Special Projects 2024

Mentors to Mentors Program run by On Sacred Ground Land Trust is a partnership program with Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group, one of several fisheries enhancement groups in the Puget Sound focused on salmon habitat restoration. The Mentors to Mentors program is geared for students in the South Seattle Duwamish and Green River region to participate in an environmental education trip to the San Juan Islands and learn about habitat connectivity for Southern Resident KillerWhales and Chinook Salmon. There is no cost for students to apply to these trips as a way to help remove all barriers to participation, and high school and college interns (up to age 30) can apply. The purpose of the program is to expand our understanding of Salish Sea habitat as one interconnected and interdependent bioregion, supporting a multitude of creatures, includingimperiled and keystone species. Our aim is to expose students to high impact mentors in the marine environmental and green jobs field through the lens of activism, science, culture,government and stewardship projects. The program is funded by the National ParkFoundationPark Ventures grant and the Kiwanis Kactus Foundation of Auburn, WA. Salish Sea Voyaging Society will support the program recreation component.

In support of the Washington Sea Grant Invasive Green Crab Team we will take to our shorelines via our voyaging canoes and participate in monitoring surveys for green crab presence.

The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) is a small shore crab whose native distribution is in the northeast Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea, ranging along coasts from northern Africa to Norway and Iceland. The crab is an effective predator, adept at opening bivalve shells, and has been blamed for harming the soft shell clam industry on the U.S. East Coast. It preys on numerous other organisms, making these crabs potential competitors for the food sources of native fish and bird species.

The recent arrival of the green crab on the U.S. west coast is cause for concern. The green crab has already invaded numerous coastal communities outside its native range, including South Africa, Brazil, Australia, and both coasts of North America. An able colonizer and efficient predator, this small shore crab has the potential to significantly alter any ecosystem it invades. It has been blamed for the collapse of the soft-shell clam industry in Maine. The green crab could threaten Dungeness crab, oyster, and clam fisheries and aquaculture operations in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.