Olympic Peninsula Environmental News

Trees are blooming or budding out. Frogs are calling to each other. Lots of green is emerging from the ground. Spring is here and, with it, lots of opportunities for volunteering and connecting, both locally and regionally. Amy and I will do our best to wrangle the overflowing inbox into organized information-sharing!

With Earth Day coming up, please send us your Earth Day events information so we can share it out on our calendar and newsletter! We have been updating our calendar, so please remember to check it out in between newsletters and to send us your events to add.

Enjoy the vibrant greens of the season,

Angela of the Strait ERN

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Local Volunteer Opportunities

North Olympic Salmon Coalition is seeking volunteers. Sign up here.

As part of our Salmon in the Schools program, students have spent the last couple months raising coho salmon from eggs and now will get a chance to release them into a local waterway. They will also participate in several other activities such as macroinvertebrate studies, salmon life cycle games, art, and habitat tours. Volunteers help NOSC staff lead activities, set-up and take-down supplies, and ensure students rotate through activity stations safely. 

Dates: April 15th, 17th, 25th & May 1st, 8th, 9th Tentative timing is from 8:30am-1:30pm

Location: Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe House of Salmon Hatchery on the Elwha River

Dates: April 10th and 22nd Tentative timing is from 10am-2pm

Location: HJ Carrol Park on Chimacum Creek

Earth Day Beach Cleanup – Sun, Apr 19th
The PTMSC annual Earth Day beach cleanup brings volunteers together from far and wide to clean the beaches and roadways in our area. For more information, visit the event listing or contact Mandi Johnson at 360-385-5582 ext115.
Time: 9am-1pm Location: Meet at Fort Worden State Park or Chimacum Corner FarmstandEarth Day:  Make a Direct Impact – Sat, Apr 26thThis Earth Day weekend, dedicate your time to meaningful, hands-on activities that directly benefit the environment at Fort Flagler State Park. Participate in two impactful volunteering opportunities: Invasive Species Pull: Join a community effort to remove invasive plants that threaten our ecosystems. Beach Clean-Up: Take part in a shoreline cleanup to remove trash and plastic debris from our beautiful beaches. Specific locations will be provided via email after registration on Eventbrite.
Time: 10am-2pmLocation: Fort Flagler Historical State Park, 10541 Flagler Road NordlandLocal Events (Educational and Fun)

Olympic BirdFest: April 10-13

Four days of birding education, field trips, and more, centered at the Dungeness River Nature Center. Learn more and register here.

Celebrating Cougars! – Sun, Apr 13th Join Cedar Root School for a family-friendly afternoon celebrating local cougars. Learn about ecology and natural history from biologists, enjoy speed talks on cougars and conservation projects, and enjoy an excerpt from the upcoming film “Heart of a Lion,” which highlights work conducted by the Olympic Cougar Project.

Time: 3pm-8pmLocation: Finnriver Cidery, 124 Center Road, Chimacum, WA 98325
Class: Soil Care and Water-Wise Routines – Thu, Apr 10th or Sun, Apr 20th
What is soil? How can I care for it? How does it affect my plants? This class will explore basic soil science, how healthy soil grows healthy plants, and soil’s connection to water-wise habits. You’ll leave this class with answers to the above questions and a basic plan for how you can care for your own soil throughout the entire year. Registration is required. Send email for more information.
Time: Apr 10th, 4-6pm or Apr 20th, 10am-12pmLocation: The Hedgerow by Cruising Climate, 3059 7th Street, Port Townsend
Ancient Tribal Stewardship, Contemporary Relations to the Land – Thu, Apr 10th 
The Jefferson County Master Gardener Foundation presents this timely topic sponsored by the JCMGF and WSU Master Gardener Program. Loni Greninger, vice chair of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council, will speak about the relationship between S’Klallam people and the land and how land stewardship has changed over time.  Learn examples of land stewardship tools, traditional foods, tribal values, and how those values inspire contemporary land management practices. It is free and open to the public. For more information, go to the JCMGF website.
Time: 3 – 4pmLocation: WSU Extension classroom, Kivley Center, 97 Oak Bay Road, Port Hadlock
Jefferson WSU Extension Beach Naturalists Training – Apr 15th through May 15th

The Beach Naturalists training provides Jefferson and Clallam County residents with the opportunity to turn environmental knowledge into action! Through this multi-day training, participants will learn about Salish Sea habitats and species, conservation efforts, and ways to get involved in local marine stewardship. This training is taught by regional experts and includes Zoom classroom sessions and in-person guided beach explorations.
This year’s training includes 6 live Zoom classes and 5 optional field trip days, held Tuesdays and Thursdays, April 15 through May 15, 2025. For exact dates, registration, and further information, please visit our Eventbrite page. Contact Katie by email with any questions.
Friends of the East Jefferson Trails Connections Public Meeting – Thur, Apr 10th Linda Berry-Maraist, President of the North Kitsap Trails Connection (NKTA), will describe the land acquisitions now amounting to 5,000 acres, including the Sound to Olympics (STO) Trail route. This is an opportunity to get better acquainted with our neighbors as we coordinate efforts to build the trail connecting the STO with the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) between Hood Canal and Discovery Bay.
Time: 9 amLocation: Finnriver Farm and Cidery, 124 Center Road, ChimacumAround the Sound

PSP Action Plan Update: You’ve been seeing and will see lots of invitations to workshops for various parts of the PSP’s Action Plans. We’re in the middle of reviewing and updating Action Plans for 2026-2030. You can see the timeline and learn more about the overall process here. I try to share upcoming workshop info (see below, for example), but please let me know if you want information about additional opportunities for comments, review, etc, and I will create a separate email list that goes out more frequently.

PSP Science Panel Meeting: The agenda and meeting materials for the April 10 Science Panel meeting are now available. This meeting will be held in-person at the Center for Urban Waters, Commencement Bay Room, 326 E D St., Tacoma, WA 98421. The meeting will also be livestreamed (view only) through TVW. The link can be found on the agenda. You can also use the TVW link to view a recording of the meeting later.

Webinar: Planners’ Briefing For Puget Sound Parcel-Scale Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment

Learn more and register here: https://www.coastalplanners.org/upcoming-webinars

Time: Friday, April 18, 2025, 10-11am New Marine Vegetation Strategy Workshops, Virtual, April 23-24The Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead (HSIL) is developing the Marine Vegetation Implementation Strategy. The Implementation Strategy will build off a foundation established through two regional plans, the Puget Sound Eelgrass Recovery Strategy and the Puget Sound Kelp Conservation and Restoration Plan and coalesce the priorities and needs from both plans into a comprehensive strategy. The Marine Vegetation Implementation Strategy will describe priority strategies and approaches to protect and recover marine vegetation in Puget Sound. The Strategy will also help guide Puget Sound investments and align recovery opportunities across agencies and programs. 

Learn more and register here.

Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Hub: The Puget Sound Partnership is launching a new Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Hub, an innovative, interactive online platform designed to centralize and share vital information about Chinook salmon recovery efforts in the Puget Sound Region.Other News and Events

Local Prairies, North Olympic Land Trust: Learn about the North Olympic Land Trust’s work with native prairies in this short video.Recording: The Habitat Strategic Initiative Lead (HSIL) Subrecipient Summit brings together HSIL-funded project leads, HSIL staff, Habitat Strategic Initiative Advisory Team, and partners to enhance connections across the diverse and critical work to implement the Habitat Implementation Strategies. Summit recording includes welcome remarks from WDFW and DNR leadership, 3 deep dive presentations and 22 4 minute lightning talks from HSIL grant recipients. Summit recording
The Quileute Tribe is hiring a Fish Passage Biologist. See job description for more information about the position and how to apply.Coastal Hazards Resilience Network Annual Meeting, June 9, Lacey, WA

Join coastal decision-makers, planners, resource managers, researchers, and other practitioners for a day of knowledge sharing and partnership-building around the exciting and important work that is currently happening in Washington’s coastal resilience space. This event is targeted towards coastal hazards and climate resiliency practitioners from local, state, and federal government agencies, tribes, academic institutions, consulting firms, and nonprofit organizations, and other relevant organizations.
Learn more and register at: CHRN Meeting Registration

Strait Ecosystem Recovery Network

See what’s happening – Strait Eco Events Calendar!

Email: coordinator@straitern.org

Website: www.straitern.org

Filed under: Environmental Activism, Olympic Peninsula | Tagged: volunteer | Comments Off on Local Environmental Volunteer Opportunities