As part of a broader greenspace improvement project, the Alliance for Pioneer Square, in collaboration with Stewardship Partners, held a volunteer planting event in March 2023 to transform four tree pits on Occidental Ave South into miniature rain gardens. The rain gardens are home to several native plant species that attract pollinators and help filter stormwater, keeping Puget Sound clean. The volunteer event was a huge success, with community members dedicating time and energy to create a unique space in Pioneer Square. This ecologically beneficial beautification project is the result of the volunteer group’s work! Funding for this project was made possible by Historic South Downtown.
In addition to rain gardens, the project included the installation of native artwork designed by Tommy Segundo, a local Native American artist, that was installed adjacent to a storm drain on the sidewalk to draw attention to where our polluted runoff goes and the importance of keeping it clean.
As we approach the end of 2021, we are thankful for your continued support that has allowed Stewardship Partners to continue providing environmental solutions for landowners and businesses who care for the land and water of the region. We are proud of our on-the-ground work as we continue to forge long-lasting partnerships and measurable positive impacts on the environment and communities across the region.
Stewardship Partners’ resilient, hard-working staff comprises the most experienced and knowledgeable people working to solve our region’s complex environmental issues. We’d like to share several program highlights for the year.
The Snoqualmie Stewardship Program restored two acres of habitat, planted over 3,000 plants at multiple farms, and maintained a record 9.5 acres of restoration sites. We also completed a new Snoqualmie Valley Stewardship Handbook. This guide includes tips and funding sources for projects including home stewardship, agricultural stewardship, forest stewardship, sustainable recreation, volunteering, and green consumer tools. The program continues to expand, working with schools and cities in the Snoqualmie Valley, building rain gardens, and installing other green infrastructure projects in addition to riparian restoration.
A new innovative ad campaign was created this spring that calls on people to become “Rain Changers” by creating rain gardens at their homes and businesses. The campaign was the brainchild of Sam Neukom and the pro-bono creative team at Northbound. Merlino Media also provided resources to match advertising funding. Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, who is planning his second rain garden, lent star power to the campaign. Noting in one radio ad, “if you want to keep your basement dry and the Sound clean, cisterns and rain gardens are a beautiful way to help.” The campaign was featured in the Seattle Times and South Seattle Emerald and included bus-side ads, radio ads, and billboards. The RainWise website saw the largest ever number of visitors to the site after the Seattle Times article. Visit www.rainchangers.org to see if your property qualifies for rebates from the City of Seattle or King County or to find incentives in other areas of Puget Sound.
The 6th Annual Green Infrastructure Summit of the Salish Sea gathered seven virtual panel discussions and an online networking event over two days in March. We covered big ideas and impacts that go way beyond water alone. Discussion topics included innovative partnerships, whole watershed approaches, climate resilience, systems of power and access, science, and research-based pragmatism, and we shined a spotlight on innovative leadership in northern Puget Sound watersheds.
We continue to educate the public on supporting local farms and restaurants by choosing sustainable Salmon-Safeproducts. We also hosted educational workshops and webinars, such as the virtual Flower Farmer Workshop in April. Stewardship Partners maintains a vital relationship with the Salmon-Safe headquarters team in Portland, and we all meet regularly. We are thrilled to welcome new farms to the program this year, such as Farm at Water’s Edge in Belfair and Paradise Parking Plots in Kent. We hope you will help us protect our Puget Sound and all its residents by choosing Salmon-Safe products!
Once again, we couldn’t gather in person for Feast on the Farm; so we feasted and celebrated with supporters, each in our own homes across the region. It wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors, farmers, and chefs. Feast on the Farm at home raised $25,500, which will directly support our conservation and restoration initiatives in Puget Sound!
Stewardship Partners would not be here without you. Thank you for being dedicated to our team and our mission and loving this special place we call home. Please consider Stewardship Partners in your annual giving this year.
We are celebrating Summer at our local Farmers Markets! Visit the Carnation Farmers Market on Tuesdays from 3-7 pm and stop by our table to learn more about green infrastructure and enter to win a rain barrel! Every week we raffle away a rain barrel and deliver it to the recipient. We will also doing the same thing at the Duvall Farmers Market on August 12th & 19th!
Rain barrels collect rainwater running off your roof so you can put it to a better use, like watering your garden! Our raffle rain barrels, provided by Seattle Conservation Corps, once had a past career holding Greek olives, which we think is pretty neat! Talk about upcycling! We hope to see you at the market! If you’re lucky enough, maybe you’ll get a chance to visit with the Powder Hound Woodworks puppy as well!
In the heart of North Central Washington lies the award-winning Gamble Sands golf resort. This spectacular golf getaway offers a links style experience while maintaining particular attention to land and water stewardship. A sophisticated blend of great golf and environmentally conscious design is what I found most remarkable.
A beautifully designed golf course weaved into the natural wild surroundings, Gamble Sands has established itself as the premier golf resort and destination in Washington State. The Gebbers family owns the resort and are well-known farmers and apple orchardists in the area, with operations based in Brewster. The property has two golf courses, lodging, pro shop, and a charming rustic clubhouse, Danny Boy Bar and Grill.
Gamble Sands was designed by award-winning golf course architect David McKlay Kidd who is a Salmon-Safe Golf Course certification assessment team member. His thoughtful golf course design and environmental innovation stand out at Gamble Sands, making this course an excellent candidate for Salmon-Safe certification. The golf course was built on a strip of sand amongst the rock outcroppings and required minimal earth movement while preserving much of the shrub-steppe habitat. The site abounds with arrowleaf balsamroot, sagebrush, Mule deer, Osprey, and hundreds of wildlife species that use this critical habitat.
I was lucky enough to spend a morning touring with Josh Truan, Golf Course Superintendent, and his nine-month-old dog Penny. We played the new 14-hole par 3 Quick Sands course together while learning about his low-input management techniques. It became apparent that Truan has a deep connection to the course, his staff, and the environment. He explained the turfs treatment, which is only fertilized twice a year with no glyphosate to ensure its health and longevity.
The two golf courses were seeded using fine fescue grass, which provides perfect fairways and greens that are smooth, consistent, and fast. Fescue grass is environmentally friendly, grows slower, and in turn requires less mowing and water use. There are only four other courses in the country with all fescue grass, furthering the unique experience of playing Gamble Sands.
The course staff make their bunker and maintenance sand on-site using a screener, eliminating the need to import sand, further reducing their carbon footprint. The course is watered using a state-of-the-art computer system and moisture sensors that inform Truan and the management team if certain areas need watering adjustments. The course uses less than six-tenths of an inch of water every three days during summer months.
The comfortably chic lodging is also thoughtfully hidden below a bluff with an 18-hole putting course outside the backdoor of your spacious room. The putting course backdrop boasts a breathtaking view of snowcapped Cascade mountains with the mighty Columbia River meandering through a vast gorge below.
Gamble Sands is a clever golf course that cares for the land and offers golfers and non-golfers a special place to relax and enjoy life. Wine tastings, nature walks, poolside relaxation, and birdwatching are amongst the options for those who prefer not to golf. The staff at the resort are friendly and attentive to all your needs. This golf resort should serve as an inspiration for future courses in the country. It is truly a first-class experience that is loads of fun and creates lasting memories for anyone lucky enough to have come here.
Written by David Burger, Executive Director at Stewardship Partners
Stone Gossard is featured along with the Orca in a new campaign about grants to property owners.
A few months ago, Stewardship Partners was awarded a grant to spread the news about incentives for rain gardens and cisterns in King County. The challenge? To reach those unsure about rain gardens and cisterns or who would like to help the environment but also have other pressing concerns about their property such as water damage, high water bills, or landscaping. The 12,000 Rain Gardens campaign started in 2011, so Stewardship Partners figured that most people who were already primed and ready for a rain garden or a cistern had likely installed one. But what about that next layer of folks? Those for whom it can seem like a financial stretch – but are amenable to taking steps that help their property as well as Puget Sound, provided they can afford it.
After working with Board members Cal McAllister and Samantha Neukom to identify the opportunity, Stewardship Partners gathered the talents of Merlino Media Group and Northbound to create a media plan and creative campaign to reach property owners in the King County area. Our goal? To let them know that there are grants available that can cover $4,000 toward installing a rain garden or cistern and that by doing so, they can create a win-win. The first win is improving property: rain gardens can improve drainage, dry out basements and decrease mold, and cisterns can significantly lower summer water bills. Rain gardens can also be a beautiful way to add landscaping to your yard. The second win is that by installing a rain garden or cistern, you’re also helping your human, orca, salmon, and other wildlife neighbors that cohabitate with us here in Puget Sound.
The creative idea came from a mix of Pacific Northwest quirky attitude with lovable, custom animations of our fauna neighbors, featuring the Orca, the Octopus, and the Salmon. In posters, print ads, and bus side ads, you see our animal neighbors installing their own rain gardens and encouraging us, their human neighbors, to do the same. Radio ads feature Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, a rain garden and cistern owner himself, chatting with his orca, salmon, and octopus neighbors. In one radio ad he notes, “if you want to keep your basement dry and the Sound clean, cisterns and rain gardens are a beautiful way to help.”
Stone Gossard, The Neighbor
Monisa Brown, The Orca
The campaign’s goal is to reach King County residents who may be eligible for one of several grants that could cover up to 100% of the cost of installing a cistern or rain garden and to let them know the multiple benefits of doing so. With a simple click or two at www.rainchangers.org, property owners can check their eligibility and set up a visit from a local certified contractor.
Today is not just any regular Tuesday, today is GiveBIG! GiveBIG will be a two-day online giving event from May 4-5th. Our goal is to raise $5,000 for our programs!
Gifts of ANY size have an impact on our work!
Donate $25 = buy ten trees for a volunteer to plant at one of our restoration sites Donate $100 = provide scholarship funds for a local family farm for Salmon-Safe certification Donate $250 = fund the planting of a rain garden at a local school or park
Today, you can take a stand for a healthy Puget Sound environment. Together we can achieve clean water, sustainable agriculture, thriving salmon and orca populations, and healthy communities, throughout our region.
Recent research by our partners at the University of Washington and Washington State University has identified a specific chemical in tire rubber that is killing countless Coho salmon right before they spawn in streams across the region. Other species of salmon are likely affected to varying degrees. The chemical 6PPD appears to be universally used in all tires currently made. Unfortunately, we don’t have any Salmon-Safe certified tires to offer yet (though we are actively supporting that pursuit). In the meantime, the best thing we can do is to keep building rain gardens and trying to get more of them installed wherever roadway runoff gets into salmon streams (which in our region is almost anywhere there are roads and parking lots).
To help car tires — and maybe salmon runs — last longer:
Drive less. Fewer miles driven equals less tire dust. Consider if you can walk, bike or bus to your destination instead of driving.
Keep tires properly inflated and maintained.
Drive less aggressively: Don’t “lay rubber” when accelerating or braking.
Drive small. Small cars shed about half as much tire dust per mile as large cars, according to European studies. Trucks shed several times more.
We all need clean water to survive. We all should know this by now. The salmon we so cherish need clean water to survive as well. We all should know this by now. Our beloved orcas that symbolize our region need clean water and salmon to survive. We should all know this by now. Knowing is the first step, and now is the time to act to ensure that our region has clean water for the orcas, for the salmon and for us for generations to come. For nearly 20 years the Snoqualmie Stewardship program has focused on riparian habitat restoration along the Snoqualmie River and its tributaries. We’ve made a lot of great progress in that regard. As we continue this riparian restoration work, we are also focusing on expanding our efforts, not only by planting trees along the river, but by educating and engaging the public in green stormwater management efforts.
Starting with one small rain garden installation at Carnation Elementary School a few years ago, thanks to King County Flood Control Districts Flood Reduction Fund, we are now leading an effort to educate and connect community members, businesses and organizations in green infrastructure implementation. We are doing this collaboratively as we have all along with partners such as Nature Vision, The Snoqualmie Tribe, Aspect Consulting, King County, the City of Carnation, Full Circle Farm and Orenda Winery. Soon Stewardship Partners will sponsor workshops in Carnation that include educational talks and tools for green stormwater infrastructure implementation including cistern giveaways! We will also be installing a bioswale at Full Circle Farm to treat stormwater and production runoff before it reaches Griffin Creek!
Carnation Elementary School Rain Garden Installation
Carnation Elementary School Rain Garden Installation
As we quickly approach the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day we urge folks to take action alongside Stewardship Partners and all our friends as we continue to pave the way for innovative restoration of the land and water that sustain us. If your group, school, business or church would like to get involved with a one of our on the ground projects please contact Chris LaPointe at cl@stewardshippartners.org or sign up on the volunteer calendar on our website.
It’s hard to believe that we created the first ever Puget Sound Green Infrastructure Summit 5 whole years ago this month! It seems like yesterday and yet an awful lot has happened in those 5 years. This year we’re proud to again bring together a community of green infrastructure thought leaders from the .com, .org, .gov, and .edu sectors and from every corner of Puget Sound, this time in Tacoma on March 20th, 2020! It’s inspiring and humbling to hear from partners and attendees who credit the summit with catalyzing new projects, partnerships, and strategies to address some of the region’s most pressing and complex problems. Never ones to get stuck in a rut, the green infrastructure summit always touches on a lot more than the stormwater that green infrastructure is typically built to address. Like a rain garden, the reason to attend the summit goes way past one single problem or solution.
Scenes from the inspirational 2019 Summit
At this year’s summit, attendees will hear from professors, youth leaders, agency officials, nonprofits and businesses about the vast array of benefits that green infrastructure can provide. This year’s theme is “Growing green infrastructure: Impacts and Intersectionalities When Scaling Up.” We hope you can join us! Purchase your ticket here.
Supporters are central to the success of Stewardship Partners and are one of the main reasons why our programs had such a profound positive impact throughout our region this year. By supporting Stewardship Partners, you continue to support a healthy Puget Sound environment.
Your support this year allowed us to:
Plant 15,000 native trees and shrubs
Restore 2.4 river miles
Restore 10.5 acres of vital riparian habitat
Engage volunteers in over 2,800 hours of work
Grow our Salmon-Safe program to over 100 farms and vineyards
Grow our coalition of over 100 green infrastructure partners
Host the 2019 Green Infrastructure Summit and begin planning for the 2020 Summit, to be located outside of King County for the first time
Provide resources and financial incentives for green infrastructure ($100,000 of incentives awarded to date)
Engage in the Seattle Waterfront Project alongside new partners
Host the 10th Annual Feast on the Farm, raising over $151,000 in direct support of conservation and restoration initiatives in Puget Sound
