Protecting air, land, water ... and saving lives!

By Erika Holmes, communications manager, Lacey

Ecology sets the bar high for state agency blood drives. So much so that the Puget Sound Blood Center recognized our employees' contributions with the following note of gratitude:

"Each year, the Department of Ecology holds more blood drives than any other donor group, and their blood drives consistently achieve or exceed their registration goal. In 2013, Ecology held 12 blood drives -- 173 different donors collectively gave 408 pints of blood.

This group's most recent amazing accomplishment was having 59 donors come to their two-day blood drive held the Thursday and Friday before Christmas. Because each pint of blood is divided into three usable components, in 2013, 1,224 patients in our community received blood that was donated at the Department of Ecology. And this group has been consistently excellent for decades.

Since April of 1994, the Department of Ecology has held 149 blood drives with 6,456 registrations. That's an average of 43 donors per drive. There are 303 past donors at the Department of Ecology, and more than half of them, 164 to be exact, are members of the prestigious Gallon Club; 7 more will receive their gallon pin at their next donation. Every great group needs a great coordinator. Allen Robbins has been overseeing the Ecology blood drives and has done an extraordinary job." -- Tori Fairhurst, Donor Representative, Puget Sound Blood Center

Ecology's ample donations were recognized with a handmade glass bowl by artist Ginger Kelly at the Puget Sound Blood Center's 2014 Partners in Life awards ceremony. Allen Robbins, who's been coordinating blood drives at Ecology's Lacey office since 1994, accepted the award. He also organized another drive earlier this week!

For more photos of the 2014 Partners in Life awards ceremony in Olympia, view Puget Sound Blood Center's Flickr album.

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Water's Edge: New video focuses on young salmon and shorelines

By Annette Frahm, Green Shorelines Outreach Coordinator, King County (WRIA 8)

Salmon are a Pacific Northwest icon.

As a keystone species, salmon help support wildlife – from birds to bears and otters to seals, sea lions and Puget Sound orcas.

Young salmon need healthy shorelines to help them survive. A new video explains the shoreline elements that are important to these endangered fish.

The video features Roger Tabor, biologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who has studied salmon in Lake Washington for 20 years.

Find out more at the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed (WRIA 8) Green Shorelines website. Or visit the Green Shorelines blog.

WRIA 8 partners are working to restore and conserve Chinook salmon, listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. WRIA 8 is a cooperative effort of 27 local governments, citizens, businesses, scientists and environmentalists.

For more information, contact me by phone at 206-296-8013 or send me an email.

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Good News for the Environment

By Barbara MacGregor, Web Communications, Lacey

With all the water that’s been falling from the sky recently, it’s fitting that there’ve been a number of good news stories about water-related topics.

For the third year in a row, Ecology invited folks to get their cameras and snap photos of the season’s unusually high tides. People in Australia, British Columbia, Oregon and other places are doing the same thing, as part of what’s called the King Tide initiative. The idea is to look at the high tides and envision what sea level rise would look like, as a result of climate change.

Read what a number of news sources are saying about Ecology’s King Tides initiative.

• From the Seattle P-I, 12-30-11
  
  
• From the Seattle Times, 12-21-11
  
  
• From the Olympian, 12-27-11
  
  
• From the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, 12-27-11
  
  
• From KCTS EarthFix, 12-23-11
  
  
• From the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Ear to the Ground blogsite, 12-22-11
  
  
• From the Everett Herald, 12-30-11
  
  
• And from the Whidbey News-Times 12-23-11

So, while the King Tides initiative focuses on an abundance of water, the Olympian featured a story on the ongoing struggle some communities have to obtain adequate water supplies. Here’s a story on a recent success for the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Yelm.

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Good News for the Environment

By Barb MacGregor, Web Communications Manager

Before I worked at Ecology, I thought of the agency as a bunch of people who make and enforce regulations. True, the regulations help protect the environment and enforcers make sure the rules are followed. But I just never imagined it was the kind of place where my background in environmental education and stewardship would fit.

Well, I’ve been here more than three years now, and I’ve seen and learned so much more about the people here and the work they do. Yes, they all care about protecting the environment. But they also care about the quality of life in our communities across the state. And healthy communities depend on a healthy environment and a healthy economy. These things are not mutually exclusive!

I thought I’d start sharing some of the good news I see in the media – stories that help show the connection between the work we do at Ecology and how it helps support healthy communities. If you see stories I’ve missed, please share the links with us by commenting below! You are always welcome to comment on any of our EcoConnect stories.

Here are some good news stories from last week:

From the Yakima Herald:

• Salazar Offers Support for Yakima Basin Water Projects


• Water Supply Efforts Get Boost from High Levels of Government

From the Tri-City Herald:

• Salazar's Focus on Water Good News for Valley

From the Seattle Times:

• Brightwater Sewage-Treatment Plant More Than a Passing Fancy

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