By Nathan Zabel
NSEA Education Program Manager

Each school year, NSEA’s Students for Salmon Program serves over 1,000 fourth graders throughout Whatcom County. This school year was particularly rewarding because it was our first time educating students in-person through this program in a over a year. The students are now on their summer break, but we look back on a school year that brought students back outside along salmon-bearing creeks just minutes away from their schools.

This year, NSEA’s AmeriCorps Environmental Education Coordinators Grace and Chloe went into 81 classrooms at 32 schools to introduce students to salmon, their lifecycle, and threats they face in our region. They then met those students outdoors on a field trip where students became “salmon scientists” and studied a local creek to determine how healthy it is for salmon. Students took action to help salmon on their field trips by participating in a stewardship project, and those collective actions resulted in 158 trees being planted and 5,660 pounds of invasive vegetation being removed. Because of these collective actions, 14 local waterways are left with habitat that will better support salmon.

NSEA values the importance of hope and the role it plays in educating the future generation to understand and care about salmon, salmon habitat, and stewardship. Students left with a better understanding of how salmon are important in our region, and how actions they take in their everyday lives can help ensure they continue to see salmon in the creeks they studied and restored for years to come. As one teacher said, “I have been working with NSEA for 19 years and to see the health of our local watersheds improving gives hope to the entire community and to the students that will make up this community's future citizens.” We are grateful to the teachers who continue to choose to enroll in Students for Salmon and appreciate their commitment to ensure their students continue to have lasting connections to their watershed.

For more information about NSEA’s Education programs, please contact Nathan Zabel at nzabel@n-sea.org or call 360-312-3094.

By Sarah Brown
Stewardship Program Manager

Community Work Parties are the perfect place to reconnect to nature, steward the land and waterways around us, and meet others. This spring, we hosted 20 work parties across Whatcom County at 14 sites along 11 different salmon-bearing creeks, including the celebration of Earth Day.

The theme for Earth Day 2022, a day of global support for environmental action, was centered around preserving and protecting our health, our families, our livelihoods, and working to “Invest in Our Planet”. In this region, investing in our planet means investing in salmon, an irreplaceably important component of local ecosystems and cultures. Partnering with the Whatcom Land Trust, we hosted an Earth Day Community Work Party along California Creek where 156 people planted 700 willows and removed Himalayan blackberry from the riparian area. We ended the event with a raffle of prizes from both organizations, Backcountry Essentials, and Patagonia!

In total, we had 678 volunteers dedicate 1,979 hours to planting 2,653 native trees and shrubs, removing 8,560 pounds of invasive vegetation, and improving over one mile of streamside habitat. Volunteers continue to inspire and motivate us with their passion and work ethic. One community member shared what stood out to them about their experience - “What a spirited and fun morning! …Probably my favorite part of my day was watching the snowberry plants emerge right before my eyes as I whacked away at the blackberry branches in front of me.”

These events would be impossible without amazing partnerships. Thank you to BP, City of Bellingham, City of Ferndale, Cloud Mountain Farm Center, Whatcom Conservation District, Whatcom Land Trust, and private landowners that helped organize these opportunities. Thanks to Backcountry Essentials, the Community Food Co-op, Patagonia, and Tony’s Coffee for in-kind donations that made these events special. And thank you to the organizations and businesses that supported us through funding like BP, ERM, Phillips 66, and through direct participation – BP, Bellingham Technical College, Boys and Girls Scouts, Environmental Resource Management, Kohl’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Sustainable Connections, Western Washington University, and more!