By Dr. Dave Beatty
Retired Professor of Zoology Volunteer, NSEA & SFEG Board Member & President
30 for Thirty #9
I initially became a volunteer in the state’s Regional Fisheries Enhancement Group Program (RFEG) with the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group (SFEG) in 1993 when residing at Lake Samish. While with SFEG, I served on its board for ten years; six years as board president, and on the RFEG Program Advisory Board (AB). The AB was the liaison between the RFEGs, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Washington Fish & Wildlife Commission. The AB has since been replaced by the RFEG Coalition to represent the 14 state RFEGs. In 2004 we moved into Bellingham, and I became a volunteer with NSEA in 2005.
I recognized the special role of NSEA plays in Whatcom County. Therefore, it was a natural opportunity to become an NSEA volunteer, to participate on its board, board committees and work parties. My experiences and participation in the state’s RFEG program has given me the great satisfaction to use my education and then university career in a Zoology Department and in administration in a Faculty of Science. When reviewing the years since 1993, there are many special times and experiences. With NSEA, one was being NSEA’s Board President during the successful Capital Campaign for the NSEA Facility (aka the Campus). For NSEA, it was, in addition to its programs in salmon habitat restoration, education and community outreach for salmon recovery, an exceptional opportunity to engage the broader community to achieve a goal to ensure a facility it owned for its future operations.
Another special experience was working with the individuals who make up NSEA’s staff and board during those twelve years. Likewise, I enjoyed providing Salmon 101 to interns and providing information to those who sought my advice. It was a natural outcome from my previous career in a university. After leaving the NSEA Board in 2017 and desiring further involvement in local salmon recovery, I represented NSEA on the WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Staff Team which does the work to develop and implement salmonid habitat restoration and protection projects within the WRIA1 Salmonid Recovery Plan. This Plan has special consideration for the Nooksack River Watershed’s Chinook, steelhead, and bull trout; three species listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.
As I am finishing writing my thoughts, I am looking at my office’s stack of NSEA’s Newspaper “Fish Tales”. Before the wide use of digital, the "Fish Tales" newspaper provided information about NSEA and salmonids to a wider audience. Editions, over many years, included the topic “Salmon Science” for which I wrote at least a dozen articles that either I chose, or a staff member requested. I believed, and still do, that “Salmon Science” would inform readers about the special features of each local species; the biological viability of each; and the economic, cultural, social, and ecological importance. Other topics were directed towards issues relating to the problems likely to affect the abundance and recovery of our local species and those elsewhere in the state. Condensing a vast amount of information into an eighteen hundred or less word article was, for me, an enjoyable challenge. My hope always was for the reader to find something of interest and relate it to NSEA's mission and actions for improving salmonid habitat, for education and for community outreach.
NSEA’s Mission, Goals and Actions during these past 30 years has been an example of how a community organization can undertake and faithfully meet its objectives. NSEA developed from an embryonic organization into one of the pre-eminent Regional Fisheries Enhancement Groups within Washington. Its reputation also meets this standard within the WRIA 1 Salmonid Recovery Plan.
Thank you, Dr. Dave! This is NSEA’s Thirty for 30 # 9