4

Join the Puget Creek Restoration Society Name:___________________________________________________________________________

Address:_________________________________________________________________________

City:____________________________ State:______________ Zip:_________________________

Phone:__________________________ E-mail:__________________________________________

Membership Dues (check one) Donation (annual support) ____ Business - $50/year ____ Mad Scientist - $250/year

____ Family - $30/year ____ Naturalist - $100/year

____ Individual - $20/year ____ Steward - $75/year

____ Work nine or more volunteer hours ____ Friend - $50/year

____ Other ____ Other (ours & your dreams)

Which of the following types of activities are you interested in? (please check all that apply)

____ Office work ____ Research

____ Restoration activities ____ Education/Outreach

____ Legislative issues ____ Salmon enhancement projects

Note: The PCRS is a 501c(3) organization and your dues are tax deductible.

702 Broadway Suite 101 - Tacoma, WA 98402

253.555.1234

www.pugetcreek.org

e: pcrs@pugetcreek.org

Does the SYTI Program Interest You?

Are you in school and/or wanting to gain real world job experience in the environmental non-profit field making you more com-

petitive in the job market?

If so, the SYTI (Student, Youth, Job Training Internship) program might be for you.

SYTI is an internship program for qualifying high school, college, tech and university students to gain experience in the environ-

mental, non-profit field.

If you think SYTI might be right for you, contact Lisa Lawrence by calling (253) 779-8890 or by emailing syti@pugetcreek.org.

Page 4 Summer 2013 1

We want YOUR

help!

Puget Creek Restoration Work

Second Saturday Each month

8 am to 1 pm

Call for meeting location

Parking is available along Ruston Way as well as the west side of N Alder Way . Walk half of a block North Alder to the grass area at the TPU site that is to the left of a gravel area. Look for the PCRS banner . Refreshments, rubber boots, and gloves provided. Dress for changing weather conditions and wear clothes you can get dirty.

Or, schedule your group

This spring, students from four 4th

and 5th grade classes from area

schools, their teachers, and parent

chaperones attended PCRS’

Watershed Adventures program.

Watershed Adventures is a FREE,

science based program for 4th and

5th grade students in the Tacoma

(and surrounding) school districts.

Working in conjunction with STEM

education curriculum and

Washington State Outdoor Education

curriculum requirements, Watershed

Adventures provides hands on

environmental science education in a

field setting as an adjunct to students’

classroom science curriculum.

Students apply what they learn in the

classroom by using real scientific

practices and equipment.

They devise a question and/or develop a

hypothesis about the environment and

then set out to answer the question or

prove/disprove the hypothesis.

Students learn about gathering baseline

data as a first step in seeking solutions to

environmental challenges and

concerns. In addition to stream and

habitat assessment and restoration, they

learn what they, their families and

communities can do to help reduce the

effects of non-point source pollution.

Using scientific equipment and protocol

they engage in water quality testing for:

temperature, dissolved oxygen,

phosphate, nitrate, fecal coliform

bacteria, bio chemical oxygen demand,

turbidity and pH. They learn the causes

and importance of these values.

They learn to assess stream/salmon

habitat and the importance of balance in

the ecosystem by identifying native

plants and trees as well as non-native

invasive species and actively engage in

restoration work to eradicate non-native

invasive species and to plant native

species. They also learn how

manipulation of the environment can

create conditions where a native species

such as Reed Canary Grass can become

invasive.

Most important, the students are active,

engaged, and outside.

In addition to classroom and field work,

there is a digital component to the

program which includes a blog, database

and online forum which allows our

students (like the real scientists they are

learning to become) to collaborate, share

data, and be part of/create the solutions.

This digital component brings their field

science into the 21st century and beyond.

These students are amazing, and they

are the future!

-Lisa Lawrence, Watershed Adventures

Program Coordinator

Summer 2013 Page 1

Our Watershed Adventures Program

This Issue

Our Watershed Adventures Program

Benefits of Woody Debris for Stream Restoration

Come Join Us!

Bat Monitoring Methods

Intern Highlight: Zoe Keskey

Want to Be a Docent for Our Watershed Adventures Program?

Does the SYTI Program Interest You? Contact Information:

702 Broadway Suite 101 - Tacoma, WA 98402

253.555.1234

www.pugetcreek.org

email: pcrs@pugetcreek.org

(Students in the WA Program)

2

Summer 2013

PCRS is always looking for vol-

unteers. Interested in Field

work? Scott’s field hours are Sat-

urday at 8AM-1PM, Sunday at

8AM-2PM, Monday at 1PM-5PM,

Page 2

There have been many studies on the

benefits of large woody debris (LWD)

jams for salmonids. The LWD acts as

overwintering habitat for juveniles

and rest areas for migrating adults.

However, many streams have been

cleared in the past for aesthetic rea-

sons and concerns about public safety.

This systematic removal of important

sheltering sites has had

a negative impact on

salmonid populations in

the Puget Creek area.

With this in mind, the

Puget Creek Restora-

tion Society has been

working to restore

LWD safely to local

streams.

How is this done? By

recycling old Christmas

trees! Used, natural

Christmas trees strate-

gically placed in streams

have been effective features for restor-

ing salmon across the US, as well as

stabilizing river banks and slopes.

One such success story is the Necani-

cum River in Oregon. We hope our

similar efforts will also result in a sal-

monid population resurgence in Puget

Creek.

-Luisa Lam, Intern

The Puget Creek Restoration Society protects, enhances, and

restores the Puget Creek Watershed and similar streams,

wetlands, and green spaces.

We serve the South Puget Sound communities and invite their

participation through hands-on restoration, research, education, advocacy, and by promoting a

sense of stewardship.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Steven Beckstead President

Phil Schneider Vice President

Mike Webb

Secretary

Phil Hill Treasurer

Lester Swenson

Scott M. Hansen

Ramona Bueno

HONORARY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Northend Neighborhood

Council

ADVISORY BOARD

Edward S. Winskill

Michael A. Corsini

Dr. Sherry Graham

Susan Penhale

A tax-exempt 501(c)(3)

Tuesday at 12:30-4:30PM, and Wednes-

day at 12:30-5PM. There are many moni-

toring activities to participate in as well

as water quality testing, invasive species

removal, and much more in the field. Not

interested in getting your hands dirty?

There are many other opportunities to

volunteer your time. We would love

help with staffing booths at events

like the Freedom Fair, Art on The

Ave, Ethnic Fest, Ruston Community

Fair, and Eastside Community Fair.

There are also many ways to help in

the office and with other outreach

events and opportunities.

-Tyffanie Moser, Volunteer Coordinator Intern

Benefits of Woody Debris for Stream Restoration

Come Join Us!

(LWD being used for stream restoration)

like us on Facebook follow us on Twitter

3

Want to be a

docent for our

Watershed

Adventures

Program?

This is a free hands-on

Outdoor Education

program for students

and teachers. It’s an

introduction to Ta-

coma/Pierce County

area opportunities for

involving students in

Watershed Education

programs and field ex-

periences (see “Our

Watershed Adventures

Program” on pg. 1 for

more details).

To Schedule a

Docent Training

Time:

Contact Scott M.

Hansen or Lisa

Lawrence to set up a

time.

253-779-8890

pcrs@pugetcreek.org

For more

information,

go online at

www.pugetcreek.org

Page 3

“I stumbled across PCRS in 2008 while

looking for an organization to volunteer

with for my Bat Mitzvah Project in 7th

grade. It seemed like a good fit

considering I had wanted to do something

active and outdoors, while restoring

nature. So, for my first PCRS project, I

ended up monitoring water quality for

several creeks in the Tacoma area.

After this project, I volunteered with

PCRS only sporadically until my

sophomore year of high school. I was

hoping to find something that I could do

on a weekly basis while I took time off of

soccer due to an injury. Scott said he

needed an office intern, so I took that role

on and have kept it up for the past 2

years.

I enter all the volunteer information and

hours into the database, file, help create

and consolidate the seasonal newsletters,

update the CD/DVD and book

bibliographies, and also do some field

work on occasion.

I’m glad that PCRS has been a significant

part of my life, specifically in my high

school years. It’s especially helped me

realize the importance of ‘behind-the-

scenes’ work in the nonprofit world.”

Bat Monitoring Methods

Summer 2013

PCRS does two types of bat monitoring

in the Puget Creek area during warmer

month when bats are no longer in hiber-

nation. The first method is bat box guano

(feces) screening. PCRS has set up five

thin black boxes set up in trees; if bats

take up residence in those boxes, their

guano will be caught on a screen from

below the box. This way, once a month,

volunteers can detect the presence of the

bats without needing to climb the

trees.

The other method of bat monitoring is

with a nighttime echo location device

and night-vision binoculars. Bats are

nocturnal, so at dusk, with the echo

location device it is possible to detect

the various species of bat that are out.

Some species have very distinct echoes,

while others tend to overlap. Literature

says that there should be eight to nine

species of bat in our habitat, and so far

PCRS volunteers have detected five or

six. On occasion, volunteers can actually

see the bats with help of the night-vision

binoculars.

The presence of bats is important to the

Puget Creek habitat because they eat

many insects. Hence, they act as a natu-

ral mosquito control.

-Zoe Keskey, Intern

Intern Highlight: Zoe Keskey - In her own words

A big Thank You to all the

PCRS Intern Staff for their time & dedication!

To inquire about becoming an intern at Puget Creek Restoration Society,

please contact Lisa Lawrence at 253-779-8890 or email syti@pugetcreek.org

(Long-eared Myotis bat, native to western WA)