Saturday, November 17 Work Party

Volunteers eager to contribute to the work on Terrell Creek are invited to the work party this Saturday, November 17. Park at the former Birch Bay Community Church property and walk to the location, marked by the NSEA canopy. Come and help make the creek even more hospitable to hatching and spawning Chums.

Work party group photo from NSEA's Web site

Work parties are from 9am - 12pm. Tools and gloves will be provided. Please wear sturdy shoes and weather appropriate clothing. Refreshments will be provided by the Bagelry, the Community Food Co-op, Starbucks, and Tony's Coffee. These work parties are free and open to everyone. Bring your enthusiasm, your friends and family, and anyone else that can hold a shovel See you at the creek!

Terrell Dam and RSI

Three thousand tons of fill carried in by 80 dump trucks reconfigured Terrell Dam in a cooperative effort among the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, the Conservation District and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Rachel Vasak, executive director of N-SEA and Frank Corey of the Conservation District explained the project to the group signing up for a tour on October 20.




Tour group listening to Rachel Vasak (2nd from right) and Frank Corey (right)
explain the Terrell Dam Project

Water flow in the creek will be sufficient for the survival of  fry hatched from the remote site incubator (RSI) installed near the new bridge downstream from the dam.



New bridge and RSI almost visible below the left end.

Eggs from native Chum will be placed in the RSI soon and will hatch sometime in February or March. Volunteers monitor the site to report any interruption to the water flow that would threaten the well-being of those babies. The Chum species of salmon is best suited to this creek envirnoment because they spend the least time in fresh water on their journey to a salt water habitate.

Guided Tour of Lake Terrell Dam Modification

Tour the newly renovated Lake Terrell Dam between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 20, 2012.

New bypass modification



Dam before renovation



Join the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Whatcom Conservation District, the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, and the Chums of Terrell Creek to see the modifications. These were created to restore fish passage for salmon and to better control flows of Terrell Creek all summer.

Trickle of Terrell Creek during construction



The creek’s lethargy this fall was due to temporary blockage of the flow during the work around the dam, which was originally constructed in 1950 to enlarge the lake and create more recreational opportunities.

New culvert with gravel and debris

RSVPs are essential to Terrell Creek Watershed Steward Rachel Vasak for arranging the scheduled half-hour departures: 715-0283, Ext. 108 or 739-1440 or rvasak@n-sea.org .



Harvest Dinner

Take equal portions of fantastic food, great drinks, delightful company, glorious weather, hot blue-grass music and sensational location, stir slightly and serve. You'll have a winning recipe for the 10th Annual Harvest Dinner.

The Fourth Corner Slow Food Chapter organized the event at Bellewood Acres with support from and proceeds going to four local organizations. The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association, of which the Chums of Terrell Creek are a subset, received a share of those proceeds, along with the Exploration Academy, Sustainable Connections and the Common Threads Farm.  

Bellewood Acres has another connection with the Chums of Terrell Creek. The tree planting and give-away on Birch Bay Drive sprung from contact with Dorie Belisle, co-owner and marketing whiz of Bellewood, who was managing the Farmers Growing Trees for Salmon project when we called her about getting free trees for the Terrell Creek bank side of the lot we had just purchased. She regretfully reported that all the trees advertised were gone, but wondered if we would be interested in planting some more for future give-away. 

Not having a clue about tree-planting and wondering if this small lot could possibly accommodate sufficient trees to be worthwhile, we invited her to come out and assess the site. She came, she saw and she opined that we could plant 1000 plugs in this little space. We did that for two cycels (two years each), until the program ended.

The spread at the Bellewood Acres Harvest Dinner site was abundant and varied.  

As were the participants.

The Gallus Brothers backed the natural setting with blue-grass selections all evening.

And a great time was had by all.

Hope to see you at next year's Harvest Dinner.

Answers about the proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point

7 - 9 p.m., August 16
Birch Bay Bible Community Church
7039 Jackson Road, Birch Bay

There are a lot of questions about the controversial proposal to build North America's largest coal terminal next to the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve. Come to the Coal Hard Truth forum to get answers about the project proposal, its potential impacts on hum and ecological health, and how coal consumption impacts us all.

Learn more about: The terminal proposal itself -- Coal dust from the terminal -- Health impacts from 18 more trains a day -- Where we are in the regulatory process -- Regional and international perspectives -- What you can do

Sponsors: Sierra Club, RE Sources, and Climate Solutions

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Good news on the Terrell Lake Dam

From Elie Friedlob -

I just learned from Rachel Vasak at NSEA [Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association] that they have received a grant that will fund the redesign/reconfiguration of the Terrell Lake dam.

As many of you know, we have been trying to figure out a way to get more water into the creek around spawning time to help the chum make it up stream. They are big fish that like to have their bodies immersed fully in water to feel comfortable (unlike the coho which don't seem to mind as much).

The reconfiguration and design of the dam is a very important step that was started two or so years ago when Ryan Vasak, Rachel's husband, developed an initial plan/design for his master's thesis at Western. With NSEA's help, the next step was to obtain the grant. That was awarded and another big success is that BP [refinery] is going to provide matching funding to undertake this big re-design - a significant amount of financial support.

Lets celebrate this wonderful news! Many thanks to NSEA and Ryan and BP as well as all of YOU who have helped to make this whole Terrell Creek restoration a long term and successful effort.

More to come.....

Thanks so much for your continued contribution to this effort!

Elie

A LOT OF TREES GIVE AWAY

Seven hundred trees need a home (Sitka Spruce and Western Red Cedar)

APRIL 30, 2011, 9 a.m. to noon - or while supply lasts.

7568 Birch Bay Drive, Birch Bay, Washington

Requirements:

• Be a property owner in the Terrell Creek watershed
• Come and adopt your trees
• Plant near creeks, rivers or lakes if possible
• Tend and nurture you adoptees for the year

Brought to you by the Chums of Terrell Creek -

assisted by Dorie Belisle, the original Farmers Growing Trees for Salmon Coordinator;

the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association; and Whatcom Farm Friends.

Volunteer to help, bring a shovel and a willing spirit. Call 360-371-5312 for more information.