Conservation districts are required by state statute “to prepare and keep current a comprehensive long-range program recommending the conservation of all the renewable natural resources of the district.” This program is more commonly called a long-range plan.

We began updating our long-range plan last spring with hopes of having a new draft ready for public comment by the end of the summer. During each monthly board meeting, we reviewed and revised a section of our current plan. So far we’ve only been able to complete an update of the Water Resources section.

After completing that section, we took a step back to solicit input from the community. Last fall we sent out a survey to everyone on our eNewsletter mailing list, as well as project partners and many individuals at the County, each of the cities, tribes and others. We thank the 52 individuals that responded.

In the survey, we briefly described what we’ve been focused on over the past three decades and asked respondents to list, in order of priority, three natural resources to conserve, enhance or protect. The top-ranked natural resources are:

1. Water (identified 51 times)

2. Habitat (41 times)

3. Forestland (19 times)

4. Farmland (19 times)

5. Climate/Air (11 times)

We then asked respondents to select their top five resource conservation program areas from a list of nine. Each program area was accompanied by a brief description. Here are the results:

• Climate Change (selected 44 times and ranked #1 twice, #2 three times and #3 five times)

• Salmon Habitat (selected 36 times and ranked #2 once and #3 thirteen times)

• Water Use Efficiency (selected 34 times all ranked #1)

• Local Farm Support (selected 32 times and ranked #1 six times, #2 fourteen times and #3 nine times)

• Sustainable Landscaping (selected 29 times and ranked #2 nine times and #3 12 times)

• Onsite Septic Repair (selected 23 times and ranked #1 nine times, #2 ten times and #3 four times)

• Forest Health & Wildfire Preparedness (selected 26 times but never in the top three)

• Youth Stewardship (selected 14 times and ranked #1 once, #2 five times and #3 eight times)

• Horse & Livestock Water Quality (selected 10 times all ranked #2)

So there you have it. Yeah, we’re not entirely sure what to make of these survey results, either. However, it is clear that salmon and water are pretty important around here, and climate change is on a lot of minds. As was noted in the program area descriptions, addressing climate change or climate change resiliency is integral to several programs. Certainly, that aspect of those and other programs needs to be better articulated and further developed.

Please visit our website to follow our progress as we continue to come up with new drafts. We’ll try to post draft sections as they get approved for public review and input. Please do not hesitate to contact us with your ideas by emailing info@clallamcd.org. Thank you.

2021 Board of Supervisor
Election & Appointment Timeline

Clallam Conservation District and the Quileute Tribe were recently honored by the Washington Association of Conservation Districts (WACD) with the 2020 Conservation District Tribal Partnership Award. The Tribal Partnership Award is presented to a Conservation District and a Native American tribe each year for demonstrating a relationship that offers an example of regional conservation of natural resources for the betterment of all.

Nicole Rasmussen, water quality biologist for the Quileute Tribe, and Joe Holtrop, executive director for Clallam Conservation District, accepted the award on behalf of their organizations during the WACD annual meeting, held virtually in early December.

The award was presented for their partnership on the “Hermison Road Project and elsewhere to restore critical riparian habitat.” The Hermison Road project involves restoration of a 180-foot wide, nearly seven-acre riparian forest buffer along the Quillayute River. Quileute Tribal land will be enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), which will provide financial assistance for the project. Nearly 3,500 native trees and shrubs will be planted to provide habitat and shade in a river system that supports some of Washington’s strongest remaining runs of Chinook, Coho, steelhead, and other salmonids. 

This is one of many examples of Clallam Conservation District and the Quileute Tribe’s working relationship in recent years to pursue projects that complement each other’s strengths in natural resources management, conservation and ecological restoration. Their partnership has led to completed, as well as prospective, projects that neither entity could likely have accomplished independent of the contributions of the other. This partnership presents promising momentum to take on the vast amount of restoration needs and opportunities in western Clallam County.

This is the second WACD Tribal Partnership Award that Clallam Conservation District has received. In 2015, the district and the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe were recipients of the award.

Plant Sale Ordering Ends Soon

Our bare-root native plant sale pre-order ends January 28, 2021. Pick-up of orders will take place in Agnew on February 26-27. Snag your plants today before it’s too late!

If you’re one of the 300 or so people that placed an order for native plants with us, you may be in for a bit of a surprise when you pick your plants up at the end of February.

In past years, we’ve been blessed with a couple dozen or more dedicated volunteers that helped us sort plants into bundles of ten and package up individual orders. Because of COVID19 and the health and safety challenges it presents, this year we’re taking measures to minimize our reliance on volunteers. The main change is bundle size. We’re only selling plants in nursery-supplied bundle sizes.

Many plants still come in bundles of ten, but conifers are only available in bundles of 25, and a few species are only available in bundles of 50.

The good news is per plant costs are a little less with the larger bundles. The bad news is you have to buy more plants.

Plant Sale History

We started our plant sale in 1990 in order to promote native plants and ecological restoration. Back then, native plants were not readily available from private nurseries.

Various aspects of the sale have changed over the past three decades, but one thing we’ve worked hard to minimize is competition with private nurseries. We are a government entity. Our sale is supported by public funds, so unlike a private nursery, we do not have to be profitable. We do strive to not lose money as we continue providing what we believe is an important service to the community.

From time to time, we check in with local nurseries to see how we’re doing. General feedback has indicated that selling bare-root plants once a year, in what is typically the nursery off-season, in minimum bundle sizes of ten plants per species minimizes our impacts to nurseries.

If you can’t use ten or 25 of a particular species, consider giving some business to our local nurseries. Although none of them specialize in native plants, they can get them if people want them. If what you’re looking for isn’t in stock, they can get it; you just need to ask.

Prepare Now for Plant Pick-Up Day

Let’s say, for example, you’re one of many people who have placed an order for one bundle of red-flowering currant (10 plants), one bundle of Rocky Mountain maple (50 plants) and one bundle of Douglas fir (25 plants). Your little order adds up to 85 bare-root seedlings!

Let me remind you, these plants are bare-root. That means they don’t have any soil to protect the roots from desiccation. There might be a small amount of mulch in the bag, but this only provides some temporary protection. These plants have to either be put in the ground or potted up within a few days.

And with our example, we’re talking 85 plants. That means either 85 holes in the ground, dozens of pots, healing in in the garden for temporary “storage,” or some combination of these treatments.

The decision to plant in the ground, pot up or heal in depends mainly on how easily you will be able to care for these plants this summer.

If you’re going to plant near your house where you have ready access to water and the plants won’t get neglected, you might as well plant them in their permanent locations. You’re going have to water these plants once or twice a month for the first (likely more) growing season. Digging some holes ahead of time and stock piling some mulch will greatly reduce your plant pick-up weekend stress.

Fall Planting Is Ideal

If you’re planting somewhere out of the way or difficult to water and weed, potting up your plants for fall planting is your best strategy. In fall, plants are going into dormancy, fall rains are providing necessary moisture, and the soil is still warm enough for some new root development. On the other hand, in later winter or early spring, plants are breaking dormancy, rains are diminishing, and the soil is cold.

Plant in fall and you can forget about these new plants until the following summer. This strategy also gives you several months to do that planning you never got around to, as well as doing pre-planting site preparation. We’ll talk more about site preparation next time.

Depending on the size of your pots and the size of the plants, you can often fit more than one plant in a pot. Remember, this is just to get them through the first growing season. Used pots are sometimes available from nurseries or recycling/repurposing businesses. You’re going to need some potting soil, too.

Store your potted plants near a water faucet in an area that gets about a half a day of sunlight and is protected from the wind. This location should also be where you will see it regularly so you won’t forget to water the plants in dry weather. During the summer, potted plants will need to be watered two or three times per week.

If you don’t have enough pots or aren’t ready for planting, heal in the plants in a garden bed. Simply dig a trench, lay the plants in and cover the roots. Again, and I can’t emphasize this enough, this is just temporary protection for the vulnerable roots on these seedlings. I’ve seen too many times where these healed-in plants remain for a year or two and the roots get so intertwined they can’t be separated. Ideally, you’ll get these healed-in plants into their permanent places within a few weeks.

Have fun planting!

WORKSHOP: Soil Testing for Pastures

Healthy pastures start with healthy soils. Join our webinar to learn how to use soil testing to identify and correct common pasture nutrient deficiencies. Soil testing helps with making informed decisions on timing and application rate of fertilizer and other amendments so you can get the most feed out of your pastures while protecting water quality.

WHEN: Wednesday, Febraury 17, 2021 , 4:00-5:00pm

WHERE: Virtual workshop on Zoom.

REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE to register and receive an invitation to attend the workshop. If you aren’t able to attend the live workshop, check the box at registration to request the recorded presentation.

WORKSHOP: Poultry 101 Webinar

Spring is around the corner, which means so is chick season. This webinar is for both new and experienced poultry owners and will cover a variety of poultry-keeping topics including proper care of chicks, housing, feeding, and tips for reducing mud and managing chicken manure.

When: Wednesday, March 3, 2021, 4:00-5:00pm

Where: Virtual workshop on Zoom.

Registration: CLICK HERE to register and receive an invitation to attend the workshop. If you aren’t able to attend the live workshop, check the box at registration to request the recorded presentation.

Candyce Fagerhaugh began working with the Conservation District in November 2019 to prepare to move her horse and a mini donkey from a boarding facility to her home in Sequim. A Conservation Planner helped her develop a site plan to construct a mud-free, chore efficient layout for her equines and she began work immediately.

With the help of a local craftsman, she constructed a three sided shelter for the animals. The shelter is open to the east to reduce sun exposure in the summer and block most cold winter winds. And, it includes gutters and downspouts to keep roof water from entering animal confinement areas.

She knew she wanted to help facilitate movement in her aging horse and mini donkey, so instead of building a traditional rectangular shaped paddock to confine her animals, she opted for a track paddock design off her barn, creating a lane around her pasture. Her track paddock has gravel footing to ensure it stays mud-free, which helps keep her animals hooves healthy and allows her to easily pick up manure.

Lastly she constructed a three-bin manure storage structure out of pallets, and covered it with a tarp to allow her to compost manure for use in her landscaping and garden. Once she had everything ready, she brought her animals home in the summer of 2020.

We checked in with Candyce to see how her first winter of having equines at home is going, and were happy to hear everyone is thriving. Candyce’s first comment was “I no longer need to go to the gym since I’m able to get so much exercise in with my farm chores.” She also reported she is thrilled with the track paddock system, as it allows her to move her animals feed around to different areas to stimulate their brains and get exercise. “My donkey has lost about 25 pounds of excess weight, and I was able to reduce my horses Cushing’s medicine by half. He now even gallops around the track to greet me.”

To keep the gravel in her track paddock in great shape, and reduce the risk of contaminating ground water, Candyce picks up manure at least once a day, often twice. She keeps her manure storage structure covered so nutrients won’t leach into ground water and will be retained in the compost for her plants this spring. She hauls excess manure to a local topsoil company, and she signed up for the Conservation District’s Manure Share Program to provide a source of manure for area gardeners.

We are thrilled to have helped Candyce meet her goals for her farm and help her protect water quality. If you need assistance setting up a new farm or troubleshooting solutions to manage your farm, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Our services are free, and we are here to help. To learn more about our farm planning assistance, sign-up to request our services, or read our farm publications, visit our Conservation on The Farm webpage.

Forest Owners Online
Winter School

WSU Extension Forestry is offering a FREE online Forest Owner's Winter School on February 27, 2021 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Click HERE to register.

The online Winter School event is designed to let you attend multiple workshops on topics of interest to you all in the same day to help you address challenges on your property, restore healthy forest conditions, and achieve your goals. The event will feature 30 seminars, expert panels, and roundtable discussions specifically for people with forested property in Washington. If you can’t attend live on February 27, register anyway to receive links to the recordings of the sessions.

Business Consulting Available For Local Farmers!

The North Olympic Development Council (NODC) was awarded a USDA Rural Business Development Grant to provide intensive, individualized business consulting services to farmers and ranchers in Clallam and Jefferson counties who are interested in expanding into new markets, developing value-added products or improving their business practices. In addition, NODC will be partnering with WSU Extension’s Small Farms Program to create a series of in-depth workshops designed to assist agricultural enterprises with issues such as financing, human resources, risk management and other important topics.

For more information or to apply for consulting services, contact Mark Bowman, Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator at Mark Bowman at mark@noprcd.org or call (360) 461-4131.

WSU Agricultural Entrepreneurship Course

The WSU Regional Small Farms program is offering Agricultural Entrepreneurship, an in-depth farm and food business planning course. The course will run from February 2 through March 30 and will be held online through Zoom. Register HERE by January 29, 2021.

Follow Us on Facebook

During this time of social distancing, Facebook has become a great way to reach out to our community. We encourage you to follow us on Facebook for articles and links to educational material and upcoming events. Click HERE.

CONSERVATION SPONSORS