As 2023 draws to a close, Jamie Stroble, Director of Climate Action and Resilience reflects on the link between healthy community relationships and a healthy climate. She lists several ways every person can contribute to a thriving planet.
Rematriating Buffalo in Washington State
68 bison were rematriated to the Kalispel Tribe of Indians as part of the North American Team’s partnership with InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC). For more than 30 years, ITBC has worked to restore spiritual and cultural relationships between Tribal Nations and buffalo. This partnership illuminates the importance of buffalo beyond their conservation merit—a keystone species for grasslands and prairies. The new Kalispel buffalo are the first from this partnership to be relocated to Washington state. They joined an existing herd, which primarily supports Kalispel food sovereignty and their generous spirit.
Native American Heritage Month
This month, Tribal Nations across the United States are celebrating National Native American Heritage Month, honoring their sovereignty, traditions, languages and stories. We acknowledge and elevate this month, and every month, alongside Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated Island communities. Indigenous Peoples are the original caretakers of nature—their longstanding relationship with the land has culminated in extensive knowledge and practices, which are vital to successful, reciprocal conservation outcomes.
Puget Sound Day on the Sound
Calling for a transformative federal investment in wildfire resilience
Today, an op-ed in The Seattle Times by our state director, Mike Stevens, with Yakama Nation Natural Resources director Phil Rigdon and Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, calls for a transformative level of federal investment in wildfire resilience.
Urge your Legislators to Lead on Climate
Highlight: Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance Legislative Agenda
From Fryers to Fuels
Our 2021 State Legislative Priorities
Environmental Justice Task Force Issues Recommendations
We're here for a Resilient Future
NASA and The Nature Conservancy Team Up on Wildfire Project
Black Lives Matter
Join us in speaking up for nature in Olympia this session
"Good Fire" Training Returns to Central Washington
Climate Bills Are On the Move in Olympia
Construction Progressing at Fir Island Farm
Conservation in action along the Skagit River
Written and Photographed by Jenny Baker, Senior Restoration Manager
Fir Island Farm estuary restoration is underway and the site is a hub of activity. Jenna Friebel, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Project Manager, reports:
“We are about half-way done with year-one construction. We are importing 4,200 tons of dike material, or 150-175 truck and trailer-loads, per day; and IMCO Construction has about 40 people working on-site 5-6 days per week.”
The project, which is located in the Skagit River delta west of Conway began earlier this summer and will continue through summer 2016, with funding from Puget Sound Partnership, NOAA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and The Nature Conservancy (15 percent is federally funded).
This summer a setback dike, drainage infrastructure and marsh channels are being constructed. Next summer the existing dike will be removed restoring 130-acres of tidal marsh and channels, and opening up critical habitat for endangered juvenile chinook salmon! See the progress of the construction in the slideshow above:
The first step in constructing the new setback dike is to strip away the sod. Seen in Photograph 1.
After stripping sod from the dike footprint, the construction company lays down a geotextile material and then places and compacts imported soil to form the dike. Seen in Photograph 2.
The setback dike is protected from wind and waves on the bay-side with fabric and rock, and then covered with soil. Later this summer it will be seeded with grass. Seen in Photograph 3.
Drainage is important to maintain the productivity of farmland on Fir Island. A pond was constructed to provide additional storage for water draining from Fir Island. From here the water will either drain out through new tidegates or be pumped out through a new pump station into the restored estuary. Seen in Photograph 4.
Learn more about our work on Puget Sound.
