This year has been a banner year for the noxious weed tansy ragwort, which contains poisonous alkaloids that cause liver damage in livestock. Visitation to preserves has been busy; noxious weeds are so named because they are aggressive and prolific; and the Land Bank’s partnerships and initiatives are extensive.
This past month the local youth corps have continued to help out on preserves and considerable staff effort has gone into devising appropriate projects that suit their skill level and providing training. Other partner initiatives that the Land Bank as participated in — both in brainstorming conference calls and in writing letters of support — are the Conservation District’s Conservation Corps, which will commence October 1st and include partnerships with the Northwest Indian College and Western Washington University, and DNR’s landscape scale restoration program which could supply grant funding to the area for forest health projects. Last but not least, Orcas field assistant, Eric Nelson, is moving on. His last day with the Land Bank will be on August 25th. And although he will be missed, we all remain certain that there are great things waiting for him on the horizon!