Information submitted by Ivar Dolph, call him for more information.

Immerse Yourself In Puget Sound Waters!

Join WSU Beach Watchers in Skagit County

• Do you love to spend time on Puget Sound shorelines?

• Are you interested in increasing your marine ecology knowledge and stewardship skills?

• Are you enthusiastic about sharing information with others or want to be involved in research or restoration efforts that help to better understand and protect local natural resources?

Then we invite you to become a Beach Watcher! Beach Watchers are professionally-trained volunteers dedicated to protecting Puget Sound’s fragile environment through education, research, public awareness and example. 

For the first time, the 100-hour WSU Beach Watcher training is being offered in Skagit County based at the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Reserve on Mondays and Thursday, 9AM – 3:30 PM between 9/12 – 10/31.  It includes expert presentations, field trips and hands-on practice in coastal processes, marine organism identification, marine birds, public education, scientific monitoring, restoration practices and so much more.  In return, Beach Watchers continue learning while contributing at least 100 volunteer hours to scientific surveys, educating students and the public and developing community shoreline projects.   Another training program will take place in central Snohomish County in Spring 2006.

To get more information or to request an application packet, contact Chrys Bertolotto, Beach Watcher Coordinator, WSU Cooperative Extension - Snohomish / Skagit County, Chrys@wsu.edu, (360) 428-4270 or (425) 338-2400, ext 5535.  Class size is limited:  applications are due on 8/31/05.    

*****

We Need You To Get Outside!

Spend your Summer on the Shoreline with People For Puget Sound!

Starting this July and wrapping up in September, you can join the People For Puget Sound Rapid Shoreline Inventory team on Guemes Island!  The RSI is the building block for the Bays Blueprint, an important and handy tool relied upon heavily by the Marine Resource Committees and the People for Puget Sound for conservation and restoration projects. Now we are headed for the shores of Guemes Island!  

We are seeking volunteers interested in collecting data, being team leaders, performing quality assurance and folks who are good at data entry.  Your proximity to Anacortes is a plus if you’re a data collector or team leader.  Data entry will be performed in the Central Office in Seattle.  

Team Leader training begins AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!  Dates for Data Collection Training are tentatively July 7th and July 8th to be followed by field classes the 8th, 9th, and 10th.

Please contact Starla DeLorey at 206-382-7007 or sdelorey@pugetsound.org for more information.

If you are NOT interested, please let Starla know and you will be removed from this email batch.