The Process
The Project was initiated by the Nooksack Tribe Natural Resources Department in collaboration with other community partners (see list below) between April 2014 and September 2016. The process included meetings with interest groups, along with a community meeting and information sharing to engage everyone who wished to participate.
A Community Watershed Group, composed of 44 volunteer residents and property owners of the South Fork Nooksack River Valley, met a total of six times between January and September of 2017. The Watershed Group dialogued around issues that affect our watershed, informed the Tribe’s watershed conservation planning, and laid the foundation for future community watershed planning efforts. Their meetings resulted in agreement around Long-Range Community Goals and Planning Principles.
At the conclusion of this planning process, a voluntary group of local residents decided to form The South Fork Watershed Education Committee. The Committee is open to any landowners or residents of the South Fork who wish to get involved. Each year, the Committee hosts several forums for the community to learn about watershed issues.
How is the project funded?
Grants and contributions from:
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Nooksack Indian Tribe
- North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative
- Whatcom Community Foundation
Who helped get this process started?
- Acme/Van Zandt Flood Advisory Committee
- Evergreen Land Trust Association
- Local citizens
- Natural Systems Design
- Nooksack Tribe Natural & Cultural Resources Department
- Washington Water Trust
- Western Washington University
- Whatcom County Planning and Public Works Department
- Whatcom Land Trust