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Examiner The Whidbey
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Whidbey Island’s Only Locally Owned, Independent Newspaper
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2012
VOL. 17, NO. 32
Volunteers help to restore Smith Prairie Volunteers from all over Whidbey are helping to expand a prairie ecosystem that is fast disappearing throughout the Puget Sound region. By Elisabeth Murray Examiner Staff Writer
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avy sailors have done it. So have church youth-group teens in the middle of a hunger fast. Regular folks have also taken part, as have environmental science majors. In 2011 alone, more than 100 people put in 1,600 hours on Smith Prairie, fanning out across the land to remove old fencing and other debris left over from the days when this land served as a game-bird farm operated by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. With the piles of junk mostly gone, the volunteers are working to reestablish the prairie’s native grasses and plants. The goal is to restore the land to its natural state – a short-grass prairie filled with native grasses and wildflowers that provides habitat for eagles, hawks, songbirds and other wildlife. The ongoing project at the Pacific Elisabeth Murray / The Whidbey Examiner Rim Institute for Environmental StewMacKenzie Walker, Michelle Baublitz, Zach Cash, Kristen Schuster and Autumn Walker, members of a youth group at the Whidbey Evangelical Free Church in Greenbank, use dibble sticks to make holes for baby plants at the Pacific Rim Institute for EnSee PRAIRIE, page 2 vironmental Stewardship during a volunteer workday Feb. 28. The group was participating in a 30-hour fast on the same day.
MusselFest draws a big crowd to Coupeville By Kasia Pierzga Examiner Staff Writer
Last weekend’s Penn Cove MusselFest drew the largest crowds in the event’s 26year history, with Coupeville’s historic waterfront packed with crowds of people. Some 5,000 people came to town to celebrate Whidbey Island’s signature shellfish – a 20 percent increase over last year, said Cindy Olson, who helped organize the event with the Coupeville Historic Waterfront Association. “Front Street was packed,” she said. “It was the most people ever for this event. Definitely.”
Of course, most of the people arrived by car, and finding a place to park all those vehicles is always a challenge. So this year, town officials agreed to open up the Coupeville Community Green for parking – with mixed results. Most cars had no trouble pulling in and out of the damp, grassy area. But several that ended up in areas saturated by winter rainfall ended up spinning their wheels, and one large tour bus actually had to be removed by tow truck after it got stuck. But even considering the unlucky tour Kasia Pierzga / The Whidbey Examiner bus, Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard Coupeville’s historic waterfront drew an early-season crowd in town for Penn Cove said she’s happy with the decision to allow MusselFest. The event brought about 20 percent more visitors compared to last year, See MUSSELFEST, page 6 boosting sales at local shops and causing a bit of a challenge for parking.