshments.

Today’s snowpack is 31% of the 34 year average (ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal_update.pdf).

Earth Day Essay Contest Winner: Rylee Hersh

Happy Earth Day! We are happy to announce this year’s Earth Day Essay Contest winner, Rylee Hersh from Sterling Intermediate School. Rylee’s essay answered the question “How can a middle school student be an effective steward of the environment?”

As the winner of the contest, Rylee received a hand painted field journal from local artist Heater A. Wallis Murphy and a day of white water rafting on the Wenatchee River with Orion Expeditions. We are also posting her essay on our website for the public’s edification. Here is Rylee’s essay:

     The enviornment gets worse and worse every year. Trash piles up, the air gets dirtier and dirtier, and plastic that can be recycled is thrown away. Middle school students can make positive changes to help manage the environment. They can manage their trash, do many activities to stop air pollution, and recycle. 

     Students can manage their trash to improve the environment. As Los Angeles Times states, when kids in a Los Angeles school district eat lunch, they take way more than they can eat. This is because of the rule where they enforce kids to take at least on vegetable. Kids don't like vegetables as much, so they throw it away. 18 million dollars worth of food is thrown away in Los Angeles schools. Kids have also made trash art, as Legacy International says. Trash piles up, students can do something about it!

     Students help by doing activities to prevent air pollution. The website EPA Victoria states that the largest cause of air pollution is cars. Cars burn fossil fuels. Car exhaust makes up most of the air pollution in the world. Legacy International describes how many kids have already taken action and decided to ride their bikes to school. Riding a bike to school won't give off the exhaust that cars do, so people can ride bikes to stop pollution in the sky. Middle school students can do many activities to stop air pollution. 

     Students improve the environment by recycling. The website Stage Of Life says that a plastic bottle can sit in a landfill for 500 years before even starting to compost. In other words, Stage Of Life recommends that kids and adults should not drink from plastic water bottles. Instead, use a refillable water bottle to help the environment. The same thing is happening with plastic grocery bags, plastic doesn't start to compost for hundreds of years while in a garbage dump, so use a reusable grocery bag too. Students can make a big difference by recycling. 

     It takes one small act to recycle a bottle rather than throwing it away. It takes a little bit of work to ride a bike instead of hopping in a car. It takes little effort to take food a kid will eat. Small acts lead to a big difference. Middle school students can change the environment positively. They can recycle, do activities to slow air pollution, and manage their trash. 

-Rylee Hersh

Well said and congratulations, Rylee!

Today’s snowpack is 42% of the 34 year average (ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/water/wcs/gis/maps/wa_swepctnormal_update.pdf).

Earth Day Essay Contest

What better way to usher in springtime than with an Earth Day essay contest? That’s exactly what we’re doing here at Cascadia. If you’re in grades 6-8 within Chelan or Douglas County, we think you should tell us about being a young environmental steward.

Sadly, we haven’t been able to put on the Earth Day essay contest since 2012. But this year we have sweet prizes from generous local businesses, an early spring for inspiration and a thought provoking prompt: How can a middle school student be an effective steward of the environment?

For added inspiration, here’s the winning essay from 2012. It was written by 7^th grader Mariela Morales from Orchard Middle School. She was answering the question “What have you learned from Nature and why is what you've learned important?”

What’s damaging nature? Humans. If we say Earth is our mother, then nature is our sister. Nature teaches us how to survive in her. And we dig holes and drill out stuff from her insides, then burn them causing poisons to fill the atmosphere. That pollutes the air preventing the sun from shining on the fields properly. In nature I learned that you can be free whenever you like. But more importantly I have learned that our lifestyle causes a lot of damage.

We have killed off vast amounts of Earth’s ecology, turning what used to be delicate ecosystems into deserts. So, a question we all should be asking is: how can we help? Walk or bike instead of driving a car- a good walk is a conversation between the walker and the environment. A simple walk through nature can provide hope and inspiration. Plant trees- they absorb carbon dioxide. It sounds cliché but we must act now before it’s too late.

Nature is not only enchanting but healing too. Her pleasures may be plain, but are kindly and she’s native to us. She’s our friend and will provide. Nature is consistent, she’ll grow even when cut. Those who’ve harmed nature have had their day with her beauty; now let our children have theirs with her beauty that remains. If we consider how much we really belong to nature, we shouldn’t care so much for building cities. Nature helps us when we are sick and instead, we are making nature sick. Knowing that nature is part of our only home means knowing we have to take care of her.

Inspired? Often insight is gained through our more simple and innocent citizens- our children. In that vein, American Rivers created a most apt video illustrating a child’s love of rivers.

Entry Form

If you or someone you know would like to submit an essay, here are the particulars:

• The essays should be 500 words or less, size 12 Times New Roman font, and double-spaced.

• Typed essays are preferred, but hand written essays will be accepted provided they are legible.

• Word count should be included in the bottom, right corner of the essay.

• Essays must be turned in with completed entry form (pictured to the right)

• Sorry, electronic submissions will not be accepted.          

• Essays are due Monday April 13, 2015. Essays postmarked April 14th or later will be disqualified.

• Winners will be announced on our website on April 22.

• Send or deliver essays to 14 N Mission St., Wenatchee, WA 98801

If you or someone you know still lacks the inspiration to put ink to paper and drop some stewardship knowledge, consider our awards for the top three entries: A day rafting the Wenatchee River with Orion River Expeditions and a hand painted field journal created by local artist Heather A. Wallis.

Today’s snowpack as a percent of average is a derisory 53% (USDA/NRCS National Water and Climate Center, http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov).

Connecting Kids with Nature

For Earth Day, Cascadia Conservation District sponsored an essay contest for middle school students. As part of the contest students were tasked with answering the question, "what does nature mean to you and what do you do to protect it." The winners of the contest received savings bonds courtesy of Cashmere Valley Bank and got to spend Saturday, May 21 conducting wood duck surveys with Kelly Cordell-Stine, a Wildlife Biologist with Chelan County PUD. This posting was written by Kelly and is her reflection of that day.

Special thanks to Kelly, Chelan County PUD, and Cashmere Valley Bank for their support!

On May 21, the top 3 winners (Eva, Gauge, and Vivian) of the Cascadia Conservation District’s Earth Day Essay contest met down at Wenatchee Confluence State Park.  Eva, Gauge, and Vivian were presented with certificates acknowledging their accomplishment from Cascadia Conservation District.  Following the awards, the students came with me on a nature hike to explore the Horan Nature Area and to conduct wood duck nest box surveys.

Engaging the students in hands-on activities was a great way to teach them about habitat stewardship.  They learned about the plants and animals than can be found within the Nature Area, where to look for them, and the actions Chelan PUD takes to help manage the habitat in the Nature Area.  Osprey, bald eagles, and swallows circled overhead.  Herons took watch in a nearby field.  Pocket gophers scurried ahead of the kids as they entered a grassy meadow.  What great finds!  The kids had a lot of good questions, and were quick to point out interesting features or animal sightings in the field. 

I had them work as a team to survey wood duck nest boxes out in the meadow.  Were they ever in for a treat!  They observed first-hand what wood duck, tree swallow, and Northern flicker eggs looked like.  They watched in fascination as Northern flickers hatched out of their eggs.  The highlight of the trip was that we were lucky enough to observe a wood duck hen on the nest, incubating a clutch of eggs.  The students shared their findings with each other and documented each observation.  The students were thrilled and had a wonderful day exploring the Nature Area. 

Hands-on experiences with nature connect people with the outdoors and provide an experience matched by no other.  The type of experience may vary-- trail restoration, wildlife surveys, nature photography, picking up litter—but all are equally important for connecting people with the resource.  Additionally, the experience provides some ownership and investment of a particular area, leaving people connected by providing a first-hand experience; not some nebulous ecological concept memorized from a book for a test.  Instead, the experience is converted to “I saw….”  “I did….”  The feeling of ownership is important to our younger generations, especially if we want them to feel invested in the community and feel that they can make a difference. 

I was excited to partner in the program because I was able to provide a hands-on experience for the students in one of our area’s finest birding locations.  The Horan Nature Area is a gem for the community and I am always happy to expose others to its value for both wildlife and people.  

For more information on the Horan Nature Area and Chelan PUD’s Wildlife programs, please visit www.chelanpud.org/wildlife-programs.html