PADILLA BAY — A diverse group of community members who share an appreciation for the region’s natural beauty and an interest in protecting it became Salish Sea Stewards this month.
The group that graduated from the course mid-May includes recent retirees, some who are new to the area, and some who are looking to further their academic studies or careers.
With 34 graduates, it is the largest class for the volunteer Salish Sea Stewards program, which is in its fourth year.
“This isn’t the end of anything. This is just a stepping off point,” Coastal Volunteer Partnership Coordinator Samantha Russell said at the graduation. “What’s exciting is what happens next with whatever programs stood out or spoke to you that you want to get involved with.”
Over the past 10 weeks, the new Salish Sea Stewards learned about the marine environment, marine wildlife and projects to protect and restore them.
The idea of the Salish Sea Stewards program is to connect those taking part with a variety of projects that rely on volunteers, and to provide the training they need to get involved.
“I thought this would be a great way to engage more in ways that help the marine life and the marine environment in the area,” graduate Tom Flanagan of Anacortes told the Skagit Valley Herald while putting his new skills to use on the Fidalgo Bay shoreline.
Russell said 2017 Salish Sea Stewards’ have transitioned from education to action. They will all soon spend time on local beaches collecting data, welcoming visitors at the Breazeale Interpretive Center at Padilla Bay and participating in dozens of other projects.
“It’s exciting to have a lot of opportunities to pull from,” Russell said. “We have a really diverse group of volunteers, so it’s great to give them all these different options.”
Northwest Straits Commission Chair Nan McKay said in a graduation speech that volunteers working for the health of Puget Sound and surrounding waters that make up the Salish Sea are more important now than ever.
She said she has worked to protect Puget Sound since 1985 and has seen progress, but is worried about the future because of potential cuts to federal funding and to federal protections for the environment.
“A lot of things we have accomplished over the years are under threat now,” McKay said.
Russell said those threats, such as a potential loss of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding and less federal attention on climate change may have sparked more interest in the Salish Sea Stewards program this year.
“I think that people have been compelled to act since November,” she said. “I wouldn’t say the interest in this program is derived solely from that source, (but) I do think it has helped us reach younger individuals.”
A diverse group
The 34 new stewards range in age from 13 to 82. Thirteen of them are under 50 — a change from the typical volunteer demographic of retirees.
The youngest new steward, seventh-grader Caden Walker, participated in the training program with his dad Brian Walker.
“I really enjoyed the presentation about different sea life in Puget Sound,” said Caden, whose favorite subjects in school are math and science, and who hopes to put his love of kayaking to use this summer doing kelp surveys.
Brian Walker, who works in the wastewater industry, said the program was a good fit for both him and his son.
“I have a fair notion of water quality issues, and Caden has always shown an interest in marine biology, so the Salish Sea Stewards was a really good fit,” he said. “We’ve been really impressed with the quality of education that this program is providing.”
Some new stewards, such as 18-year-old Alena Eldridge, were drawn to the program by the education component.
“I’m just really interested in marine biology and the ecology of the Puget Sound area. It was something to further my knowledge,” she said.
This fall, Eldridge plans to study oceanography at the University of Washington.
