Country Life
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Special Section • Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Salmon habitat group getting its own digs NSEA raising last 10 percent of $1.2 million campaign By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
BELLINGHAM — Quietly and mostly out of view for the past three years, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Assocation has been building its springboard for the future. On 6.3 choice acres off East Bakerview Road, a new base of operations for Whatcom County stream habitat restoration is taking shape. An existing house has been converted to offices, a new shop building is nearly complete, and a “teaching garden” dramatically illustrates what ideally recreated salmon habitat looks like. It’s been a time of setting up a place to call home “so we can get on with what we do best — stream restoration,” said Dorie Belisle, an NSEA board member. But the goal is not quite reached yet. For one thing, a new 1,600-square-foot structure must still be built providing equipment storage and meeting space for any who are broadly involved in the NSEA cause. “We want this to be a hub for everybody focused on salmon recovery,” said Adrian Shulock, development manager, of what is only a design on paper so far. Shulock is the point person for a $1.2 million campaign that is now at about 90 percent and seeks to enlist general Whatcom County support toward the final goal. “We are ready to go for that last push,” Belisle said. In fact, they can be spe-
cific. They would like to raise the last $126,000 by June 30. The outcome will be a stable and secure financial footing for NSEA — like that of a homeowner finally enjoying one’s own place — after 25 years of operating out of living rooms, garages, warehouses, barns and old houses to sustain the mission, the organization’s leaders say. The truly ultimate goal, Shulock adds, is to bring back all species of natural salmon to the streams of Whatcom County. How this came about For 14 years NSEA was in a lease with Western Washington University on more visible property just around the corner and up Bakerview at the corner with Hannegan Road. When Western gave notice of lease termination in 2013, NSEA was pushed into some long-term planning. While another option or two came along, it was this property of former board member Todd Jones and his Fourth Corner Nurseries that emerged as the ideal spot. Todd was willing to move his operation to Sand Road and sell this land. No fish-bearing stream is directly on site (wetlands are), but NSEA is quite familiar with working on stretches of Squalicum Creek nearby. As Jones generously leased toward an eventual sale, the organization worked through the various requirements of a county conditional-use permit, from bolstering the house’s floor joists to adding an exterior ramp for full ADA compliance. It all became official with the $490,000 purchase of the land and buildings last July, the biggest piece of the $1.2 million campaign.
Six local FFA teams qualify for nationals Two from LC, one from Lynden, three from Baker
Dorie Belisle, board member, and Adrian Shulock, development manager, stand at the entrance to the new NSEA site. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune) It gives NSEA “a good base that we can grow with,” Shulock says. “We’ve unlocked new potential.” The other areas of need are summarized as: infrastructure, site development, existing site improvements, management expenses and contingency. Meanwhile, the organization stays busy each season on the core tasks that define what it is about: upgrading stream habitat in Whatcom County, planting native species on streambanks, removing obstacles to salmon migration, doing education programs, and monitoring fish and watershed health. On site now The display just inside the main entrance offers a vivid picture of what restored salmon habitat can look like. With five life-sized carved salmon suspended from a pergola See NSEA on CL3
Farms’ anaerobic digestion the field day topic at 8:30 a.m. Thursday LYNDEN — Washington State University researchers and their commercial partners will talk about anaerobic digestion and nutrient recovery, and lessons learned over the past three years, during an Anaerobic Digestion Systems Field Day on Thursday, June 9. This free event is from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bus transportation will be provided to Edaleen Dairy and Honcoop Farms from parking at the Mt. Baker Rotary Building, 1775 Front St. Topics to be covered are: fine solids recovery, advanced nutrient recovery approaches, nutrient recovery products and their agronomic use, water quality and food safety
issues, economics and the potential for integration of biochar with anaerobic digestion systems. The WSU Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources hosts. Registration to ensure ample lunch and bus transportation is now past. However, organizer Brooke Saari may still take folks by a direct contact to her at brooke.saari@wsu.edu. • A WSU Small Grains Field Day will be Thursday, June 23, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the WSU research center in Mount Vernon. This seventh annual event offers the opportunity to wander through field trials and observe variety trials of winter and spring wheat, barley and oats as well as spring rye, spelt, buckwheat and perennial wheat. It’s possible to meet with the researchers for answers about growing small grains in western Washington.
WHATCOM — At least six local high school FFA teams have won their state contests and will be going to national competition in Indianapolis in October. That may be a record for local FFA. (See photos on inside pages.) Lynden Christian will send two teams in the areas of agricultural mechanics, and farm business management. LC’s veterinary science team was runner-up to Ferndale. Lynden High School qualified its team in livestock judging. Mount Baker qualified three teams in agricultural communication, food science and forestry. This is the ninth time in 10 years that Mt. Baker FFA has placed first in state in the forestry contest. The three students who won in agricultural communications — Ruth Pilat, Kendal Schorr and Morgan Zender — are returning together to nationals, having been Mount Baker’s state-winning floriculture team in 2014. Adviser Tamara Whitcomb said all the Mount Baker teams will continue practices right up to the national competition, which includes several new elements. Donations to support the teams will be welcome. Contact Whitcomb (556-1505) or Todd Rightmire (961-8556) or mail a check directly to Mt. Baker FFA Boosters, P.O. Box 162, Deming, WA 98244.
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