Volunteers from Whatcom Conservation District's Orca Recovery Day event celebrate a great day of volunteering and habitat restoration. This was one of 85 events across the Pacific Northwest on October 16th, which brought together 100 organization partners and 1,900 participants.

Throughout the Pacific Northwest on October 16th, nearly 100-organizations joined the Puget Sound Conservation District caucus to host 85-events that support the recovery of endangered Southern Resident Orca Whales. Along with Congressmembers Kim Schrier and Derek Kilmer, over 1,900-participants engaged in restoring vital salmon habitat, picking up trash, removing invasive weeds, or simply learning about the challenges facing this iconic species and how they could help. These combined efforts of well over 4,300 volunteer hours resulted in over 22-acres of habitat restored, another 17-acres of invasive weeds removed, and over 13,500 native plants installed.

Salishan ECO Camps Get Kids Outside

In July we resumed our summer ECO Camp with kids from the Salishan neighborhood of east Tacoma. Over the course of two weeks we trekked into Swan Creek Park to look at stream bugs, visited community gardens in the neighborhood, practiced rock climbing near the Eastside Community Center, and went on more outdoor adventures. It was great to get the kids outside in the nice summer weather and explore some of the interesting features that neighborhood has to offer. 

Garfield-Palouse Claims Envirothon Title

Conservation districts from across the state joined forces to host a virtual State Envirothon competition this spring. A total of 11 high schools, including 3 from Pierce County, competed in this new format to test their natural resource knowledge. When the dust settled, Garfield-Palouse emerged as the top finishers (Tacoma’s Science and Math Institute placed 3^rd overall). The team of 5 high schoolers earned the right to represent our state at the North American competition held in July. Congratulations to all those who competed, especially the 2021 champions from the Palouse!

Leika Hansen Completes Memorable AmeriCorps Term

This summer marked the end of Leika’s term with PCD as our Conservation Education Specialist. If you’ve seen some of the videos and pictures we’ve featured over the past year, there’s a good chance it was thanks to Leika. She brought her photography, videography, and storytelling skills during a time when those were especially valuable. It’s safe to say we would not have created a fraction of what we did without Leika’s contributions. She left a huge impact on the environmental education program and we wish her the best in the next phase of her blossoming career.

As we prepare for the 4th annual Orca Recovery Day, a Pacific Northwest region wide event that joins hundreds of organizations and thousands of people in action to recover the most iconic species of our region, it's important to take a look back and reflect on how this movement started and how much we have collectively accomplished. There's so much more work to be done, but with 3 new calves in the last year, including one mothered by Tahlequah, who's tragic tour of grief with her previous calf that died was what started the whole effort, there's reason for hope. But we can't stop now, we must keep working and together, we can restore the ecosystem that the endangered Southern Resident Orca Whales rely on for survival. We hope you'll join us October 16th for this year's Orca Recovery Day!