Feline Friends Holiday Bazaar and Griffin Holiday Market, Saturday, December 3

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This Saturday sees the return of two holiday events to the Griffin/Steamboat Peninsula area. One is the Feline Friends Cat Adoption Day, Santa, and Holiday Bazaar. The other is the Griffin Holiday Market. Between these two events, you’re bound to find a lot of goodies you want for this season’s gift-giving.

Santa will be available at the Feline Friends Holiday Bazaar to have photos taken with your pets (on a leash only) or children.

Stop by to visit with friends and neighbors and to shop for those extra special gifts made by local artisans and have some Hot Apple Cider. Check out their Raffle and Bake Sale with lots of cookies.

Of course, the Feline Friends Cat House will be open with cats hoping to find a loving forever home before the New Year.

Feline Friends Cat Adoption Day, Santa, and Holiday Bazaar
Saturday, December 3
10 AM to 3 PM
Griffin Fire Department Headquarters
3707 Steamboat Island Loop NW, Olympia

On the same day, the Griffin School invites you to come peruse their Griffin Holiday Market. More 30 vendors are featured, with the focus on vendors selling homemade items. There will be a great variety at this event, which is a fundraiser to support the Griffin Middle School band’s Disney trip in April.

There will also be a bake sale, silent auction, and performances by individual band students.

Griffin Holiday Market
Saturday, December 3
10 AM to 3 PM
Griffin School Gymnasium
6530 33rd Ave NW, Olympia

We hope to see you shopping locally at both these holiday events, this Saturday.

Your Purchases on Amazon Can Help Support the GNA

amazon_black_fridayjpgThe Griffin Neighborhood Association, budget-wise, runs a pretty slim operation. For example, thanks to a generous contribution by South Sound IT and the work of a volunteer webmaster, this web site operates at pretty much no cost, to the GNA. But if you’ve picked up one of the several thousand “Steamboat Neighborhood” stickers we’ve distributed, then you’ve received at least one tiny benefit from the Association. If you are a contributing member, thank you so much! And if you’re not, please click here to join us (we’ve been around for more than 26 years and, with your help, the Griffin Neighborhood Association will be here for many years to come).

But your membership in the GNA isn’t the only way you can lend some financial support to the Association. When you shop on Amazon.com, your purchases can produce a small commission to the GNA. If, that is, you start your shopping at https://www.steamboatisland.org/amazon Even better: click on the link https://www.steamboatisland.org/amazon and then bookmark it as your Amazon link, so all your shopping on Amazon will help support the Griffin Neighborhood Association.

Our families wish you and yours all the best, this Thanksgiving. And we thank you for your support of the Griffin Neighborhood Association.

The Olympia Harbor Patrol

harbor_patrolrecently joined the Port of Olympia Harbor Patrol. With three other men and one woman we became the recruit class Spring of 2016. The Harbor Patrol is directed by the Port of Olympia and it is an all-volunteer non-law enforcement organization dedicated to port security, marine search and rescue, and public safety and education. We have a 28 foot patrol boat and volunteers are trained carefully in all their functions. No previous knowledge or skill is required to serve on the Patrol. They will teach you! Volunteers must be at least eighteen years of age and pass a background check and a drug screening. 

Click here for more information about the Port of Olympia Harbor Patrol. Or click here to indicate your interest in volunteering for the Harbor Patrol. Safe boating!

by James Nugent.

Update: The Port is accepting applications for Harbor Patrol Volunteers through January 22, 2017, at 11:59 PM. Click here for more information.

Land Stewardship, The Second Phase of Conservation

Three Land Stewards

Land Stewards Mark Hendricks, Deanna Frost and Jack Sisco at Oakland Bay County Park.

Nothing is quite as sweet in the conservation world as completing that land deal to protect a special habitat for generations to come. Whether it’s finalizing a conservation easement or the outright purchase of a piece of critical shoreline, wetland or intact forest, the news is met with much celebration and sense of satisfaction – that more land is protected into the future.

But acquiring the land is just the first step in conservation. The next step is making good on the commitment to keep the land in as good condition – or better – than it was when protected.

Good habitat stewardship is key so the plants and animals that depend on that piece of natural world will continue to thrive. Good stewardship may include restoration, such as removing shoreline armoring and non-native invasive plants, or replanting an old field with native trees and shrubs to recreate a once-existing forest or wet meadow. Often, good stewardship includes visiting a site to ensure that agreed-upon easement conditions are being adhered to, checking for encroachments, or picking up trash.

Dedicated Volunteers Make it All Happen

Capitol Land Trust relies on dedicated members to ensure that our protected lands remain in good condition. As more of the protected sites we manage become open with trails and facilities for the public, it will take more work to ensure that sensitive habitats are maintained and the “human footprint” isn’t having a negative effect on them.

Land Steward at North Fork Goldsborough Creek Preserve

Land Steward Jacqueline Winter monitors North Fork Goldsborough Creek Preserve.

That is why we are always looking for volunteers willing to spend some time and energy to visit and monitor our sites as stewards or occasional workers; to ensure that we are keeping our commitment to landowners and our community to be good stewards of the lands we manage.

Can I become a Volunteer Land Steward?

Yes! We’d love your help.

At the center of Capitol Land Trust’s mission is the perpetual stewardship of the properties we have conserved – into the future. We visit even our more remote properties at least once a year to document their condition, check for dumping and trespassing, and visit with neighbors. For private properties on which CLT holds a conservation easement, we also meet with the landowner to be sure they are fulfilling the terms of the conservation easement.

Volunteer Land Stewards are key to our long-term success. They monitor sites, usually with a CLT staff member. During annual monitoring visits, Land Stewards observe, take notes and photographs, and may act as guides. After visits, they fill out monitoring report forms that help us create final monitoring reports.

Land Stewards who live near or travel to a CLT-conserved property provide a critical service throughout the year by alerting CLT to any problems. Depending on the needs of the property and the volunteer, a Land Steward also may add visits and do other activities (such as removing invasive plants or organizing a volunteer work party). We match volunteer stewards with a property that fits their interests and physical abilities and (if possible) is near where they live or travel.

Land Steward at Bayshore Preserve

Planting live stake cuttings at Bayshore Preserve. Photo by Bruce Livingston.

A Land Steward’s time commitment depends on the CLT property and the volunteer. An hour is needed prior to the monitoring visit to review the previous year’s report; part of a day is needed for the visit and an hour or so after to fill out the monitoring report form. Typically, new Land Stewards are trained during their first visit to their assigned property – or they may join a monitoring visit to another Land Steward’s property to observe the protocol.

The reward for being a Land Steward is that you get to visit unique and beautiful natural areas, farms, ranches, and timberlands – most not open to the public. You also know you are giving back to your community.

Call our office if you are interested in being a Land Steward and we will match you with a suitable property. Thank you to all of our current, and past, volunteer Land Stewards for your ongoing support towards our efforts to preserve natural and working lands in southwest Washington!

Reprinted with permission from Issue 62, Fall 2016, of the Capitol Land Trust News.

The Capitol Land Trust and Griffin Neighborhood Association created the Steamboat Conservation Partnership in order to conserve the natural areas that make the Eld and Totten Inlet watersheds so special. Click here to learn more about how you can support the efforts of this unique partnership. And click here to learn more about preserved habitat right here in the Griffin/Steamboat Peninsula area.