From:                              City of Bellingham - Habitat News <habitat@cob.org>

Sent:                               Sunday, April 19, 2020 16:54

To:                                   president@yorkneighborhood.org

Subject:                          Bringing Earth Day Home

 

 

 

 


Bringing Earth Day Home

 

Now more than ever, we feel so thankful for our natural environment and the clean water, fresh air and beauty it provides, especially during times of stress and uncertainty. With Earth Day just around the corner, now feels like the perfect time to turn this appreciation into actions that will help protect and enhance our natural resources.

There are many things we can do at this time to join people across the world in celebrating Earth Day by supporting our planet from our homes and backyards. We encourage you to celebrate Earth Day 2020 and its theme of “climate action” in new ways. Find ideas below! 

 

 

Help Manage Invasive Plants from Your Backyard


You can help support our natural environment from your own backyard. For many of our local parks and natural areas, nearby yards are the source of the non-native invasive plants that we remove at our community work parties and through routine maintenance.

A few common garden plants that we find include Butterfly Bush, Yellow Archangel, English Ivy and English Holly. For each of these, there is a non-invasive alternative that you can plant instead. Alternatives for some common invasive and noxious weeds in Western Washington can be found on the Noxious Weed Control Board website.

 

Butterfly Bush. Non-invasive alternatives include Red Flowering Currant and Pacific Ninebark. 

Yellow Archangel. Non-invasive alternatives include Wintercreeper.

 

English Holly. Non-invasive alternatives include Tall Oregon Grape and Osmanthus. 

English Ivy. Non-invasive alternatives include Crinkle-leaf Creeper and Kinnikinnick. 

 

Invasive plants compete with native plants for sunlight, nutrients and space. Native plants have important habitat benefits that we want to protect, such as providing shade and cooling streams, filtering pollutants, increasing biodiversity and helping to slow climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutant particulates from the air.

You can help native plants thrive by removing invasive plants from your own yard and preventing their spread to other areas. The Department of Whatcom County has fact sheets and management information for common weeds found in our area.

Do you live in the Lake Whatcom watershed? The Homeowner Incentive Program offers technical assistance to homeowners who live in basins 1 and 2 of the Lake Whatcom watershed to install water quality improvement projects that beautify yards and protect the lake.  

 

 

 

Go One Step Further -- Create a Sustainable Garden to Help Wildlife

 

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has resources available on their website, such as their Native Plant Finder, that can help you turn your yard or garden into a haven for local wildlife. Gardens that provide the essential elements of wildlife habitat - food, water, cover, and places to raise young - can even be recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

 

 



Contribute to Citizen Science Efforts


Turn your neighborhood walks into opportunities to learn more about the natural world around you. You can use the free iNaturalist app to help you identify the plants and animals living near your home and share your findings virtually with more than 400,000 scientists and naturalists. Your findings will even be shared with scientific data repositories, allowing scientists to use your data.

 

 

 

Keep Your Pets Healthy and Our Creeks Clean
 

With this beautiful spring weather and advisories issued to stay home, many of us are spending extra time walking the neighborhoods with our dogs. On walks, remember to bring extra bags, scoop every poop, and carry it to the trash. At home, scoop every day or at least weekly and always put it in the trash. Pet waste can contain disease-causing organisms that travel on feet or rainwater and can make people, pets and wild animals sick. The nutrients in pet waste can also create harmful algal blooms in lakes that kill fish. Pledge to scoop the poop and get a We Scoop sticker!

When on walks, please follow the guidelines under the Washington State Governor's Stay Home, Stay Healthy Order for preventing the spread of COVID-19. 

 

 



Washing Your Car at Home? Keep Those Suds out of Streams!


Spring is a fun time to send the kids out to spray down the car (and each other)! If you do wash your car, make sure you plan ahead for where that dirty wash water will flow and protect our streams.

Car wash water is full of dirt, road grime, oils, metals and soap, which harm fish and other aquatic life. Metals inhibit a fish’s sense of smell, impacting their homing, feeding, and predator avoidance. Fine dust and dirt can clog fish gills and smother their eggs. Soaps and cleaners destroy the natural protections (like external mucus layers) that fish have against bacteria and parasites and inhibit the ability of fish to reproduce.

When washing your car at home, park where water will soak into the ground, such as your lawn or another pervious surface. Pollutants (including biodegradable soap) need to soak into the ground in order to break down and be filtered out. Use phosphorous-free, biodegradable soap. Limit the amount of water used by having a bucket and a spray nozzle on your hose.

Better yet, take your car to a commercial car wash, where all the wash water connects to the sewer for treatment. Some local car washes are open with careful social distancing and sanitation guidelines in place. Call ahead to find a car wash that fits your needs. 

 

 

Make a Personal Commitment to Climate Action
 

With this year’s global theme of "climate action", Earth Day is a great time to think about how we can change our everyday behaviors to reduce our climate impact. Whether you are just starting to make climate-minded choices or you are a seasoned change-maker, there are always new and effective ways to be involved. Join hundreds of Bellingham community members in making a personal commitment to reduce your environmental impact by taking the I'm In for Climate Action pledge. 

 

 

Construction Update
 

 

Squalicum Re-route Phases 3 and 4 Construction Coming Soon (Hopefully!)
 

We hope to continue to move forward with our anticipated construction timeline for our Squalicum Creek Re-route Phases 3 and 4 habitat restoration project this year. Phases 3 and 4 will build upon two prior phases to address water quality and habitat issues associated with Bug Lake and the area immediately downstream. This project will reduce stream temperatures; increase channel length, riparian cover and riparian width west of Squalicum Parkway; restore riverine wetland; and eliminate a fish passage barrier at Squalicum Parkway. 

Project construction is expected to take place between June and December 2020. We expect minimal traffic impacts from this project. Squalicum Parkway may be reduced to one lane for 2-3 weeks in June 2020. Flaggers will always prioritize emergency vehicle access to the hospital. Please note that this schedule is an estimate and has the potential to be adjusted due to COVID-19 response. 

Visit the Squalicum Creek Re-route project webpage to learn more. Updates will be posted to this webpage as they are available. 

 

 

We hope you and your loved ones are well. Please stay home and stay healthy. 

 

 

 

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