Groups aim to spend money on fish, not court

Franklin Seal — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:09:56 -0600

Man sentenced in off-road driving spree

Franklin Seal — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:45:59 -0600

Gifford Pinchot Will Scrape to Keep Up With Costs

Franklin Seal — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:43:57 -0600

Eleventh hour for repairs to Dosewallips Road's missing link; comment period ends today

Franklin Seal — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:11:32 -0600

Off-road vehicles have no place at Amon Creek

Franklin Seal — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:32:18 -0600

Forest Service firefighting outstrips budget

Franklin Seal — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:32:02 -0600

Forest Service firefighting budget broke

Franklin Seal — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:27:35 -0600

Forest fire costs will sap Gifford Pinchot road funds

Franklin Seal — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:55:23 -0600

Watershed restoration in the Skokomish, WA

Bethanie Walder — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:54:42 -0600

The Kitsap Sun published a great article Saturday about road removal and other watershed restoration efforts in the Skokomish watershed in Washington.

The opening line in the article reads as follows:

"The Skokomish River is sick, experts say, and intensive care is needed for any hope of recovery."

The article goes on to explain the kind of intensive care that's happening in the Skokomish, to the tune of nearly $5 million worth of needed restoration (with only a small portion of that money already raised). The Skokomish Watershed Action Team (SWAT), a diverse coalitoin of agency staff, tribes, conservationists, land owners and others, has helped raise money for this much needed work, including some of the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative funds that Wildlands CPR and others advocated for last year.

The Kitsap story also talks about the cost of the current "Big Dig" contract that is happening right now. Implied, but not specifically discussed, is the fact that projects such as this employ lots of people. It would have been great if the Sun reporter had included some numbers highlighting how many people got good jobs working on this project.

Near the end of the article, the reporter talks about how stewardship contracting funds are being used to pay for some of the restoration in the watershed. Stewardship contracting funds can be a great tool for funding restoration, but they don't work everywhere, since in many cases, the revenue generated from the stewardship sale is not enough to actually pay for the needed restoration.

It's great to see a story in the paper that highlights how a cooperative effort to fix a damaged watershed is working, and working well. Great job by the Skokomish Watershed Action Team, let's hope they're able to raise the rest of the funding they need to fully restore this watershed.

Taking (Out) the High Roads to Save the Skokomish

Franklin Seal — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:31:43 -0600