Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association
Encyclopedia
Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) was formed in 1990 as a non-profit organization with an overall goal of seeing an increase in returning natural spawning salmon
to the over 1,600 km of rivers and streams in Whatcom County, Washington
in the United States
Whatcom County is home to seven species of salmon (chinook
, chum
, coho, pink
, sockeye, steelhead and kokanee
), along with several other salmonids (bull trout
, Dolly Varden
, both sea-run and resident cutthroat
, and rainbow trout
) which rely heavily on the return of salmon each year.
The main focus of the NSEA is to restore lowland riparian areas. These areas are commonly impacted by human activities such as urban development, agriculture
, and timber harvest. Riparian areas slow runoff, filter chemicals and excess nutrients caused by agriculture, shade the water, and slow the process of erosion to riverbanks. The NSEA deals with the issue of riparian destruction by leading many volunteer projects each year. The aim of these projects are to replant native trees and shrubs along stream banks, construct fences to keep livestock out, do an array of in-stream habitat improvement projects including adding large woody debris or gravel to streams, and stabilize eroding or undercut banks. Along with habitat restoration, the NSEA gives many free educational seminars to the local area, along with local schools, on how they can help with salmon management. The current executive director of NSEA is Rachel Vasak.
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
to the over 1,600 km of rivers and streams in Whatcom County, Washington
Whatcom County, Washington
Whatcom County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. Its name ultimately derives from the Lummi word Xwotʼqom, meaning "noisy water." As of 2010, the population was 201,140. The county seat is at Bellingham, which is also the county's largest city...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Whatcom County is home to seven species of salmon (chinook
Chinook salmon
The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...
, chum
Chum
Chum is a fabulous person Chum may refer to:*Chum salmon, a kind of salmon , native to the northern Pacific and adjacent waterways* Chum is a slang term for a friend....
, coho, pink
Pink salmon
Pink salmon or humpback salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon.- Appearance :...
, sockeye, steelhead and kokanee
Kokanee
Kokanee is a word from the Okanagan language referring to land-locked lake populations of Sockeye salmon . It may also refer to:* Kokanee Range, a subrange of the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, Canada...
), along with several other salmonids (bull trout
Bull trout
The bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden" , but was re-classified as a separate species in 1980. Bull trout are listed as a threatened species under the U.S....
, Dolly Varden
Dolly Varden
Dolly Varden may refer to:* Dolly Varden , a character in the novel Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. The original usage.* Dolly Vardens , a group of Black women baseball players that comprised the first professional baseball team* Dolly Varden , a musical group from Chicago, Illinois* Dolly Varden...
, both sea-run and resident cutthroat
Cutthroat
Cutthroat is a three-player pocket billiards game, played on a pool table using cue sticks. Each player is assigned a set of numbered balls. The object is to be the last player with at least one ball still on the table...
, and rainbow trout
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....
) which rely heavily on the return of salmon each year.
The main focus of the NSEA is to restore lowland riparian areas. These areas are commonly impacted by human activities such as urban development, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, and timber harvest. Riparian areas slow runoff, filter chemicals and excess nutrients caused by agriculture, shade the water, and slow the process of erosion to riverbanks. The NSEA deals with the issue of riparian destruction by leading many volunteer projects each year. The aim of these projects are to replant native trees and shrubs along stream banks, construct fences to keep livestock out, do an array of in-stream habitat improvement projects including adding large woody debris or gravel to streams, and stabilize eroding or undercut banks. Along with habitat restoration, the NSEA gives many free educational seminars to the local area, along with local schools, on how they can help with salmon management. The current executive director of NSEA is Rachel Vasak.
See also
- Conservation biologyConservation biologyConservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...
- Conservation ethicConservation ethicConservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to...
- Conservation movementConservation movementThe conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
- EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
- Ecology movementEcology movementThe global ecology movement is based upon environmental protection, and is one of several new social movements that emerged at the end of the 1960s. As a values-driven social movement, it should be distinguished from the pre-existing science of ecology....
- EnvironmentalismEnvironmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
- Environmental movementEnvironmental movementThe environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
- Environmental protectionEnvironmental protectionEnvironmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
- Habitat conservationHabitat conservationHabitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...
- Harlan KreditHarlan KreditHarlan Kredit is a multiple award-winning Dutch-American high school teacher from Lynden, Washington. He was the first Washingtonian teacher ever to be inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. He has spent the majority of his career at Lynden Christian High School...
- List of environmental organizations
- Natural environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
- Natural capitalNatural capitalNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to goods and services relating to the natural environment. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future...
- Natural resourceNatural resourceNatural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
- Renewable resourceRenewable resourceA renewable resource is a natural resource with the ability of being replaced through biological or other natural processes and replenished with the passage of time...
- Sustainable developmentSustainable developmentSustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...