Forestry field day
Puget Sound Forest Owners Field day will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 27 at Claremont Forest, near Snoqualmie in King County. The field day will help forest and woodland owners build skills to care for their trees.
WSU Extention, King County, King Conservation District and the Washington Department of Natural Resources are hosting the event.
Events include exhibits, equipment dealers and experts teaching workshops. The cost to attend is $25 a person or $35 per couple if registered before Aug. 26. The rates for both go up $10 the day of. Anyone under the age of 18 can attend for free. There are also special student and Master Gardener rates.
Participants should dress for the weather, wear comfortable but sturdy shoes, and prepare to walk in forested terrain. Parking, restrooms, refreshments are available on site.
To register or for more information visit www.forestry.wsu.edu/nps/events/fieldday or contact WSU Extension Forestry at 206-263-1128.
Annual Benefit
Beginning at 8 a.m. on Aug. 26 on the corner of Kent Kangly Road and Maple Valley Highway, the Maple Valley Firefighters will be hosting the annual Fill the Boot benefit. The benefit is for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Stop by with some spare change to help the benefit.
Emergency Preparedness Fair
Emergencies can happen at any time, to anyone. Are you ready?
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 24 at Rock Creek Elementary School Gym will be hosting the Community Emergency Preparedness Fair.
Included in the fair will be emergency response vehicles, utility district vehicles, preparedness demonstrations, informational displays and much more. Emergencies such as earthquakes, fire, terror and storms will all be covered during the fair.
Drive sober or get pulled over
Between Aug. 19 and Sept. 5 extra law enforcement will be out for the annual Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Campaign in King County. This year they want people to be aware of the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs as they are of alcohol.
Approximately one-third of drivers in Washington were drug-positive according to a new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Extra patrols will be out during that time focusing on pulling drivers who seem to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Salmon and Cedar River classes
Training to become a volunteer naturalist on the Cedar River starts on Sept. 6. Volunteers will learn about one of the world’s amazing wildlife migrations, which runs through the heart of Seattle, Renton and up into Maple Valley.
Naturalists will receive 20 hours of training from fish and watershed experts in September. Then they’ll spend three days along the river in October, talking to the public about the spawning salmon and the natural and human history of the Cedar River Watershed.
Sponsors of the program, now entering its 19th year, include the Seattle Aquarium, Seattle Public Utilities, King County Flood Control District, City of Renton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the WRIA8 Salmon Recovery Council.
Contact Dani Kendall at salmonjourney@seattleaquarium.org or call (206) 792-5851 to sign up.
Unique donation used to purchase land
The Metropolitan King County Council unanimously accepted an anonymous donation of $392,000 that can only be used for the purpose of purchasing open space.
A local family that wishes to stay anonymous contacted the Seattle Foundation trying to find out how they could make a donation for an open space in South King County.
King County Code allows the County’s Parks and Recreation Division to receive gifts. But, it requires that gifts of $50,000 or more be approved by the council in motion.
Three properties have been chosen to be purchased with the donation and were all identified as critical preservation and habitat areas and will add to the county’s network of open spaces and trails. Two of the properties to be purchased will add to existing public lands in the Spring Lake/Lake Desire Park bordering the unincorporated community of Fairwood. The third will add to the open space network along Soos Creek near Covington.
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Email assistant editor Sarah Brenden at sbrenden@soundpublishing.com.
