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December 2008 In this issue
Other news To view this and future issues online, visit our volunteer page. Questions or comments? Contact Barbara French, Volunteer Program Manager, at bfrench@tnc.org or at 206 323-4345, ext. 361 |
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A Year of Accomplishments This past year, volunteers from all corners of Washington brought their unfailingly good spirits and a wide range of abilities to contribute more than 9,975 hours to the Conservancy. Ranging in age from one to 88, volunteers turned out for 72 work parties in 2008, even in the worst of weather, and pitched in to help with projects both large and small in nearly all departments. Thank you all for your invaluable contribution! Wishing you a peaceful holiday season and a happy, healthy New Year. -The Staff at The Nature Conservancy in Washington 
This year, we are pleased to honor Dennis Plank as Volunteer of the Year. In addition to his continued restoration efforts over the last ten years at Glacial Heritage Preserve, Dennis has volunteered his time as director of Prairie Appreciation Day for four years, taking a week of his personal vacation time in order to ensure things run smoothly. He has donated personal funds to buy tools and materials for event booths, and created the Prairie Appreciation Day website, managing it with his own computer and paying the monthly website fee out of his own pocket. Dennis travels to Foulweather Bluff several times a year to help eradicate invasive thistle. Because of his work, the preserve is now virtually thistle-free. He has also donated his time at other Conservancy preserves including Ebey’s Landing, Rocky Prairie, Scatter Creek, and Magnuson Butte. Volunteering for the Conservancy has been his passion for some time now, and he shows every inclination of continuing. Congratulations and thank you, Dennis! 
With such a wide range of projects, volunteer accomplishments in 2008 were too many to name. Here is just a small sampling of projects volunteers completed this year: In the South Sound Prairies, volunteers helped plant 5,640 federally endangered golden paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta) across six different Thurston County prairie preserves, controlled conifers on more than 15 acres, removed Scotch broom from 115 acres, and helped plant 12,000 native grass and wildflower plugs at two preserves. Volunteers also completed another season of western bluebird monitoring, weekly checking 15 bluebird boxes to help understand breeding site preferences and success rates. In Eastern Washington, volunteers of all ages and from many parts of the state traveled to Moses Coulee Preserve to help with the Conservancy's bat monitoring project last summer, and planted more than 1,000 oak seedlings at Swauk Valley Ranch. In Kitsap and Island Counties, a crew of intrepid volunteers planted more than 1500 native grass starts on Yellow Island this fall. Other volunteers faithfully monitored Ebey's Landing and Foulweather Bluff daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day. 
This fall, soldiers from Fort Lewis and their families joined volunteers at Tenalquot Prairie to control invasive conifers and to collect seeds from rare prairie wildflowers. Members of the 67th Medical Brigade worked with the Conservancy on a "Green Project". First-time visitors to the prairie included several soldiers' families as well as the battalion commander. Everyone involved was eager to continue taking care of the prairies together. Find out more about this partnership right here. Celebrate the Season Join the annual volunteer holiday party, hosted in the West Seattle home of long-time volunteers Mike & Marion Jarisch, who generously invite volunteers and Conservancy staff to drop by between 1 and 5 p.m. for a sip of holiday drink and a bowl of warm soup. If you would like to bring your favorite holiday finger food to share, please do. Send an email or give a call so we know how much soup to make. Mike and Marion Jarisch (206) 938-1440 or email marionjarisch@quidnunc.net to RSVP and for directions. Creosote Log Survey Help complete an inventory of creosote beach logs at Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge near Port Angeles. Volunteers and staff will search for creosote logs and mark logs with flagging, record location using a GPS and/or fill out datasheets. Training will be provided. This is an effort to estimate the rate of return of these logs after they have been removed and is part of a larger study to investigate the leaching of creosote compounds into beach sediments. Will involve extensive walking along beach sands and rock (we expect to walk 5-10 miles). Volunteers must be in good physical condition, but do not need to have experience with creosote inventory or GPS. Please contact Melisa Holman at mholman@tnc.org or (206) 343-4345, ext. 378. Prairie Restoration Join other volunteers to help protect and restore the unique prairie and oak woodlands of South Puget Sound! Regular work parties are held year-round at several sites in the South Sound from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Stay as long as you’re able. For more information and to sign up, please contact Carri Marschner at cmarschner@tnc.org or call (360) 480-7534 or Eli Evans at eevans@tnc.org. All are welcome! |
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