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After a career as a teacher, education researcher, and policy specialist, Raegen Miller is now developing a small Custer farmstead. His productive rural oasis is complete with a salmon bearing stream, garden, a flock of laying hens, and fiber sheep. He has his eye on a number of cottage food enterprises - keep your eye out for a limited run of his tomato jam. In addition to hosting a salmon viewing on his farm last fall, Raegen has worked with Whatcom CD for custom conservation planning, small farm grants for home improvement, and now our landowner spotlight program.

Robin Probst is current the vice president of the Whatcom County Dressage and Eventing Association. Her partnership with Whatcom Conservation District includes conservation planning, soil testing, barn gutter rebate, small farm grant program, manure spreader loan. She was featured as a small farm makeover in Northwest Horse Source magazine in December 2018! Robin currently collaborates with friends to manage a residential horse property in central Whatcom County.

 Are you wondering what it’s like to work with Whatcom CD?  Read on to learn about Tiffany Bell and her Farm Planning experience.

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.