The City Council of Bonney Lake recently approved a measure to become one of the District’s partner jurisdictions, opening up residents to our full suite of services. We are thrilled to welcome the City of Bonney Lake as our newest jurisdiction partner and look forward to serving the community to improve conservation and food access efforts.
The District actually has been working with the City for more than a decade on a sporadic annual contract basis. The District began working with the City in 2004 through our volunteer lake monitoring program, originally training 13 volunteer monitors who provided the City with data for an annual lake report. This program continued annually until 2008, but budget constraints curtailed District support beyond that.
The volunteers, however, remained steadfast in their dedication to monitoring the water quality of Bonney and Debra Jane Lakes and were able to keep their monitoring efforts going even without District support. These efforts ultimately led to 2010 contract between the City and the District to produce Annual Lake Reports covering 2009 – 2011 and again last year to produce the reports covering 2012 – 2014.
Now, with the City joining our network of jurisdictions, we can begin providing Bonney Lake residents with all of our other services, which weren’t available in the annual contracts. These services include community gardens, fruit gleaning, farm planning, rain gardens, and all the numerous workshops we put on.
If you would like to learn more about our programs and services check out our website a twww.piercecd.org and feel free to reach out to our staff with any specific questions.
Winter Events with Pierce County Conservation District
December 2, 6:00 – 8:00pm: AgCOI Get Together – Arista Pasta, Puyallup. The Agriculture Community of Interest has had a wonderful first year! A chance to meet all of the members of the AgCOI, including the Farmer Advisory Council. Click Here for More Info.
December 10, 5:00 – 7:00pm: Agritourism Workshop 3 – Orting. This is the third and final agritourism workshop of 2015. Join us for a discussion-based format that will end with solid next steps for marketing materials. Click Here for More Info.
December 18 & January 22, 9:00 – 10:00am:Agriculture Roundtable Breakfast Club – Orting Bakery. Each month, the AgCOI coordinator, the WSU Extension Pierce County Director and the Pierce County Ag Program Manager will be having breakfast in the delicious Orting Bakery. If you are an existing farmer, or even just following an interest, join us over a cup of coffee to talk about any specific issues that you would like help to resolve on your farm. Click Here for More Info.
January 6, 10:00am – 12:00pm: Bale Silage (Haylage): Producing, Feeding and Ration Balancing- Roy. Join Washington State University (WSU) nutrient management specialist Joe Harrison and Terry Backstrom at his family’s farm in Roy to learn the techniques and principles necessary to producing and feeding high-quality hay silage. Click Here for More Info.
January 7, 10:00am – 12:00pm: Raising and Processing Ducks for Meat – Tacoma. Join us at Calendula Farms to learn about raising ducks for meat and eggs and the WSDA licensing and rules for retail sales. Click Here for More Info.
January 16, 10:00am – 12:00pm: Rabbit Processing Workshop – Tacoma. Join us at a commercial farm that grows ducks, turkeys, chickens, and rabbits! This workshop will cover everything from picking to processing your rabbit for food and pelts. Click Here for More Info.
January 19, 6:00 – 8:00pm: Washington State Farm Internship Pilot Project Information Session and Q&A – Tacoma. Thinking about hiring interns on your farm for the upcoming season? Don’t miss the opportunity to enroll your farm in the Small Farms Internship Pilot Project (FIP). Click Here for More Info.
January 28, 3:00 – 5:00pm: Drainage: On the Farm – A discussion on the problems & strategies – Puyallup. An interactive workshop that will examine drainage issues and what can be done about it. Proactive management strategies will be explored, such as the types of crops to grow if fields are too wet. Click Here for More Info.
January 30, 9:00am – 5:00pm: Community Garden Leadership Training – Puyallup. We are pleased to announce a workshop hosted in partnership with Pierce County Center for Dialog & Resolution to support gardeners to make gardening in community a rewarding one. Click Here for More Info.
