Latest News

Why build a rain garden?
Rain gardens are highly engineered to provide environmental benefits, but don't let that fool you.
They are also beautifully landscaped garden features that:
• Enhance the landscaping and appearance of homes and yards
• Provide habitat for beneficial insects and birds
• Filter oil and grease from driveways, pesticides, and fertilizers from lawns, and other pollutants before they reach groundwater or the storm drain and eventually streams, wetlands, lakes and marine waters

Bruce and Linda Bryan are watershed stewards doing their part to protect habitat along a tributary of Terrell Creek.

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) helped them transform their unmanaged 10-acre parcel,overgrown with alder trees and blackberries, into a diverse wetland and forest complex protecting and restoring salmon habitat.

COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS

The Governor and Partner Agencies have identified certain of our activities as “essential business service” to support agriculture, habitat and water quality in Whatcom County.

The Whatcom Conservation District is participating in Wildfire Awareness Month through sharing wildfire preparedness resources with homeowners and communities.

Check out our Wildfire Info pages www.whatcomcd.org/wildfire for access to resources like habitat friendly wildfire preparedness, how to protect your home from burning embers, fire-resistant plants, and much more! Also, follow the link to find out about our free wildfire risk assessment services.

Don Hrutfiord runs a beef operation along with his wife Mary and son Chris near Drayton Harbor, just south of Blaine. Since the Hrutfiord farm includes an unnamed creek that flows directly into the harbor, Don and family chose to be early adopters of farm planning services offered by the Whatcom Conservation District (WCD) way back in 1996.

The Whatcom Conservation District is dedicated to helping Whatcom County farmers to overcome barriers and support local agriculture. As part of this goal we have launched Manure Link!

WCD will maintain this program to help connect manure producers with people seeking manure. Manure Link is a simple way to recycle valuable nutrients and organic matter from farms with surplus to others who need it.

Visit our Manure Link Page to learn more and explore the resource.

Thank you to the 39 volunteers who joined us for a habitat restoration work party along Tenmile Creek Saturday morning!

Together they planted over 300 native trees and shrubs along the creek that will one day grow into a healthy forest for salmon. Once established, the native vegatation will shade the stream and stabilize the stream bank, keeping the water cool and clear. Thank you to the landowners for working alongside them on their beautiful property to restore salmon habitat!

In the early 1900’s Darrell Ambrose’s great grandfather settled onto land adjacent to the Samish River, just south of Acme, to start a farm from scratch and raise a herd of Brown Swiss cows. The hand-built heritage barn still stands and is a testament to the Ambrose family’s commitment to building things that last.