News & Press

Here in North Central Washington, we are surrounded by wildflowers in the spring. It truly is a magical time of year.

It’s easy to love being outside when the weather is beautiful and the hills are covered in green velvet, yellow balsamroot and purple-blue lupine. Farther up valley, we may be seeing calypso orchids, or other forest-dwelling flowers.

Let’s explore how to use the beauty of wildflowers to capture your children’s imagination and help them fall in love with nature.

WENATCHEE — Though normally prohibited, ATVs will be on Saddle Rock next week. GeoEngineers will use them for surveying as part of a project involving removing waste rock piles.

read more in the Wenatchee World

LAKE WENATCHEE — The recently approved state capital budget doesn’t include funding for a Nason Ridge community forest pilot program, but the project could still become a reality.

Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee, introduced a bill this past legislative session to establish a community forest pilot program under the state Department of Natural Resources. It passed the Senate but never made it to a vote on the House floor.

When I was around 9, I spent countless hours after school watching two colonies of ants on my sidewalk. They marched in meandering lines along the sidewalk, collecting food and carrying it back to the entrance holes to their nests.

When two ants met, they tapped each other all over with their little antennae before passing by. Eventually, two ants from the different colonies would meet, and a battle would start, sometimes escalating into a war. It was like watching an epic movie on a tiny scale.

WENATCHEE — Each year, the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust asks volunteers to spend a few hours shoveling and raking the thin dirt strips that zigzag through the Wenatchee foothills. It’s simple but important work that improves trail health, and the time to do it is in the spring when soils are malleable.

“We have very limited soil moisture in Wenatchee, so we tend to try and do a big push for spring maintenance in order to work with the trail tread and the soil when it’s soft and wet,” said Hanne Beener, trail programs manager with the Land Trust.

Curious Wenatchee area residents and visitors can use a newly published brochure to guide identification of locally common native plants and animals. The Wenatchee Area Field Guide is lightweight, waterproof, and costs $10 (includes tax). Users are introduced to over 100 native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Color illustrations accompany descriptive texts, helping the observer to identify species quickly.

Foothills Trails News:

RAIN means muddy trails... and roads. We're scheduled to get between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch in the next 24 hours.

Please, please, please, avoid Horse Lake Road for at least half a day after a rain event. The slick road is unsafe, no matter what car you drive - and it can really damage the road.

And, of course, please take care of the trails - wait til they dry out a bit to use them again.  Thanks all!

Last Thursday, the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust celebrated the retirement of development director Sharon Lunz. During her 17 years there, Sharon played a vital, behind-the-scenes role in transforming CDLT from a just-barely surviving nonprofit to one with a multi-million budget and a positive impact on the two counties.

Land Trust, Chelan PUD and partners hope for April 5 opening depending on conditions  

This article originally ran in The Wenatchee World in February 2018.

As busy as the holiday season can be, I always look forward to the quiet and hush of winter in nature. It’s a great time to get outside with your family and focus on something you might miss the rest of the year. 

Our evergreen, coniferous trees give us a bit of green all year round. And with a little practice, kids can learn to tell the difference and find out what these trees have to teach us.

So what is an evergreen, and what’s a conifer?

This article originally ran in The Wenatchee World in February 2018.

A couple of months ago, in the column about exploring lakes and ponds, we talked about a lake’s watershed. Now, if you read that and your first thought was “is that a building that stores water?” –you’re not alone.

A watershed is all the land that drains water to a central location, such as a river, lake, or ocean. It’s important to know about our local watersheds, because what happens in one part of a watershed can affect all of us downstream.

This article originally ran in The Wenatchee World in September 2019.

Every fall, I end up with a huge pile of oak leaves in my yard. Last October, my mom visited and we ended up piling up leaves in creative ways, creating ephemeral art that blew away with the next gust of wind.

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon with family. The next day, we gathered them all up and added them to my compost pile. It will become rich soil for my garden next year.