We’ve posted the results of that survey on our website. There’s a brief text summary as well as a copy of the powerpoint presentation DGSS gave to our Board of Supervisors, and a link to the full report (pdf).

If other co-operators (or citizens anywhere in the district) have more comments about the district, we’re always open to input. Feel free to post a comment here or email district at kingcd dot com.

The workshop is designed for marine shoreline land owners who want to be better stewards of their property.

For more information on the what the workshop includes, check out our earlier post.

Also in the summer newsletter:

• A recap of the March Board of Supervisors election
• Our upcoming farm tours and classes
• An estuary restoration at North Wind Weir and
• Happy 2nd Birthday to our Landowner Incentive Program (LIP)

What can you do to help?

1. Install gutters and downspouts

2. Create a confinement area

3. Create animals walkways

For more information (and pictures!), check out our printable fact sheet (pdf) here on the King CD website.

You may also call the District at 425-282-1900 or email district@kingcd.org to get tips on mud management.

The King Conservation District invites you to attend a FREE workshop for property owners along the marine shorelines of King County. The workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to learn about the ecological, geological, and vegetation management issues associated with owning property where the water begins.

Topics include:

• Understanding marine nearshore and riparian ecology
• Recognizing geologic hazards
• Using native vegetation to reduce erosion
• Using native vegetation to improve fish and wildlife habitat

Who should attend?

• Beach property owners interested in a stable natural shoreline
• Bluff property owners interested in reducing the potential for erosion and landslides
• Any marine shoreline or bluff property owner interested in improving fish and wildlife habitat

Workshop dates and locations:

Saturday, May 29th – Normandy Park City Hall, Normandy Park, WA

Saturday, June 12th – Vashon Maury Island Land Trust, Vashon, WA

Saturday, June 26th – Discovery Park ELC, Seattle, WA

*All workshops 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM (indoor session) & 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM (optional lunch and field trip)

Facilitators include Kollin Higgins, King County DNRP WLRD, Peter Landry, City of Normandy Park, Elliott Menashe, Greenbelt Consulting and Brandy Reed, King Conservation District.

To register or for more information, contact Brandy Reed at (425) 282-1924 or at brandy.reed@kingcd.org.

Attendance at the workshop is free. Pre-order box lunches will be provided for a fee (~$12)

The Engineer is part of the District’s Implementation Team and provides engineering services on the behalf of the King Conservation District to urban, rural and agricultural landowners throughout the boundary of the Conservation District, which includes most of King County.

Duties include providing support to the District’s Agricultural Program, Marine Shoreline Landowner Assistance Program, and Landowner Incentive Program; designing and implementing aquatic area enhancement projects for the District and as needed under contract with member jurisdictions; providing streamlined JARPA sponsorship to partner organizations and entities; coordinating the District’s Best Available Science Initiative; and staffing the District Board of Supervisors Science, Engineering & Program Development Subcommittee.

Submit a resume and a letter of interest outlining your job skills and qualifications for thisposition to jobs@kingcd.org.

This position will remain open until filled.

Monday night the Board will be discussing the most recent Advisory Committee meeting, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant opportunity and the Executive Director search.

The meeting will be in the King CD conference room, located at 1107 SW Grady Way, Suite 130 in Renton.

And just a reminder, tonight we’re holding a special Board meeting to discuss the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Community Salmon Fund. Agenda here (pdf).

The Fair – which King CD uses as an opportunity to reach out to our urban constituents – provided dozens of opportunities to talk about rain gardens. Our rain garden poster was a popular item – we ran out of posters in the first two hours!

We also made “how to build a rain garden” manuals available, which were quite popular. If you stopped by our booth after we had ran out of the manuals, you can download it here on WSU-Pierce County Extension website (pdf).

For those not at familiar with rain gardens, here’s a short description from the manual:

A rain garden acts like a native forest by collecting, absorbing, and filtering stormwater runoff from roof  tops, driveways, patios, and other areas that don’t allow water to soak in. Rain gardens are simply shallow depressions that:

• Can be shaped and sized to fit your yard.
• Are constructed with soil mixes that allow water to soak in rapidly and support healthy plant growth.
• Can be landscaped with a variety of plants to fit the surroundings.

Here’s a good diagram of what your rain garden might look like:

For more information about rain gardens, contact the King CD at 425-282-1900 or district@kingcd.org.

1. Welcome & Introductions (Bill Knutsen)

2. Call to Order

3. Election (Jason Chambers/John Bodin)

4. Committee Charter (Jason Chambers)

5. Committee size, make up (Sara Hemphill)

6. Meeting Calendar/Admin Support/Exec Dir Search (Bill Knutsen)

7. Adjourn

After introductions, which included a few guests interested in joining the AC, John Bodin recapped the March election, talked about some future possibilities with new election technology and answered some questions from the members of the committee with the help of Tom Salzer from the Washington State Conservation Commission.

Bodin’s expertise will be helpful to the developing an election subcommittee of AC members (and potentially other interested parties) who will review the current election setup and make recommendations on how it can be improved. If you’re interested in being a part of that group email jason.chambers@kingcd.org.

The next item on the agenda was review and adoption of a draft charter for the advisory committee. Since the Committee’s inception, the meetings have been fairly informal, but with increased business to attend to the AC designated a subcommittee to put together a charter that lays out some operating procedures. After about an hour of discussion that centered mostly around membership issues, the group passed the draft charter which will next go to the King CD’s Board of Supervisors for review and adoption.

The Supervisors will likely consider the charter at their May 10th meeting.

The charter issue overlapped with the next topic: AC size and make up. That discussion encompassed several sub issues including: whether would be dedicated seats for discrete interests, how many seats particular stakeholders would have, and how large the committee would be.  The consensus was to leave these questions for the King CD Board to decide.   Discussion ensued on what topics would be the first focus of the new committee including: the CD election process, urban/rural partners and local food, small cities, sustainable funding, jurisdictional grant policy review, raising the King CD profile.

With only 6 meetings a year, the AC has limited opportunities to provide input to the District. By adding subcommittees to consider the King CD election, programs and other areas of interest, the AC will have more opportunities to comment and the District will get more valuable feedback from its stakeholders.

The committee wrapped up the evening by getting briefed on the current Executive Director search going on at the District, and providing some input on potential meeting dates/times for 2010.

For more information on the advisory committee, email us (jason.chambers@kingcd.org) and we’ll be happy to discuss in more detail.