New Year's Resolutions

It’s the second week of January, the New Year is off and running and I still haven’t picked a New Year’s Resolution!  While browsing ideas on the web, I came across two articles that present an interesting conundrum.

“The Top 10 Commonly Broken New Year’s Resolutions” (TIME Magazine)

1.    Lose Weight and Get Fit

2.    Quit Smoking

3.    Learn Something New

4.    Eat Healthier and Diet

5.    Get Out of Debt and Save Money

6.    Spend more Time with Family

7.    Travel to New Places

8.    Be Less Stressed

9.    Volunteer

10.  Drink Less

“Popular New Year’s Resolutions” (USA.gov)

1.    Drink Less Alcohol

2.    Eat Healthy food

3.    Get a Better Education

4.    Get a Better Job

5.    Get Fit

6.    Lose Weight

7.    Manage Debt

8.    Quit Smoking

9.    Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

10. Save Money

11. Take a Trip

12. Volunteer to Help Others

The bleak similarities between the two lists made my search for an achievable aspiration for the New Year a little more difficult. What should I try and what can I do to make myself stick to whatever resolution I choose? The New Year offers the perfect time to get serious about all the goals you’ve been putting off but, is it really a great idea to commit to the same thing that hasn’t worked for the past few years?  I scoured for tips for how to be successful on whatever resolution I chose and found a few common themes:

 

·         Be Realistic - Instead of choosing broad concepts to pursue, why not aim from smaller more specific challenges that may be easier to achieve? If you do decide to take on a particularly large challenge make sure to break it down into smaller segments that can be worked towards while keeping the big picture in mind.

·         Reward Yourself - Sometimes it only takes a few small incentives to keep you on track and make it to the next step.

·         Work as a Team - Shared goals are easier to achieve, simply telling your friends about your commitment to this year’s resolution might be enough motivation to keep you going.

Then it hit me. Why not try something different this year? Why not do something to help the environment AND myself? I made my decision to take the Picture the Wenatchee pledge! If you’re one of our regular readers you’re probably already familiar with Picture the Wenatchee but for those of you who are not, Picture the Wenatchee is our watershed stewardship campaign designated to improving water quality and stream habitat in the Wenatchee River watershed. The campaign focuses on simple things we can do to help keep our rivers clean and is broken down into four categories.

In Your Home – Use eco-friendly cleaning products, conserve water, and maintain your septic system to make your home life a green one

With Your Vehicles – Maintaining your vehicle properly and cleaning off in commercial car washes help keep unwanted chemicals and vehicle byproducts out of our storm drain system.

In Your Yard – Pull invasive weeds, plant native species, and be water conscious when irrigating to promote a healthy yard and environment

With Your Animals – Don’t forget to clean up after your furry friends!

It seems like the perfect New Year’s Resolution. The four categories provide smaller more manageable goals which are easy to do and will allow me to Be Realistic and not take on too much at once. By telling my friends and co-workers about my resolution I will hopefully be able to find others who will join me and we can Work as a Team. At the very least they’ll know what I’m trying to accomplish this year and will be able to hold me accountable. One of the best things about Picture the Wenatchee is that they provide an incentive for anyone who takes the challenge to keep our river clean.  If you follow the actions outlined by the campaign you can Reward Yourself with a free Watershed Care Package.  The care package provides campaign participants with all kinds of prizes! Coupons for purchasing native plants at local nurseries, free car wash tokens to keep you car clean, and even a doggy cleanup bag dispenser are all found in the Watershed Care Package.

Native Grasses Coming to Wenatchee

 A few weeks ago Cascadia Conservation District, with help from U.S Fish and Wildlife, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Chelan County Public Works, and Intermountain AmeriCorps, worked on a project to restore native grasses right here in Wenatchee. Due to recent road work, an area of land near the local U.S. Forest Service building was missing essential ground cover. We pitched in to do our part by reseeding the area with a native grass blend donated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Establishing ground cover is important for a variety of reasons and is especially beneficial when it is native.

In general, grasses help prevent erosion as well as excess water runoff. However, native grasses provide these same basic conservation benefits as well as a few others. Seeding with a native grass mix prevents non-native (invasive) species from establishing. If this site had been left unseeded it is very likely that the next few growing seasons would have seen quite a few unwanted weeds popping up. Noxious weeds harm wildlife by depriving them of the habitat they need and are accustomed to. Native grasses are also adapted to their environment, which means they generally don’t need additional watering or other maintenance making them not only more environmentally friendly, but economically friendly as well.



Intermountain AmeriCorps members come
out on Saturday to help seed.



The seeding project took place on a Saturday in early December just before the ground froze. AmeriCorps volunteers weren’t shy to get to work by raking the project site, broadcast seeding, and lightly-compacting the newly seeded soil.  The grasses should start to sprout up in the spring and, once established, will look much nicer than the gravely, dusty, barren state that this site was previously in. We’d like to thank everyone who helped out with this project, especially Kay, Jim, Christy, and Maria, who donated their time and energy to make this project happen.

Winter is Here!



Bob Burrows - Misty Mountains View



The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year and the official start of the winter season. Throughout history, its significance has varied from culture to culture and place to place. Stonehenge, that strange assortment of giant rocks, may have been a calendar. The winter solstice sunset aligns visually through the British structure and was possibly used to mark the New Year.  For many, the shortening nights and returning sun symbolized rebirth and fresh starts. Although the days will now start to grow longer, we’ll still have a few months of the coldest weather of the year before we really warm up. So what does winter mean to you? Is it time to head up to the slopes and get back to skiing, or will you be cooped up inside hibernating through the season. Maybe the Solstice is a reminder that Christmas is almost here, and you really need to finish up your holiday shopping! Are you fretting over the prospects of the slushy slippery roads, or excited about the possibility of an exponential growth in the population of… snowmen. Whatever your plans are this season it’s important to stay safe.



Jessie Cook - Let it Snow



Around this time last year we talked about winterization and winter safety.  If you’re like me and new to Washington’s winters, I encourage you to go back and take a look at these valuable tips. If not already evident by the power outages caused by recent storms in the Lake Wenatchee/Plain area, winter can be a precarious time and it’s important to be prepared.

High Tunnels: A Great Way to Grow

What if there was a device that could not only extend your crop’s growing season into the colder months, but could also produce more crops and even crops of different varieties? What if someone would help you pay for one of these miraculous growing machines? Now you must be dreaming. Or are you?

If snow load is a concern, it's a good idea
to remove the cover until the spring.
Photo courtesy of Amy Hedershot

High tunnels, also known as hoop houses, hoop tunnels, or poly tunnels, are installations that aid in plant growth and production. They function like greenhouses, with the biggest differences being that hoop houses are cheaper, easier and faster to construct. They work by trapping in moisture and heat and thus extending the growing season of plants into colder months when they usually will have gone dormant.  This creates a kind of artificial environment that can foster not only longer growing seasons for plants traditionally grown in our region, but can allow other species that normally might not be able to cope with colder weather conditions. Hoop houses can vary in size.  Smaller, “back yard garden” hoop houses may only be a few square feet while larger farms might utilize designs that are several feet wide by hundreds of feet long. Aside from sheltering crops from cold weather during the winter, another benefit of their construction is their decreased incidence of crop pests, diseases, and disruptive wildlife tribulations.



This new hoop house will be increase
yield in tomato production.
Photo courtesy of Amy Hendershot.

 Currently, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has funding to help with the cost of purchasing hoop houses for eligible crop growers within our region. For 2013, NRCS is paying growers around $2.55-$3.06 per square foot (up to 2178 ft²) for the cost of purchasing pre-manufactured high tunnel kits. Due to their simple design, the cost of purchasing and installing one of these kits is generally affordable and with the help of the NRCS, producers can expect to pay less than half of that cost out of pocket. The deadline to apply for funding is December 21, 2012.


To learn more about how you can get funding for a hoop house, contact NRCS Chelan County Resource Conservationist, Amy Hendershot, at (509) 664-9370.



Want to Get Involved?

 A great way to get involved in your community is by volunteering! Volunteering with Cascadia Conservation District is not only a rewarding way to give back to your community and the environment; It’s a great way to learn something new while doing something important with others who share your interest! There are a few volunteer opportunities coming up and we would really appreciate your help.

 

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

Sunday, December 9^th 2012, Seeding By the Highway, 10:30am-12:30am, 215 Melody Ln.

-          Help us reseed portions of the ground that were affected by recent road construction with native grass seed.

Wednesday, January 30^th 2013, Newsletter Bundling, 5pm-7pm, CCD office

-          Help us ready our Cascadia Quarterly newsletter for mailing

Saturday, February 2^nd 2013, Native Planting 101 Workshop, Confluence Technology Center, Wenatchee Learn about pollinators, weeds, landscaping, and more at this FREE workshop.

If you would like to learn more about any of these events, contact our office at (509) 664-9370 or email us at cascadiacd@yahoo.com

To sign up for our volunteer events mailing list or to RSVP for future volunteer events, visit our Volunteer Opporunities page.

Other Upcoming Events

Winter Life Snowshoe Tours (Registration now open!)

-          Friends of Northwest Hatcheries is sponsoring FREE guided Snowshoe tours along the Icicle Trail at Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery.

-          Tours will begin on Friday January 4^th and will follow this schedule:

o   Fridays – 1pm

o   Saturdays – 10am, 1pm

o   Sundays – 1pm

-          Tours are available for anyone ages 8 and up. No experience is required and snowshoes are provided.

-          For more information or to register visit Friends of Northwest Hatcheries 

Free Community Movie Series

-          Cascade Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group (CCFEG) has sponsored a free educational movie series that is open to the public! CCFEG will be partnering with local venues in Leavenworth, Wenatchee, Twisp, and Tonasket to hold these events. The subject matter of the films includes salmon restoration, the Grand Coulee dam, and a controversial mine that is proposed to be built in Bristol Bay, Alaska. All events will include speakers and discussions on topics related to the films, local watershed issues, and projects that CCFEG is conducting in the region.

-          Check out the Movie Schedule (PDF) 

-          For additional information about this free movie series visit http://www.ccfeg.org/events/ or contact Sean Koester

2013 Picture the Wenatchee Watershed Stewardship Calendar

The 2013 Picture the Wenatchee watershed stewardship calendar is almost here!

If you haven’t already heard, the Picture the Wenatchee watershed stewardship campaign has put together a 2013 calendar featuring winning photos from the annual photo contest as well as watershed stewardship tips and resources.  The photos, categorized as landscape, water, plant, wildlife, recreation, or agriculture, act like a “best of the Wenatchee watershed – 2012.” With stunning views of Saddle Rock, Lake Minotaur, Eightmile Creek and more, this calendar will have every outdoor enthusiast smiling and in awe of the beauty found right here in our own back yard.  To view the wining photos featured in this year’s calendar visit www.picturethewenatchee.com

 or click here.

Drew Gaylord - Mission Peak Snowshoe

This $7 calendar makes a wonderful, inexpensive stocking stuffer and will be available for purchase mid-December. You can pre-order by calling our office at (509) 664-9370.

Photographers: Get out there now and start taking pictures for next year’s Picture the Wenatchee photo contest and maybe you’ll make it into the 2014 calendar! The contest is open to anyone and everyone who has an appreciation for the Wenatchee River watershed. Stay tuned for contest details to be released in April 2013!

Success in Entiat

While some people understand “success” to mean something resembling:  an endeavor resulting in a positive outcome. This implies that, once accomplished, a successful endeavor is ended. This is certainly an understandable assumption to arrive at and in many cases is true. However, in Entiat, WA, success seems to be ongoing. A town that has moved twice, dealt with ravaging wildfires, flooding and many other obstacles has learned that constant improvement and proactive thinking are vital elements of success .

Last week, the Initiative for Rural Innovation and Stewardship (IRIS), chose to host the North Central Washington Success Summit “Entiat Rocks” at Entiat High School. From the start of the day one thing became immediately apparent - the Entiatians in attendance were proud of their history and happy to showcase their success.  Students from the high school presented a history of the Entiat Valley that included a huge timeline covering an entire wall in the gymnasium.  Lunch was provided by Mom’s Kitchen, a local Mexican restaurant in Entiat.  “Mom” and her daughter got on stage to talk about their restaurant and its success, but didn’t say too much. Their cooking spoke for itself. Peter Ringsrud from Snowdrift Cider was one of the few speakers at the Summit who was not either an Entiat resident or someone working in the Entiat Valley. He spoke about the success of his East Wenatchee hard cider making business and credited some of that success to the innovative idea of growing varieties of cider apples that aren’t usually grown in our region.

Although there were many success related themes floating around the gym during the summit: communication, collaboration, “quiet volunteerism.”   When I look at Entiat, the word I find best describes their success is diligence. With each victory, a new challenge is identified and embarked upon and thus success is not a project that has gone well and has now ended. Success is the continuation of that. This hard-working community constantly works towards new goals, and strives to make things better.

Tyee Tour

Upper inlet breach at Tyee Ranck

Last week I had the opportunity to attend my first board meeting since starting here at Cascadia Conservation District.  It was a good experience to meet some of the board members and others who are involved with the conservation district at a different level then me and the rest of the staff. I found it especially interesting to not only hear about how things are going with some of the projects we are currently involved in but also some proposed projects for future work. Board meetings are open to the public and every meeting allots time to hear public comments. This is not only an opportunity to voice any questions or concerns you have but also an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the  projects we are involved in. The next board meeting will be held on December 13^th at 3:30pm at 215 Melody Ln. Wenatchee. 

Northernmost log habit structures at Tyee Ranch

Following the board Meeting I tagged along for a tour of some of the Entiat projects Cascadia Conservation District has been working on.  The tour focused on some of the recently installed Fish Habitat structures that are part of the massive Entiat restoration project. Kurt Hosman, one of Cascadia’s Project Coordinators, led the tour and did a great job explaining the purpose of these structures and also provided valuable insight into the construction and sustainability of these structures. We had discussed some of these structures during the meeting but trudging through the mud to see them with my own eyes provided me with a far better understanding of how they will provide juvenile salmon with a safe place to hide until they get big enough to head downstream.

If you’d like to see some of the Entiat projects yourself, contact Susan Dretke at susan.dretke@wa.nacdnet.net or (509) 664-9348.

The New Kids in the Creek Website



Students collecting macroinvertebrates at the "Invert Investigator" station



Kids in the Creek, a hands-on outdoor education program, has launched a website intended to be a resource for anyone interested in this valuable program. The website is broken down into sections: Teachers, Activity Leaders, Students, Volunteers, and Adults in the Creek.  Each of these stations provides appropriate levels of information and materials to interested website viewers. Students can go online and find out what they will learn at each station as well as what they need to bring with them.  At the same time, teachers, are able to use the website as a resource for important information such as student worksheets, planning sheets, an application to attend and more.



Measuring stream width at the "What's in that H20? (Quantity)" Station



There are six stations at Kids in the Creek that students attend; Invert Investigator, Riparian Rx, Habitat Sense, What’s in that H²0 (Quality), What’s in that H²0 (Quantity), Fish Health, and Watershed Wonders.  On the website, each of these stations has their own section of images found on the gallery page and their own resource specialist training videos (found on the activity leader’s pages). These videos, along with the rest of the KITC curriculum/materials allow anyone to not only gain valuable knowledge on how to prepare for and attend Kids in the Creek, but how to implement the lessons on their own!

Learn more by visiting the new Kids in the Creek website.
Make sure to visit the Kids in the Creek face book page to Like!

“To connect students with aquatic and riparian ecosystems for an understanding of watersheds and the critical role of human land management activities.” – Kids in the Creek Mission Statement.

Recent Volunteer Projects



AmeriCorps members pack down soil and perform a raindance.



Pollinator Garden

Located in the front of our office building, the pollinator garden was installed in the spring of 2012.  The garden was spearheaded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Cascadia Conservation District, but every organization in the building donated funds and/or labor so it's been a great collaborative project! 

The purpose of the garden is to inform visitors about pollinators- specifically native bees- that are responsible for a significant amount of the pollination of everything from native ecosystems to agricultural crops, and to demonstrate how we all can do our part to provide healthy habitat for pollinators on our own properties.

This weekend I was able to get out there and do some work! In addition to seeding (which required the ground to be prepped/raked, then seeded, and then gently packed down again) we also planted a few remaining plants in the southwest corner of the garden. It was a great opportunity for me to learn firsthand about pollinators while helping out!



WHS students work in teams to remove browse guards



Riparian Restoration Project

A few weeks ago we organized a volunteer event with some of the 9^th grade Wenatchee High School students. Students helped in the removal and storage of browse guards and bamboo stakes from a riparian planting project we implemented along the Entiat River in the fall, 2011.  Throughout the day we were able to discuss the importance of native plants, identify invasive species, as well as discuss simple eco-friendly practices that students (or anyone else) can follow at home, at work, or in the car. 

We’d like to thank all of the students, teachers, chaperones, and volunteer group leaders from Wenatchee High School, Cascadia Conservation District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and AmeriCorps who were able to come out and make our project a huge success.