COVID-19 Update

Clallam Conservation District staff continue working remotely, but we are excited to announce we are able to resume site visits on a limited basis. Although our office remains closed to walk-ins, the public is welcome by appointment. Please note that if you do need to come to our office, an appropriate face covering is required.
Meanwhile, you can continue to contact us via email or phone.

from
Executive Director Joe Holtrop

As the great Yogi Berra put it, the future isn’t what it used to be. As I get older, adapting to change gets tougher. Just about the time I got the whole working from home gig figured out, we shifted to the phased reopening. But I have learned a few things over the past couple of months as I set up a home “office.” Like way more about computers than I never cared to know. But also how to replace a starter in a riding lawn mower, and advantages of the new rechargeable electric lawn mowers.

As I mentioned last month, the craziness of this spring has enabled me to take care of several long neglected projects. If you recall, my old Craftsman riding mower went belly up and a friend who knows a lot about small engines told me it wasn’t worth fixing. Well, thanks to YouTube and my new “what have I got to lose” attitude, $100 in parts later and I got it fixed. Welcome to Joe’s Small Engine Repair.

Meanwhile, I bought a very reasonably priced rechargeable electric push mower. It was advertised as good for ¼ to ½ acre of lawn on a single charge. I don’t know the true size of my lawn, but I’m able to mow all of it on a single charge (remember, my whole lot is 1 ¼ acre). Unlike a gas mower it doesn’t contribute to air pollution, you don’t have to buy gas and oil (no accidental gas spills), and it is much quieter. It has mulching and bagging options, is very light and can be folded up for storage.

My teenage son loves it. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but compared to my old gas push mower, mowing the lawn is almost like a stroll in the park. And now, I only use the riding mower for the roughest areas of the yard and the grass that I only mow occasionally.

So if you have lawn, I strongly recommend you reduce it down to a manageable size that you can take care of with an electric mower. There are lots of new options out there to choose from. The only negative I’ve noticed is with the variable speed blade; while in the mulching mode it doesn’t always cut tall grass into small pieces.

One more thing about lawns. Last time I suggested turning some of your lawn into something more like a natural meadow by letting it grow. Well, I’ve seen a lot of fields full of blooming oxeye daisy this spring. They’re beautiful, but oxeye daisy is a problem. It is a very invasive noxious weed, especially problematic in pastures. Cows avoid it when grazing, which allows it to thrive. Not only do cows avoid it, it has low nutritional value if they do eat it, like in hay, which can then give milk an off flavor. So as pretty as it is, please try to control your daisies. Contact the Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board at 360-417-2442 or by email at web_weed@co.clallam.wa.us for weed control advice.

Next time we’ll have more interesting things to talk about, such as some of my favorite native plants. As a lead-in, here’s an inspiring article (and video) about what the City of Oak Harbor is doing to protect their Garry oaks and help them thrive.

Now, I’m going to pick some strawberries and pickle some garlic scapes.

Carolyn Wilcox Elected as Supervisor

In May, the State Conservation Commission certified conservation district supervisor elections and appointments, thus making them official. This also means all supervisors elected and appointed during the first quarter of 2020 can assume their roles, including our newly elected supervisor Carolyn Wilcox.

Carolyn joins our five-member Board of Supervisors. For more information on Conservation District elections and appointments please visit: https://clallamcd.org/elections-appointments.

The snowpack in the Olympics is about average, which is good news for irrigators and fish for this summer. And, the past few weeks have been cooler and wetter than normal, reducing the wildfire risk.

While there’s never a bad time to work on minimizing your wildfire risk, this year it may be especially important due to COVID-19. Wildfire protection experts are anticipating extra challenges this summer because of the special precautions firefighters will have to take in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection and spread. So now more than ever, homeowners need to take actions on their own to safeguard their property.

If you live in or adjacent to a wooded area, you should take special precautions to reduce your wildfire risk, beginning with an assessment of your home and property.

And lucky for us, Department of Natural Resources Wildland Fire and Forest Health Specialist Jordan Van Delden was recently assigned to the North Olympic Peninsula. Although Jordan anticipates being busy fighting fires this summer, he hopes to be available to help homeowners and communities work on wildfire preparedness come fall. Jordan can be reached by email at Jordan.vandelden@dnr.wa.gov or by phone at 509-899-0101. Also, the DNR and WSU Extension have teamed up on some great online educational opportunities for small forest landowners, including a June 30 webinar on Western Washington wildfire. See the Small Forest landowner newsletter for details.

Meanwhile, here’s a link to a handy structure assessment guide. Complete this assessment as best you can so you know where to focus your efforts to reduce your structure’s risk to wildfire. Then, take advantage of this summer to make the necessary improvements.

No matter how fireproof you make your structure, risks remain. The following make your home more vulnerable to fire:

• Dead vegetation and debris around structures and under decks.

• Tree limbs that hang over the roof.

• Highly flammable plants, such as most evergreens trees, junipers, lavender and rosemary that are adjacent to structures.

• Tall grass around structures, wood piles and propane tanks.

Make sure your home has safe and easy fire-service access, including the following:

• An address marker that is easily viewed from the road at night.

• Easy access for firefighting equipment, such as driveways and gates at least 12 feet wide with a 15-foot vertical clearance, a less than 5% slope.

• Adequate turnaround areas for firetrucks so they won’t get themselves and their equipment trapped if they venture down your driveway.

Always be careful with fire and obey burn bans. And if possible, maintain an emergency water source. If you have an irrigation system, make sure it is operable even if you’ve turned it off in to conserve water; it may come in handy in case of fire.

Lastly, prepare and practice a disaster plan with everyone in your home, including how to care of pets and livestock, and identification of at least two ways out of your neighborhood and a designated meeting place.

For more information on how to reduce your risk of wildfire disaster, visit firewise.org.

Tansy ragwort (senecio jacobaea) is a biennial plant often found in pastures, roadsides and disturbed forestland. It spends its first year of life as a rosette with ruffled dark green leaves, which makes it challenging to identify since it does not flower at this stage of life. During its second year of life it becomes easier to identify, sending up one or more flowering stems that stand one to four feet tall and have yellow flowers, typically with 13 petals. It normally begins blooming in late June, and can bloom all summer long through the early fall.

Tansy ragwort is very invasive, especially in overgrazed pasture settings. It is also toxic and can be lethal to horses and livestock, both in pasture settings and dried in hay, and can cause irreversible liver damage. The toxic properties are also a threat to humans, as milk from livestock or honey from bees can become contaminated by animals and insects that utilize tansy ragwort plants.

Pulling is a very effective means of control, however wear gloves if doing so. It is reported to be phototoxic and if skin that has been in contact with sap is exposed to the sun it can cause skin irritation or burns.

For additional information on identification and control please refer to Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board’s fact sheet.

For assistance with pasture management techniques to help with control and prevention of tansy ragwort and other pasture weeds, please contact our staff or visit our Conservation on the Farm web-page.

Survey for Forestland Owners

Northwest Natural Resource Group (NNRG) and Oregon State University (OSU) need your help collecting data. If you have harvested timber from your forest in the last five years, please consider taking their survey. Questions focus on harvest techniques, equipment used, volume of timber harvested, and harvest costs and revenues. Results of the survey will be shared with other forest owners through articles and classes to help those considering a timber harvest learn from the experience of others. Data from the study will remain confidential within the research team. Learn more about the research project and take the survey at: https://www.nnrg.org/thinning_study/

As a thank you to forest owners who take the time to complete the survey, the first 100 participants are eligible to receive a $50 gift card to a forestry supply business, courtesy of NNRG.

CONSERVATION SPONSORS