Sequim Gazette staff
Salmon recovery efforts will be the topic du jour during the North Olympic Land Trust’s upcoming annual membership meeting.
The meeting begins at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 18, at the Fairview Grange, 161 Lake Farm Road.
Scheduled speakers at the hourlong event include Cheri Scalf, scientific technician and project lead with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Scalf will share data and photos on efforts toward the recovery of summer chum in the lower reaches of Jimmycomelately Creek at the head of Sequim Bay.
Cheryl Baumann, coordinator of North Olympic Peninsula Lead Entity for Salmon, will discuss salmon recovery efforts across the region, and Coleman Byrnes, a retired fisheries biologist and full-time community volunteer, will share from his experiences monitoring salmon recovery along Siebert Creek as a volunteer for Streamkeepers.
North Olympic Land Trust Conservation director Michele d’Hemecourt will discuss recent Land Trust activities to permanently conserve a corridor for salmon recovery in the lower two miles of Siebert Creek between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Following the presentation on salmon recovery, the Land Trust will hold its brief annual membership meeting during which supporters will consider and vote on a slate of new and renewing board directors.
A tour of the nearby Discovery Trail easement also will be on offer. Tom Sanford, director of the Land Trust, noted the 108-acre Discovery Trail easement is private property and is rarely open to the public. It’s one of a series of conserved properties along the stretch of the Olympic Discovery Trail between Siebert and Morse creeks.
Property owners John Warrick and Ruth Jenkins will lead an easy one-mile walk, over sometimes irregular terrain, beginning with an overlook of the historic Bagley Lake lakebed. Participants will learn more of the interesting natural and cultural history of the Lake Farm area, glimpse the historical Thompson Home, now restored, and view the progress of the landowners’ wildlife habitat restoration efforts. Additionally, the owners will share what they have learned of the pioneering Thompson family who first settled this land.
Space on the conservation tour is limited. To reserve your space, RSVP to Brad Tesreau at North Olympic Land Trust — brad@northolympiclandtrust.org or 417-1815, ext. 4.
North Olympic Land Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving land that sustains the communities of the Olympic Peninsula. Since its inception in 1990, the organization has conserved over 2,700 acres of economically and ecologically vital land on the Olympic Peninsula. North Olympic Land Trust is accredited by the Land Trust Alliance and was honored by Sunset Magazine through its 2012 Environmental Awards. www.NorthOlympicLandTrust.org.
