Over the last month, 7^th graders from Chimacum, Sequim, and Blue Heron Middle School in Port Townsend have been getting out in the field with NOSC through the Real Learning Real Work program. We spent some time in the classroom learning about ideal characteristics of salmon habitat in rivers and creeks. Students applied their knowledge by visiting local salmon bearing streams to perform habitat assessments and identify areas of concern. This year students are working to restore areas along the Dungeness River and Salmon Creek. Over the course of the winter, students will design a solution to address habitat quality concerns, while developing skills their in engineering, math, science, technology, and finance. Come spring, students will pull their boots back on and return to their restoration site to implement their design. The Real Learning Real Work program aims to get students out in the field engaging in hands-on STEM learning, while tackling real life, local problems and exposing them to future career opportunities. Over time, students will be able to see the impact of their real work take shape as a valuable piece in the effort to restore salmon habitat along North Olympic streams.

A big thank you to all the volunteers that came out to help facilitate the field trips! If you are interested in getting involved in future volunteer opportunities with Real Learning Real Work, please reach out to Education & Outreach Coordinator, Lindsay McCord, at lmccord@nosc.org.

The 2022 Orca Recovery Day planting event was a success! On Saturday, October 15^th, the Salmon Coalition partnered with the Jefferson County Conservation District and the Jefferson Land Trust to plant native shrubs at the Snow Creek Estuary in Discovery Bay. Volunteers joined us for a beautiful day of planting and while the digging was tough, our volunteers persevered and planted several species of native plants, including Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana), snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor), cascara (Frangula purshiana), and Pacific crabapple (Malus fusca). Snow Creek and nearby Salmon Creek are critical watersheds for ESA-listed Hood Canal summer chum salmon. While it is commonly believed that Southern Resident orcas feed exclusively on Chinook salmon, studies have shown that they will supplement their diet with other salmon species, particularly chum, when Chinook are scarce.

Unlike most other Pacific salmon species, juvenile chum spend very little time in their stream of birth, typically just a couple of weeks to a few days (in contrast with species like coho or Chinook, which spend up to one year in freshwater). Accordingly, chum are heavily reliant on the estuarine environment for rearing, where they transition from living in freshwater to saltwater. Estuaries are also productive areas for feeding that tend to lack the large predators found in deeper marine areas. Restoring the Snow Creek Estuary should positively impact chum salmon by providing the fish with higher-quality habitat, leading to increased numbers of these imperiled fish, and indirectly impacting Southern Resident orcas by providing them with more of their favorite food—salmon!