Whatcom County Students Learn Salmon Stewardship

Kerry McManus is Education Coordinator for the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association.

Every school year, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) takes more than a thousand Whatcom County students out to their local creeks to study stream ecology through the Students for Salmon program. NSEA is a community-based nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring sustainable wild salmon runs in Whatcom County. Here in Whatcom County, salmon populations are in rapid decline and many are at their lowest levels in human history.

Salmon are part of a delicately balanced ecosystem with everything from insects to orcas and even plants, relying on the rich nutrients they provide. NSEA believes that grassroots habitat restoration and community education are essential components to the successful recovery of salmon, an integral part of our cultural, economic, and environmental identity here in the Northwest.

Throughout the school year, Students for Salmon (SFS) educators teach students ages 8-19 from all seven Whatcom County school districts about the science behind salmon in the wild, providing the next generation of citizens with the tools they need to make it through a long and arduous upstream struggle towards salmon recovery.

During NSEA field studies, students explore the life within their stream first-hand, dipping into the waters running right through their own community, often for the first time ever! SFS’s outdoor education experiences are designed not only to improve students’ overall academic performance by deepening their understanding of important scientific concepts through scientific inquiry and real-world field studies, but to cultivate environmental awareness of relevant local watershed issues through student habitat assessments and restoration projects.

Empowering students to become stewards of their watershed through restoration projects and field monitoring builds a positive self-image in students and encourages them to think critically about local environmental issues. By exploring their local watershed system, students gain a deep appreciation and awareness for their environment and a thorough understanding of the complex scientific concepts behind their natural world, “In ninth grade, when we were in class learning about pH levels, we didn’t go out into the field and get hands on. This is what I feel a learning environment should be like,” – Johnson Qu, Windward High School.

Students learn by doing during the SFS program, appealing to the creative and energetic side of learners. The hands-on application of science embodied by SFS reduces academic failure by addressing the needs of students with limited attention spans, behavior issues, and negative associations with the classroom,

“Many of our students have given up on themselves and cannot see a future. Your program allows for guided discovery and it gives them a sense of power over what they learn,” – Bekah Colver, Timber Ridge High School.

SFS activities allow students who aren’t effectively reached through conventional teaching methods to experience science through a wider variety of learning styles in the natural world. “The on-site visits have really made lasting impressions on students. Often times, these visits have been motivating factors for in-school academics with troubled students,” Judy Davis, Kendall Elementary.

Lessons on native plants, water quality and macroinvertebrates are taught on location through hands-on activities allowing students to determine the health of salmon habitat right in their own community.

Students tour their stream’s riparian zone, the ribbon of life bordering the stream. The riparian zone plays a vital role in the quality of habitat a stream provides for salmon. Trees and shrubs in the riparian zone provide shade to keep the water cool, leaves to feed the bugs which in turn feed young salmon fry, roots to stabilize the banks keeping the water clear, and shelter for fish in the form of large woody debris.

Students cover the basics of stream ecology as they test four parameters of water quality to determine their stream’s health: temperature, turbidity, pH and dissolved oxygen. Students compare water quality results from the water in their stream to salmon living standards.

• Temperature: salmon need their water to be between 5-20ºC (40-68ºF); the colder their water, the more oxygen it can hold.

• Turbidity: is a measurement of how much sediment is in the water. Large amounts of sediment in the water can damage salmon gills making it difficult for them to breathe. Salmon eggs require oxygen-rich water free of suffocating sediment loads for their healthy development.

• pH: a healthy stream’s pH should be neutral, between six and eight, in order to sustain life.

• Dissolved oxygen: salmon breathe oxygen from the water using their gills just like we breathe oxygen from the air. It is essential that they have at least 6 parts per million of oxygen in their water.

Macroinvertebrates (macro = big, invertebrate = without a backbone) are the aquatic insects that live in the stream. Just as salmon require certain standards of water quality, so do many insects. Because bugs are easy to catch and sensitive to pollutants in the stream they serve as important biological indicators of stream health.

Bugs are carefully caught, sketched, and identified using a dichotomous key. The insects found are rated according to their pollution tolerance and then averaged, giving students a reflection of the health of their stream.

Students turn knowledge into action by implementing riparian restoration projects. By planting trees and removing invasive non-native plants students help make a positive impact on their stream’s salmon habitat. High school students not only implement, but also plan their own projects, giving them the ultimate sense of stewardship over their community and environment.

“The program gives them a sense of commonality in their responsibility as human beings,” – Bekah Colver, Timber Ridge High School. By enabling youth to make a positive impact in their community, the SFS program encourages positive behavior change in at-risk youth and promotes healthy active relationships between young people and the natural world around them: “The class liked the idea of Schell Creek being their responsibility. The term “steward” was new to them, and they wanted to go back more times to work,” – Judy Thomas, Central Elementary.

Student restoration work is essential to NSEA’s mission of creating sustainable wild salmon runs as it builds stewardship in Whatcom County youth by empowering them to make a positive contribution to their community and their environment: “I can help salmon instead of hurting them. I can change the way people think about salmon,” - Desiree, Student, Blaine Elementary. The service learning nature of SFS fosters not only a sense of appreciation for our local ecosystems and resources, but instills a sense of rare wonder towards the vital natural resources that define our world. §