Western Washington Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Course will be offered online. These forest landowners attending a Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Course are getting tips to control bear damage to their trees.
There’s a lot to learn about managing forests, even small ones. And small forest landowners are busy people — many have other jobs. That’s why we’re looking forward to the online Forest Stewardship Coached Planning Course – a series of live, interactive webinars that starts later this month.
Woodland owners are invited to participate in the seven-week online course, which will run Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., April 24 through June 5.
This course is open to landowners with property anywhere in Western Washington. (Future courses will be offered for Eastside properties.) The remote-learning program is designed to help forest landowners develop customized management solutions to meet their ownership objectives. Whether you own 5, 50, or 500 acres of forest this course will help you expand your knowledge, tools, and confidence for managing your forestland.
During the course, participants will develop personalized Forest Stewardship Plans. With an approved stewardship plan, a landowner can receive state recognition as a Stewardship Forest and qualify to become certified as a sustainable forest. That also brings eligibility for cost-share assistance programs. An approved stewardship plan may also qualify owners who meet minimum acreage requirements for significant property tax reductions.
The course includes seven evening webinars, admission to a Saturday field day this summer, a comprehensive Forest Stewardship notebook, property maps, aerial photos, and an individual on-site consultation at your property from a professional forester or wildlife biologist. The course is presented through Washington State University, Snohomish County Extension and DNR.
Registration information is available online from Snohomish County-WSU Extension Office or by contacting Kevin Zobrist, WSU Extension Forester, at (425) 357-6017. Registration is $200 per household and includes learning materials that will be shipped to you. Class size is limited and is first-come, first-served.

As fiddleheads unfurl and bleeding heart pokes its feathery foliage through last year’s fallen leaves, there are signs of spring in the moving waters of the creek as well as on the shore.  Immature chum that have been incubating in gravel since last fall are finally beginning to emerge.  This spring the public is invited to visit Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail to sneak a peak of the tiny salmon before they escape into Puget Sound.   
 
Since November these salmon fry have changed from fertilized eggs tucked into the crevices of streambed gravel to alevin (salmon fry with a yolk sac still attached) to fully developed salmon fry.   They don’t stick around for very long though.  A week or two after emerging from the gravel chum fry will move downstream and into the saltwater estuary to eat, grow and continue their life’s journey in the ocean.  Three to four years later they’ll return to spawn in the very creek they originated from, laying eggs for a new generation of chum salmon.
 
Salmon aren’t the only species to migrate to the creek.  Each fall nearly 5,000 people visit Kennedy Creek to view chum spawning behaviours and observe healthy salmon habitat.  This salmon education program and interpretive trail is coordinated by South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group and Mason Conservation District.  To catch a glimpse of these newly emerged fry and experience the trail in its spring colors please join us at Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail on Sunday, March 25th between 10 am- 2 pm.  Everyone is welcome.  Please wear boots and dress for the weather.  For more information  about the event contact Stephanie Bishop at 360-427-9436, ext. 22 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  For more information about the Kennedy Creek Trail including driving directions visit www.spsseg.org or www.masoncd.org.

Olympic National Park Seeks Volunteers for ‘Citizen Science’ Marmot Monitoring Program.  Enjoy hiking and camping? Interested in endemic species? Want to support your park?
If you answered yes to all three questions, Olympic National Park has a volunteer opportunity for you! For the third straight year, “citizen scientists” are sought to help monitor the status of Olympic marmots in the park and adjacent Olympic National Forest.
Olympic National Park recognizes that the Olympic marmot (marmot Olympus) is an iconic species: in addition to being the official endemic mammal of the state of Washington, nearly all available marmot habitat (approximately
90 percent) is protected within park boundaries, with the remaining ten percent on nearby Olympic National Forest lands.
Small groups of volunteer monitors will visit designated survey areas to gather timely and vital information about population abundance and distribution. Tracking and monitoring these changes allow wildlife managers to evaluate the population’s status on an ongoing basis.
Last year more than 90 volunteers were involved in the project, hailing from the Olympic Peninsula, Seattle/Tacoma area and as far away as Portland, Oregon and British Columbia.
This year, Olympic National Forest joined the program and the monitoring efforts will now include suitable marmot habitat within the forest.  The continuation of this program is made possible through cooperation with the non-profit Washington’s National Park Fund, and the U.S. Forest Service.
“Building off the success of the past years’ program, we’re hoping to get an even more diverse and dedicated group of volunteers,” said Todd Suess, Acting Superintendent of Olympic National Park. “Not only are these surveys an effective way to monitor the marmot population, but they also let us involve more people—whether they’re students, families or retirees—in some of the science that influences management of their park.”
An overview of the program is available here: tinyurl.com/4gwzqcg. (PDF link hosted on Olympic National Park’s website.)
 
An overview of the program is available at the park’s website,
www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/olympic-marmot-monitoring.htm.   Last year’s
results, this year’s available survey trips, marmot research and an application form are available there.  A short video about the project and the marmot monitor training can be found at http://nwparkscience.org/node/1044.
 
Volunteers must be capable of hiking to and camping in remote areas, be comfortable navigating off-trail and be able to work on steep slopes. Most survey trips involve a 5-20 mile hike (one or two days) with a significant elevation gain to the survey area.
 
A limited number of day hike assignments are also available for the Hurricane Hill, Klahhane Ridge and Obstruction Point survey area trips. To ensure safety, volunteers must travel and monitor with a partner. Up to six individuals may travel in the same group, breaking into smaller groups to visit individual survey areas. Volunteers ages 13-17 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
 
Training for volunteers will consist of one training day, featuring both classroom and field training. Volunteers are responsible for their own transportation. Camping fees will be waived at Heart O’ the Hills and other front-country sites for the evening before training. Park entrance and backcountry fees will also be waived for volunteers.
 
The 2012 application deadline is May 1, but may close earlier if enough eligible volunteers have been accepted.

IMAGE:  Ken and Mary Campbell
An Olympic marmot seen at Hurricane Hill, holds the root of a plant in its paw.