LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Community helps rebuild classroom

Published 12:15 pm Wednesday, October 1, 2008

To the editor:

The trails at the Maxwelton Outdoor Classroom and Nature Preserve are open again after the viewing platform over Maxwelton Creek was rebuilt.

This six-acre forested wetland site, owned by the South Whidbey School District, has a self-guided trail in a peaceful setting where people can walk and learn about the salmon cycle and local ecology. Students use the site in fall and spring for hands-on environmental science lessons provided by Whidbey Watershed Stewards.

Coho salmon and cutthroat trout return to this creek to spawn in late November or early December when it is full of water. While they are often hard to spot, we know they are there because of the numbers of young salmon we find in the spring. In May, more smolt and fry were found than in previous years.

Many thanks to the Island County Conservation Futures Fund which provided funding for the construction project, as well as for the original purchase in 1994, and to all those who worked on the project this summer.

Volunteers came from Young Life, The Fishin’ Club, Beach Watchers and Whidbey Watershed Stewards. In-kind engineering services were provided by the Whidbey Island Conservation District, which has also partnered with us on other projects.

The Nature Preserve is located on Maxwelton Road in Clinton, near the intersection with French Road. Look for the parking lot at the salmon sculpture by Pat McVay. Please help us maintain the site by leaving no litter and staying on the trails. Thank you!

Nancy Waddell

Whidbey Watershed Stewards