Folks checking the turbidity tube to determine if the water is clear enough for salmon
A LARGE pile of recently removed invasive Himalayan Blackberry and an excited work party volunteer. And that was only one pile that was not the only pile volunteers removed that day!
The Nooksack River Stewards program began as a partnership with the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest to increase capacity for education, outreach, and monitoring in an area along the North Fork Nooksack River. Fast forward nearly 20 years and the program expanded this year to include the South Fork Nooksack River! These two forks of the river couldn’t be more different, surrounding land use, headwater source, flow and temperature all vary, but they are both home to critical Spring Chinook populations that are a priority for recovery in our area. We took different approaches in how programming would look in each fork, but the overall goal was the same: engage the community in ways they can steward salmon habitat while recreating.
Kiddos learning the names of the five Pacific salmon using the fiver finger salmon trick. FYI, Thumb= chum.
Overall, we engaged a total of 2,348 community members and visitors along the Nooksack River! We hosted community work parties in both forks with the Whatcom Land Trust where 57 volunteers removed over 45 cubic yards of invasive vegetation. We had fun making bracelets during salmon storytime at the Whatcom County Library’s North Fork and Deming branches. In Glacier, 61 participants joined us for the Guided River Walks to learn about salmon ecology and conduct water quality experiment along the Horseshoe Bend Trail. And our summer season concluded with hundreds of people witnessing the biennial return of pink salmon at Thompson Creek bridge during our Salmon Sighting events. Down in Acme, we surveyed 130 recreators, collected data on water quality and recreation, and picked up 280 gallons of trash!
The booth along the South Fork.
Thank you to Nooksack River Stewards partners and funders: Whatcom Land Trust, Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, Whatcom County Library System, Nooksack Indian Tribe, WRIA 1 Salmon Recovery Lead Entity, Whatcom County Public Works, Tomberg Family Foundation, and Drinking Water Providers Partnership.
P.S. Our South Fork programming included much more than could fit here. Visit www.nooksacksalmon.wordpress.com for more details on that initiative including our community survey and data collection results.
By Sarah Brown, NSEA Stewardship Programs Manager