Soundings (7/19/11)

Posted by Stowe Talbot 
 
 

pFlag Salute & Invocation by Jody Biermann

Visiting Rotarians: None

Guests: None

Announcements 

Board meeting this Thursday 7:30 at Barkley/Talbot office.

Brewers by the Bay - Sunday, July 24 update: We still desperately still need members to sign up for day-of-event volunteering duties!

Bucks in the Bay

  • Steve Spitzer for missed meetings in June while in Rotterdam, then home for some AK fishing, then Florida then Stockholm! Saw Steely Dan. Caught over 200lbs of halibut!
  • Bob Moles thanked Duane McNett and Gerald Baron for producing the local film about Joe Moser:  "The Lost Airmen of Buchenwald";
  • Bob Tull sang in the chorus for Bellingham Festival of Music, and a 41 wedding anniversary!
  • Katherine Reis-ElBara's husband tackled and captured an escaped convict on Holly Street!  Also, she recently attended a Kiss concert!
  • Duane talked about the film about Joe Moser;
  • Marla Sanger $91 for Foundation in honor of father in law who turned 91 before passing away peacefully recently;
  • Donna really enjoyed seeing the "Lost Airmen" movie, also it's a really good book too. Going to see Katy Perry at Key Arena;
  • Bob Becker said we raised $2200 for Food Bank, comments about the Lost Airmen movie;
  • Stew Ellison thanked Eddie for crab feed;
  • Dick Stark took his 14 year-old grandson to see The Lost Airmen and was very moved;
  • Sue Sharp for a few missed meetings, daughter finally returned home from a year spent abroad, other daughter was named "athlete of the year" at WWU, AND they are still waiting to move into their new house months behind schedule!
  • Orphalee bucks for some mistakes on invoices, and reminder to explicitly say "Foundation" if you want your "Bucks" money to go there;
  • Terry for a 30-yr wedding anniversary, but wife is still on vacation in Greece.
  • Christine missed the Joe Moser event, but did go to the 3-day Brian Stiles celebrity golf - $120K raised for the "Burned children's' recovery foundation";
  • Eddie sorry the weather wasn't great for the crab feed but thanks to the 20 people who showed up, also Saturday was Rhonda's 40th birthday which he made "country-themed" with a mechanical bull, a DJ and line dancing!

 

Sergeant at Arms  by Lynn Templeton

Fines for Eddie, Terry, Steve Spitzer, golfers, Dennis's fine dressing, non-viewers of Womens' World Cup final match, trivia on politics.

Program

Dennis introduced Rachel Vasak from the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association.  NSEA was incorporated in 1990, when the Washington State Legislature created the Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group (RFEG) Program to involve local communities, citizen volunteers, and landowners in the state's salmon recovery efforts.  As one of the 14 RFEGs in WA State, NSEA was organized as a coalition of community members and partners who work together for restoration of wild salmon runs in Whatcom County, from the Canadian border to the Skagit Watershed.

Habitat restoration: NSEA has completed over 120 restoration projects on over 15 miles of local streams. These projects address some of the causes of habitat degradation, including lack of stream side vegetation and livestock access.

  • NSEA replants native trees and shrubs along stream banks to restore the riparian zone, shade the stream, and improve salmon habitat. Fences are constructed to keep livestock out of streams. In-stream salmon habitat improvement projects include adding large woody debris (LWD) or gravel to streams to create crucial salmon rearing and spawning habitat.
  • Eighty percent of all land species depend on the riparian area (about one percent of the land area) for survival, so protecting the riparian zone is the best way to protect species and the environment as a whole.  NSEA's restoration efforts are focused on the riparian zones of lowland Whatcom County. We believe that is the most productive approach we can take to restore salmon runs.  Impediments to salmon habitat are removed, and sometime bridges are put in so allow cattle and machinery to cross streams without disrupting the water.
  • To do the most restoration work with its very limited budget, NSEA typically organizes work parties with volunteers from Conservation Corps, local companies, and local community groups.
  • Some big recent projects on North and South fork, replacing large woody debris to get stability - which means stable habitat and less channel moving around spawning gravels enhance native plants too.  NSEA often cooperates with Whatcom Land Trust on property they aquire.

Education outreach:  NSEA offers a number of field-based environmental education programs for elementary through post-secondary level students:

  • The elementary "Students for Salmon" program, "Middle School Service Learning" program, and both our high school programs, "Streamside Science" and "Swimming Upstream Program", provide students with opportunities to learn about salmon and watershed through inquiry-based science lessons and to get out in the field and participate in hands-on salmon habitat restoration projects in their local watershed. Each curriculum is designed to meet grade specific learning standards while cultivating values of environmental stewardship for our Whatcom County watersheds.
  • NSEA, in partnership with Western Washington University and the "Liam Wood Flyfishers and River Guardians" (LWFRG), developed an educational program designed to foster greater understanding of rivers and streams and the creatures that depend on them. These programs teach students flyfishing techniques in the context of river ecosystems and our interactions with them, and work to encourage a personal stewardship ethic. NSEA also offers watershed-based stewardship programs that integrate education with restoration:
  • The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) Stream Stewards Program, supports diverse watershed steward groups in Bellingham, Blaine and Ferndale. Watersheds include Schell Creek, Terrell Creek, California Creek, Squalicum Creek, Whatcom Creek, and Padden Creek.Education programs in the schools, ethics, stewardship and science of streams and salmon habitat;

Their annual fundraiser is "Salmon at the Bay" on Friday Aug 5th at Boundary Bay (salmon provided by Seafood Producers Coop).

Also a video about NSEA's work is now being produced by Hand Crank Films (Max Kaiser); it should be completed by September or so.

Respectfully submitted,

Stowe Talbot