Congratulations to the 2009 Jefferson County Beachwatchers! Fourteen new Beach Watchers graduated on April 1 concluding their intensive training period. And intense it was! We had either blowing snow, blowing sand, icicles, rain, and/or freezing temperatures on every single field trip. But the class persevered in their quest for knowledge. They ended the class clamoring for a field trip to the County landfill. Hard core? You bet!
A highlight of the class included a trip on the Adventuress with other volunteers from the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. That was cold too, but really interesting and fun. Our thanks to the captain and crew.
Our deepest thanks to the numerous experts who volunteered to give presentations and take the class on field trips all over the county. We could not do this program without their dedication. They were generous with their time and their considerable knowledge.The newly minted Beach Watchers are now beginning to clock their volunteer hours. They will be joining other Jefferson Water/Beach Watchers, working on monitoring, restoration and education projects for organizations such as PTMSC, NOSC and Jefferson Conservation District. They will also be talking to the public at a wide variety of venues over the coming months….and hopefully enjoying warmer weather too.
Did I mention it was cold?EARTH DAY VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
Beach Watchers will be hosting a booth celebrating Earth Day at Wild Birds Unlimited in Gardiner on Sunday, April 26. Please contact Darcy at darcym@jefferson.wsu.edu if you can help out at the booth for a few hours. Set up starts at 9:30 and the day ends at 4pm. Volunteers are needed to educate the public on dog waste issues, plastics and run the Enviroscape. This will be a great way to met other Beach Watchers and have fun on Earth Day.DISCUSSION ON NAVY TRAINING COMPLEX
There will be a meeting on April 9 at 7:30pm at the Port Townsend Community Center to discuss Navy testing at the Northwest Training Range Complex. The U.S. Navy has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement (EIS/OEIS) to evaluate the effects of current and future Navy activities within the range complex on the environment. The Concerned Citizens of Port Townsend & the Port Townsend Peace Movement are the sponsors of the meeting. For more on the public meeting click here. The public comment period ends on April 13. To view the Navy’s draft EIS click here.NOSC VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY
NOSC is looking for volunteers to help setting up the spring smolt traps on creeks West of Port Angeles on April 21 and 22. The work will be physically hard -- but worth it.
It is an excellent chance to get to know some of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe members, and see the creeks out on the West end of the Olympic Peninsula.
If you wish, you may ride in the comfort and luxury of the NOSC vehicle, leaving from Port Hadlock each day. NOSC hopes to fill up their van, so call today. Please RSVP by calling (360) 379-8051 or emailing volunteer@nosc.org
LOW TIDE WALK IN MAY
Mark your calendar for Tuesday May 26th at 11am for our low tide walk at Indian Island with PTMSC volunteers. We will experience a minus 3.5 foot tide. More info coming.THANKS!
Thanks to Meredith, Denny, Bob, Carol, Jadyne and Bert for conducting sampling for micro plastics at Ft. Flagler (on a cold, windy day). And special thanks to Dee and Meredith for sorting our samples indoors (on a beautiful sunny day.) We need to switch those days around next time!
And as your reward for reading to the end of this blog entry - here is a fun photo submitted by new Beach Watcher Terri Wagner. Thank Terri!
