“Salmon School! What Will Happen Next?”: An Audiobook from Salish Coast Elementary First Graders

“Salmon School! What Will Happen Next?” is an audiobook by Ms. Stengel’s 2020-21 first grade class at Salish Coast Elementary. Inspired by their year-long project of raising salmon eggs (roe) in the classroom for eventual release into Chimacum Creek at Illahee Preserve, the story is about a student named Sam who finds himself transformed into…

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K-12 Educational Field Program is Growing Fast

Field Trip to Duckabush Oxbow and Wetlands Preserve

The thank you notes and poems arrived soon after Port Townsend first and second graders visited Illahee Preserve to learn about salmon. Inside were messages filled with warmth and gratitude. “Thank you for the experience of being in the forest,” Addie H. wrote. “Thank you for saving the salmons,” said Laverna. “I loved being a…

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Our Top 3 Reasons to Visit the Duckabush Oxbow & Wetlands Preserve

Roosevelt elk

In the Duckabush River Valley, more than 3,250 acres of permanently protected land create a corridor of wildlife habitat. This greenbelt corridor hosts a wide variety of species – fish, insects, amphibians, mammals and birds – that have relied on this land for thousands of years. In addition to providing important spawning and rearing habitat for…

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Roosevelt Elk Herd Expanding in the Duckabush River Valley

Roosevelt Elk in the Duckabush River Valley. Photo by Caitlin Battersby.

The Duckabush River greenbelt hosts many animals that have relied on this land for thousands of years. In addition to providing important spawning habitat for endangered salmon, wildlife such as bear, beaver, and cougar have all been observed there recently. And one more common, but no less magical, sighting on the Duckabush is its herd…

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Just Protected: Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve

Duckabush Mid-Reach Preserve

We’re celebrating a great success for wildlife on the Duckabush River this winter! Local sculptor Mark Fissler and his family worked with Jefferson Land Trust and our partners to protect 15 acres of their longtime family land in the middle reaches of the Duckabush River as a permanent wildlife preserve.

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2017 Accomplishments Report

Grant Street Elementary School first and second graders come to Chimacum Creek with us every year. They release the coho salmon fry they have been raising in school and have a blast learning and playing out on the land! Photo by Wendy Feltham.

Thanks to your support, it has been an incredible year for protecting local farms, forests and wildlife habitat. Jefferson Land Trust is a grass-roots group founded on the involvement of community members. Together, we accomplish more than we ever could as individuals. This work is done on your behalf, with your help, and it is only possible through the passion and generosity of our community of supporters.

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Snow Creek School Day

Blue Heron students surveyed microinvertebrates in Snow Creek. Credit Caitlin Battersby

A few weeks ago we headed out to Snow Creek with Blue Heron students to apply math and science lessons in the field. Students tested water quality in the stream, surveyed for macroinvertebrates, and put their math skills to work in a forestry lesson.

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Short Family Farm, Protected Forever!

Short's family farm

Roger and Sandy Short have ensured their family land, one of Jefferson County’s largest active farms, will never be subdivided or converted from agriculture. Home to popular products like delicious 100% grass-fed beef and “Magical Soil,” this 254-acre farm is an important anchor of Chimacum’s agricultural economy and community.

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