Adopt A Stream Foundation Programs
Streamkeeper Academy
Staff and 26 adjunct professors are currently offering an average of 5000 students a year training in the habitats and habitat requirements of NW fish & wildlife, stream and wetland ecology, and the “politics of water quality.” The Washington Science Teachers Association accredits all courses, and several are accredited by WWU. During 2012, a record number of students attended - 5152 kids and adults!
Environmental Education Material Production
We have published Adopting A Stream: A NW Handbook; Adopting A Wetland: A NW Guide; and the Streamkeeper’s Field Guide: Watershed Inventory and Stream Monitoring Methods. We also produced the Streamkeeper video Starring Bill Nye “the Science Guy.” This material along with material from other publishers is distributed nationally through the Nature Store at the NW Stream Center.
Stream/Wetland Restoration Technical Assistance
Our talented team of ecologist and technicians help local communities restore degraded streams and wetlands. We completed over 400 successful projects including restoring wetlands from a parking area, demolishing a dam barriers to salmon migration, removing numerous man made barriers to salmon migration including dams and culverts under roads, restored several miles of riparian vegetation, and installing hundreds of in-stream fish habitat structures in local streams.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
Recent Successes
During 2012 there were several major successes including a record attendance of 5,152 kids and adults attending Streamkeeper Academy events.
Several stream restoration projects were completed as well including 541’ of new stream channel at the lower end of a small stream in Kenmore.
However, the event that seemed to capture the most attention was the removal of three 85’- long culvert overtopped by a dirt road crossing Little Bear Creek in Woodinville – and the restoration of a new salmon spawning channel that was used by Sockeye salmon three weeks who were captured on King TV!
A link to that show is on
www.streamkeeper.org.
Current Needs
During the last several years, we have been creating the Northwest Stream Center on a 20-acre site next to North Creek.
It will become a regional environmental learning center with stream and wetland ecology and fish and wildlife habitat restoration as its central themes.
So far, a Visitors Building has been constructed, 3-acres of wetlands have been restored from a 4-acre parking lot, and a 160-long outdoor Trout Stream Exhibit is 95% complete.
Now, we are raising $500,000 to construct a ½-mile long Elevated Nature Trail that will lead up to 45,000 visitors a year through a complex wetland an forest system next to North Creek.
At the end of January 2013, we were just $69,500 short of our goal!
Our most immediate need is to complete the boardwalks so that we can open the Northwest Steam Center to the public.