Training neighbors to restore their watersheds

CATS past participant Dana Kemmerling (right)

Applications are now being accepted for a program that empowers local community-members with a passion for streams, clean water, and local wildlife. The Community Action Training School (CATS) provides a free series of virtual lectures and field trips. In exchange, participants agree to volunteer on a local watershed improvement project of their choosing.

“We are thrilled to once again be able to work with enthusiastic community members who are excited to make change,” says Sarah Heerhartz, Executive Director of Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group. 

“Protecting and restoring our rivers and natural areas requires so many partners – from national governments to local ones, from nonprofit organizations to responsible businesses. 

"I have seen how passionate neighbors can play a huge role – from restoring their local parks, to holding elected official accountable. This program helps people find the areas they are passionate about, and helps focus that passion on a project that can make a change.”

“Participants have created positive impact on their watersheds through a huge variety of project types. Projects from past sessions of the Community Action Training School included the creation of Students Saving Salmon at Edmonds Woodway High School, community-led restoration events, and translation of interpretive signs in one participant’s local park to the languages most often spoken in her neighborhood.

"In our last cohort, one participant worked with her neighbors to protect an important wetland from development and now she’s a part of the planning commission for her city,” said Kelly Frazee, Education Program Manager of Sound Salmon Solutions.

Field trip on stream restoration

Applications for this free program are due April 12th. You can find out more at the websites of either Sound Salmon Solutions Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group, the two organizations who are jointly organizing this program.

“I’ve always cared about salmon. But by participating in the CATS program, I better understood where I could best fit my talents into the road to salmon restoration,” says Dana Kemmerling, past CATS participant. 

“The speakers they brought in covered a range of the issues that are important to my community. Then, I was able to use my enthusiasm— and my marketing experience—to help co-workers and friends become inspired to help rip out blackberries and plant native plants along the Sammamish River.”

This program is funded by the King County Flood Control District, directed by the Snoqualmie Watershed Forum and the Cedar/Sammamish/Lake Washington watersheds.

For more information contact:

Kelly Frazee
Sound Salmon Solutions
kellyf@soundsalmonsolutions.org
http://www.soundsalmonsolutions.org/community-action-training-school

Antonia Jindrich
Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group
antonia@midsoundfisheries.org
206-949-6690
https://www.midsoundfisheries.org/wria-8-community-action-training-school-webpage/