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Robinson-Bertoni Coming Soon! ENVT 350: Environmental Methods of Investigation Dr. Rose McKenney and Guest Instructors Every semester, students in this course take a one-week course with an expert instructor representing four different disciplines. Each instructor designs and assigns a project to provide students with the opportunity to apply their disciplinary lens to the Watershed. In addition, students complete several projects designed and supported by the main instructor of the course. Below we

Dear fellow Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed residents, Some of you may not know that you are living in the middle of a watershed that once supported a diverse population of plant and animal life. This watershed used to provide a space where salmon could spawn their eggs during the summer months, and bring new life into the world. Now, however, the water levels in the creek are drastically reduced. Salmon are now struggling to find a place to lay their eggs and, as such, their population is

Dear Residents and Landowners of Clover Creek Watershed You can make a difference in the health of our watershed. I urge you to consider native plants as your first choice in landscaping your property. By doing so, you will be contributing to the larger effort to restore the watershed’s riparian areas. Restoration is key to building a healthy ecosystem for both the human and non-human residents of Clover Creek Watershed, the benefits of which are too numerous to count. Thank you for your

Hello Pierce County Homeowners! The Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed that we live in is in danger. Salmon are dying and streams aren’t healthy enough to support the life that thrives there. In order to help our watershed, we need to build rain gardens. Rain gardens collect rainwater and filter it through plants and soil into the groundwater. This provides healthier and more abundant water sources for organisms. This is your opportunity to have a positive impact on the watershed we all depend on

Photo from the Pierce County Photo Gallery, https://www.co.pierce.wa.us/gallery.aspx?PID=568 Dear Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed Council, In our Environmental Studies 350 lab work, we found that nutrients like phosphates are present in Clover Creek at concentrations near the Washington Department of Ecology’s moderate concern level. These nutrients are often introduced to the watershed through the use of fertilizers. Because they can lead to algal blooms, which disturb both wildlife and

Photo courtesy of Claire Todd Dear Pierce County, The county should remove channelization and pavement on the bottom of creeks in the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed. These modifications were designed to prevent flooding, but they have many adverse effects. Although it would be a substantial financial investment, it would be a benefit to the watershed and local ecosystems. A stream’s curves provide refuge for wildlife, allowing salmon to potentially return. Pavement on the bottom of streams

Dear Clover Creek Watershed residents, Through my time as an ENVT 350 student at PLU, I conducted multiple experiments in this watershed. Each experiment I noticed more and more trash around me. Our local Parkland Prairie was developed as public park space and has slowly become a place for garbage to collect and it harms the biodiversity there. We, as residents, need to have more care for our local watershed. I’m asking visitors of Parkland Prairie to stop littering and show more respect for

Photo Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program To the residents near and around the Clover Creek watershed, As an Eastern Washington native, I am not well versed with the dilemmas present in this area, specifically those across Pierce county. However, over time, these lands started to become my second home due to my studies at Pacific Lutheran University and that was when these injustices became bright as day. It was not until this year that I witnessed and experienced these ecological injustices first

Pictured here is the Parkland Prairie in the sunshine of Spring 2021 To the Chambers-Clover Creek watershed Residents, The Chambers-Clover Creek watershed is a water system of lakes, creeks, and streams in your area. If you are a Parkland, WA resident, you live near a branch of the watershed. For example, Parkland Prairie is a stream located just a few minutes’ walk from Pacific Lutheran University. During my time there I saw the beautiful blue green ducks swimming in the water as I collected

Photo courtesy of Al Schmauder Dear Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed Council Members, In 1993, the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed Council successfully repaired the substrate content of a channelized portion of Clover Creek by adding gravel, large stones, woody debris and other organic materials. It would be worthwhile for the council to revisit these efforts for the rest of the channelized portions of the creek as part of their next Action Agenda so we can make our urbanized creek function as