Backyard birdwatchers can help researchers create a real-time snapshot of how birds are surviving the winter by participating in the 14th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) Feb. 18-21.

The GBBC is always conducted in February to see where birds are just before spring migrations begin in March. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each of the four days. It doesn’t matter whether you report five species coming to your backyard feeder or 75 species you see during a day’s outing to a wildlife refuge. Tally the highest number of each species seen together at any one time, then report them through an Internet online checklist.

As the count progresses, you can explore what’s being reported from your own town or anywhere in the United States and Canada. You can also see how this year’s numbers compare with those from previous years.

The GBBC is led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, with Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada and sponsorship from Wild Birds Unlimited.

Many other on-the-ground, local wildlife events are coming up this spring that are worth marking on your calendar now.

February 26 – 27 is the 6th annual Port Susan Snow Goose and Birding Festival, sponsored by the Pilchuck Audubon Society, Stanwood Chamber of Commerce, Island County, Camano Island Chamber of Commerce and many others. For details on all events, including talks by Vasiliy Baranyuk from Wrangel Island Nature Reserve and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Waterfowl Manager Don Kraege.

March (dates to be determined) is when volunteers are needed for the 13th annual Oregon spotted frog egg mass surveys at Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge in the Glenwood Valley of Klickitat County, just southeast of Mount Adams, about 1.5 hours east-northeast of Portland. WDFW coordinates this volunteer monitoring effort to learn more about this amphibian species at greatest risk of extirpation in the Pacific Northwest. For more information, contact Tiffany.Hicks@dfw.wa.gov .

March 19 is the 9th annual “Wings Over Water” Northwest Birding Festival in Mount Vernon, sponsored by the Washington Brant Foundation, dedicated to conservation of and education about brant and other marine bird species in the Pacific Flyway.

March 19 is also the Tundra Swan Festival at Calispell Lake in northeast Washington’s Pend Oreille County, sponsored by the Pend Oreille River Tourism Alliance with pre-and post-swan-viewing talks at the Camas Center for Community Wellness at Usk.

March 25-27 is the 14th annual Othello Sandhill Crane Festival in Othello, sponsored by the Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce and the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service), and supported by the City of Othello, Othello School District and Othello Community Schools. Details will soon be available for scheduled wildlife tours and events, including a traditional Saturday night banquet with keynote speaker.

April 29 – May 1 is the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival Grays, sponsored by Grays Harbor Audubon Society, Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, and the City of Hoquiam.
This annual event celebrates the hundreds of thousands of shorebirds that stop to rest and feed in Grays Harbor estuary on their migration northward, some coming from as far south as Argentina and heading for the Arctic for a round trip of over 15,000 miles!

May 14 is International Migratory Bird Day and there are several events around the state on or around the date:

• 11th annual Tukwila Backyard Wildlife Festival, sponsored by City of Tukwila, National Wildlife Federation, Puget Sound Energy, REI, King Conservation District, and Ed Hume Seeds.
• 9th annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest, May 12-15, sponsored by many local organizations and businesses.
• Several U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges in Washington, like Nisqually near Olympia and Turnbull near Spokane, conduct International Migratory Bird Day events.
• May 20-21 is a Point Defiance Park “BioBlitz” in Tacoma, sponsored by the Pierce County Biodiversity Alliance, Tacoma Metro Parks and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. A “BioBlitz” is an intensive 24-hour biological survey using volunteer citizen scientists to list all living things (birds, mammals, fish, insects, plants, etc.) in a given area to create a management data base. Contact Craig Standridge for more information at craig.standridge@pdza.org

Seattle — On February 24^th several local organizations will be honored by Salmon-Safe and its Seattle-based outreach partner, The Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability (NBIS), for their commitment to protecting wildlife habitats and improving water quality in the Puget Sound region. Properties receiving Salmon-Safe certification include the UW’s Seattle campus; REI’s headquarters, distribution center and downtown flagship store; the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park; and PCC Natural Market’s Edmonds store. In addition, Turner Construction will be recognized as the first Salmon-Safe accredited construction management company.

Salmon-Safe, which began as a program designed to help farmers restore salmon streams, is the only certification program in the country specifically dedicated to protecting water quality and habitat for salmon. “These environmentally innovative landowners are adopting healthier practices so that salmon can once again thrive in Puget Sound’s urban tributaries,” said Dan Kent, Salmon-Safe’s executive director. “We hope that these projects in the urban core of Seattle will inspire other landowners to take action to reduce watershed impacts in cities and suburbs across the region.”

Prior to the establishment of the urban program Salmon Safe was mostly focused on certifying farms and vineyards, having certified over 80 farms in the Puget Sound region.  Building upon that success, Washington’s Salmon-Safe urban initiative was launched in 2007 by the Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability (NBIS) with support from the Puget Sound Partnership and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. A 2008 pilot round of Salmon-Safe certifications included the UW’s Bothell campus, Port of Seattle Parks, and Washington State Department of Ecology’s headquarters near Olympia.

More than a decade after first certifying farms in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Salmon-Safe has become one of the nation’s leading regional eco-label programs with more than 60,000 acres of farm and urban lands certified throughout Oregon, Washington, and California. Recognizing that rapid growth in the urban landscape is the biggest single factor affecting the Puget Sound ecosystem, NBIS joined with Salmon-Safe in 2007 to launch the Puget Sound urban initiative. Salmon-Safe standards for urban properties help landowners develop comprehensive management plans and innovations that capture and treat stormwater on site, reduce water consumption, and eliminate harmful fertilizers and pesticides.

To qualify for Salmon-Safe certification, each organization went above and beyond local and state regulations to adopt significant measures to restore in-stream habitat, conserve water, protect streamside and wetland habitats, reduce erosion and sedimentation, and reduce the use of chemical pesticides.

The University of Washington, for example, is receiving Salmon-Safe certification in recognition of a campus-wide stormwater management program, innovative irrigations systems, and commitments to drought tolerant landscaping and to integrated pest management of gardens and athletic fields.  The University is also committed to Salmon-Safe design and construction management for future campus expansion projects and will undertake additional shoreline restoration projects to improve habitat for migrating salmon.

PCC Natural Markets is earning Salmon-Safe certification for its environmentally innovative redesign and development of a three-acre former supermarket site in Edmonds. Specifically, PCC’s Edmonds store is being recognized for harvesting rooftop rainwater for irrigation and other reuse, incorporating low input landscaping, and for treatment of parking lot runoff through rain gardens. PCC Natural Markets was the first Washington state retailer to support and promote Salmon-Safe’s certification program for farms and vineyard operations. With the certification of its Edmonds store, PCC is the first Washington retail store to become Salmon-Safe certified.

REI is receiving certification for three Puget Sound area sites and for system-wide plans to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use. REI has also committed to increase water conservation across its operations by installing rain gardens, wetlands and other measures to treat stormwater runoff before it reaches streams adjacent to REI’s headquarters in Kent and its distribution center in Sumner. REI’s flagship store in Seattle will also be recognized for its design, which includes native plants, pesticide-free landscaping, and the collection of rainwater for use in the property’s waterfall and stream feature.

The Olympic Sculpture Park will be awarded Salmon-Safe certification for restoration of a former brownfield site and the adjacent beach and inter-tidal areas. The park is also being recognized for use of native plant beddings and the use of interpretive signs, as well as efforts to conserve irrigation water and treat stormwater runoff through restored soils.

The event to honor the organizations receiving certification will be held on Feb. 24, 2011 at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. Hosted by the University of Washington, expected guests include:  Phyllis Wise, interim president at the University of Washington; Mark Comstock, Vice President of Real Estate and Store Development, REI; Derrick Cartwright, Director of the Seattle Art Museum; Tracy Wolpert, CEO of PCC Natural Markets and Jack Beaudoin, Vice President and General Manager of Turner Construction. The media are invited to attend the event, which will begin at 3:30 p.m.

To learn more about Salmon-Safe certification and other participating organizations and products, visit www.salmonsafe.org.

About Salmon-Safe
Salmon-Safe is a registered and independent 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to protecting water quality and the Puget Sound’s waterways and to enhancing the region’s overall environmental health. Salmon-Safe works across the West Coast through a partner network consisting of place-based conservation organizations and watershed groups as well as collaborating certification organizations. For more information, visit www.salmonsafe.org.

About NBIS
The Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability (NBIS) is the Northwest non-profit dedicated to enabling professionals and businesses in driving profitable sustainability.  Since 2003, NBIS has been providing educational, networking, coaching and leadership development programs to accelerate sustainable best practices in companies and organizations throughout the Northwest.  NBIS’ diverse range of programs leverages business leadership for strong economies, sustainable communities and healthy ecosystems.  Visit NBIS at www.nbis.org

About Stewardship Partners
Stewardship Partners is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that helps private landowners restore and preserve the natural landscapes of Washington State. The Stewardship Partners mission is to work with diverse interest groups to build bridges and find solutions that achieve mutual goals of environmental protection, economic health, and community well being. Our projects restore fish and wildlife habitat, improve water quality, protect open space, and “green up” the built environment while maintaining working landscapes of farms, forestland, and livable communities throughout the State. www.stewardshippartners.org

In addition to these Western Washington organizations, Salmon Safe includes an alliance of seven other environmental non-profit organizations from Marin County to northern British Columbia.

Often when you see people giving donations to plant trees, or saving a forest sometimes it’s never really as close or as significant when it’s right in your own backyard. This is the case with Trillium Forest located on Whidbey Island in Washington. The 664-acre property is the largest piece of privately owned property in Island County. Before it went into foreclosure it was originally divided into 124 plots and approved for development. This property is literally less than 3 miles from where my husband and I are in Greenbank, and just north of Freeland. In a rural setting, this is your backyard.

A nine-inch Northwestern Salamander on a Red Alder log. Whidbey Is. Photo by Robert J. Pennington.

Earlier this year the Whidbey Camano Land Trust was given the option to purchase the property and raise $4.2 Million. If successful, the WCLT would work to turn it back into recreational trails for hikers, birders, horseback riders, etc., and help restore the health and wildlife of a forest that had been logged back in 1988.

If the funds cannot be raised, the property will be divided and sold privately. Originally the Land Trust had until June 10th to raise the funds. As luck would have it they received an extension until September 10th.

So here we are on September 1st, just ten days away and I feel like I’m watching a horse race between thousands of people trying to save a forest and a financial institution. (I promised myself, I wouldn’t go there). Because I am familiar with the work the Whidbey Camano Land Trust does, it boggles my mind to see them spearhead what would seemingly be an impossible mission. As of this writing they need just $900,000. $300,000 has already been promised, leaving $600,000 left. From their newsletter posting today, “To help raise the remaining $600,000, an existing donor has made a pledge to match, dollar for dollar, the first person to donate $100,000 between now and September 10. After the Land Trust raises $600,000, a second anonymous donor will contribute the remaining $300,000 needed to complete the campaign.” That’s not much considering where they started, but it’s a still a big stretch in 10 days.

Curled fern. Whidbey Is. Photo by Robert J. Pennington

While it does comes down to money, it’s about so much more than that. It’s about watching people from all over Island County and beyond, work together to save this giant piece of land. You cannot walk into a local store, cafe, or lumberyard without seeing donation jars with “Save the Forest Now” buttons and postcards on them. Hikers, joggers, birders, photographers, horseback riders, and other groups lead talks and rides through the property. Even small schoolchildren are not spared, helping raise funds and teaching people about why we need to Save the Forest Now.

If saved, I have no doubt this forest could become one of the best teaching grounds and case studies in the U.S., both environmentally and socially. It can even provide inspiration for more successful transactions while leaving an important legacy for generations to come. The reach of what happens in the next few days goes far beyond the waters around an island in Puget Sound. If it can happen here, the lessons learned can teach others everywhere not just how to save a piece of land against the odds and in a recession, but how to bring a much larger community together, regardless of politics, religion or economic status.

So now it’s down to the wire and I’ve got my money on “Trillium” comin’ up on the outside, yelling, “Go baby! Go!” A photo finish for the ages.

Offset your carbon footprint! Find out more about this property and how you can donate, check out the status on the Whidbey Camano Land Trust’s site: www.SaveTheForestNow.org

Or contact the WCLT at:

Whidbey Camano Land Trust
765 Wonn Road, Barn C-201
Greenbank, WA 98253

by Sherrye Wyatt

They say bold moves make history. After a 25-year legacy of successfully pioneering the protection of natural places, working farmlands, and other significant lands, the Whidbey Camano Land Trust is about to make history once more.

The Trillium property from the south © 2010 Veronica von Allwörden

The Land Trust recently purchased an option to buy the largest parcel of forest land under single ownership on Whidbey Island. The group has until June 10, 2010, to raise the $4.2 million required to purchase and permanently protect the 664 acres and has launched a community-wide effort to raise the money. Local organizations and individuals are joining the cause and announcing their support daily as they race to raise enough money in time.

After the property has been purchased, it will be open for use as a community natural area, with the Land Trust holding a conservation easement. A management plan will then be developed that allows reasonable recreation, such as hiking, biking and equestrian use, while taking into account the needs of the forest’s flora and fauna.

“Protecting the 664 acres will allow it to return to a healthy forest that provides wildlife habitat, public recreational opportunities, and a place where current and future generations can experience nature,” says Pat Powell, executive director of the Land Trust.

The forest, often referred to as the Trillium property, has a dramatic and sometimes emotional history. Located on the south end of Whidbey Island, between Freeland and Greenbank, the forest was owned and periodically logged by timber companies for decades, much to the distress of many islanders. Most recently, the property was subdivided into approximately 124 housing lots and soon after fell into foreclosure.

Save the Forest Now Campaign

“This is the last chance to save this remarkable property. If our efforts to raise the money fail, individual lots will be sold and developed over time,” says Powell. “If that happens, our opportunity to protect it will be lost forever. We are looking for key individuals with the financial means to join the community in helping save the forest now.”

When forest land is converted to residential use, much of the wildlife habitat disappears and never returns. Roads create barriers to wildlife movement and homeowners replace trees and native understory with buildings, lawns, and driveways. Water is then directed to culverts and ditches rather than slowly seeping back into the aquifer.

The property is particularly important because of its size. The larger the tract, the better able it is to provide habitat for species that need large areas. If the area is broken into smaller pieces and houses are built, habitat will be fragmented and will support less wildlife. This ecological disruption is irreversible. If the property is developed, Whidbey Island will lose a large wildlife habitat and corridor with a rich diversity of species.

The forest includes parts of three watersheds. The largest watershed flows into Mutiny Bay. Two smaller watersheds drain to the west, one at Bush Point and one that flows through South Whidbey State Park. There are wetlands and small streams distributed throughout the more than one square mile of land, all critical to support the many wildlife species found there.

“It’s important to plan for smart growth,” says Powell. “Whidbey Island will continue to develop, but we need to focus development in the right places, where infrastructure like roads and utilities are already in place, not in one of the last, best, large, forested properties on the island.”

The site can sustain both human recreation and habitat for wildlife. Narrow trails and quiet recreational use do not disturb small birds and other wildlife in the same way that roads, cars, houses, and lawnmowers do. There is already a limited network of established roads and trails within the boundaries of the property. These can serve as the primary system for trails.

According to local realtors, South Whidbey Island currently has more than four-and-a-half years’ worth of vacant (undeveloped) land on the market. To add up to 124 more lots into this depressed real estate market could drive the prices of the existing lots down even further and is unlikely to result in new construction jobs.

Is the Land Trust worried it might be difficult to raise so much money so quickly, especially during this current economic climate?

“We are actually encouraged by the positive response we’re already getting. People love this place. One reason we all live here is because we still have forests like this one, surrounded by water and mountains. Besides, miracles happen every day, especially on Whidbey Island,” says Powell.

To contribute or to learn more about how to get involved in the campaign, call (360) 222-3310 or visit www.savetheforestnow.org. You may send your donation to the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, Attention: Save the Forest Now, 765 Wonn Road, Barn C-201, Greenbank, WA 98253.

In the early days of our working on our property we would come across the usual wildlife suspects, voles, frogs, deer, garter snakes, and the occasional rabbit. We could hear the coyotes at night howling and knew they were in the area. My husband Bob is like a magnet for animals. It’s pretty funny for a guy who is allergic to cats and dogs. Every time I moan about wanting a dog, he says, “honey, just think of the animals of the forests like they’re our outdoor pets.” Yeah…not buyin’ it, Bob.

Barred Owl

For a while there it was pretty gruesome. We would find various parts of small unrecognizable fuzzy parts in our paths. But nothing can prepare you for the cry of a 230 lb., 6’5” man screaming my name in the woods as if he has just chopped off his leg with a chainsaw. I came running only to find my husband with no blood on him anywhere but just this horrified look on his face. I was completely puzzled and then I saw what he had in his hands. He had accidentally stepped on a baby bunny that couldn’t have been more than a day old. He was holding it in his hands offering it to me like Lenny to George in John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” It had a tiny spot of blood on it’s nose, and while I know full well you’re supposed to leave animals like this to nature, this was not nature’s fault, it was man’s. We also knew the mother was dead, found about twenty-five feet away with its head missing. We basically convinced ourselves we were its only hope, mostly to calm Bob down who was just beside himself with guilt.

Our neighbor helped us look up on the Internet what to do with a baby rabbit, and we learned we could feed it some kitten replacement milk. We also learned that you had to stimulate its anus with a Q-tip so it could pass a micropoop. Lovely. But the real irony was that we drove it seventy miles back to Seattle where I found a local vet who yelled at me and threatened to call the Fish & Game Warden. What’s that expression? Ah yes, no good deed goes unpunished. The gal behind the desk felt bad and gave me the name of the Sarvey Wildlife Center. Sarvey rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife in the Pacific Northwest. Animals receive immediate medical care, food, and shelter and stay until they are ready for release back into the wild.

It was getting harder to let go of little “Nettles,” as we named it. Its little ears had popped up and damn it was cute. It began drinking more milk and moving around. The next day Bob drove it North to Arlington. Another 100-mile trek (his penance for stepping on the thing). When he got there he told me it was like the land of misfit animals. An eagle with one wing, limping three-legged animals, a one-eyed bird and the like. He sat in the waiting room with a little kid who had a squirrel in a box. Bob handed Nettles off to a kind woman there and told her about how we found the mother. She immediately put it next to her skin where it could hear her heartbeat and said to us, you must have owls. They like the head. It has all the yummy parts. So after driving roughly 300 miles for this ordeal, and paying a fifty buck donation in our quest to save a little wildlife, the mildlife could also sleep that night. We’re not sure what happened after that, but we knew we did the best we could do.

Oddly enough the following weekend Bob was hooking up a water spigot with a long 100-foot garden hose. I was walking towards him when an enormous Barred Owl swooped down above his head within three feet of his bald spot. Bob didn’t even see him. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It then perched in a branch above his head and turned its head as if to say him, “Dude, you took my Scooby-snack.”

When your town is a largely built-out community, the last vestiges of open land take on new meaning. The attempt to determine their future is fraught with tugs on either end of the rope—to build or not, at existing zoning or not, for greater good or not, so as to leave a legacy or not. Control is in the hands of the owner and in the will of the local legislators and review boards. Adding to the mix are the many municipalities across the country that are working diligently to conserve the best remnants through public purchase programs.

As an example, the Town of Huntington, Long Island is assembling a quilt of varying land patches of green to be sewn together by trails, both off and on road. The pieces of nature and assorted other sites are the prime objectives. The local mantra of a national land preservation organization once was, “Saving the last of the least and the best of the rest.” Working for my hometown, the charge is simpler, “What means the most?” With a hungry trend of larger homes and their insatiable tentacles of spreading amenities, subdivisions have swallowed up farms, fields, woods, wetlands, and engulfing views once taken for granted. When a community chooses to tax itself to protect open space, the charge is clear. While the pressure to develop mounts, an appointed volunteer committee reaches out to landowners and asks for an opportunity to appraise their land in the hope of securing it. It is all based on good faith and only proceeds where there is a potentially willing seller. The program is driven mainly by nominations from those that live and work in the community.

Given a blank slate, anyone you ask anywhere could come up with their own priority list for preservation. A local program provides flexibility to balance interests. The acquisitions become unique in their purpose and site condition. What people cherish most about the lands they wish to see purchased is as variable as the acres and their potential. Together they embody community values. In Huntington, lands preserved over the past eight years include farms, sites held by families for generations, ex-government properties, and lands slated for development.

The sites are as notorious as they are cherished, to cite a few: the former home of jazz-legend John Coltrane to be preserved for musical history; a small dairy farm with the last two cows in town provides a destination for children of all ages to mingle and touch farm animals; an abandoned rail line that serves as a community trail; a maritime reserve for endangered shorebirds; an historic homestead providing a doorway to 100 woodland acres and which, through its renovation, evolves into an environmental education center; a diminutive gateway park to anchor and herald downtown revitalization efforts; a former federal Veteran’s Administration site to be reborn as a regional sports complex; a turn-of-the-century farm estate to host a wildlife rehabilitation center with nature programming. Rachel Carson once wrote, “To truly appreciate land, you must look upon it as if you are seeing it for the first time or as if you knew you’d never see it again.” The cost of land in suburban Long Island, New York is high and the competition for resources can be fierce, but the results are at once obvious yet, intangible.

Standing as witness to that first time a child gasps at a hawk resting in a low tree limb, or a group stumbles on a panoramic water view having hiked the twists and turns of mossy paths through dense mountain laurel, or a team engages in fast play on the opening of a new ball field is, without a doubt, simply priceless. A united municipal board that supports a community-based land conservation program is what makes it all possible. It is the true will of government, using public resources to recycle open, or not so open, land into parkland. In this case, a good deed is one in which a municipality can be the grantee.

Margo Myles is an environmentalist and Coordinator of Open Space Conservation for the Town of Huntington on Long Island in NY.