Students in synch

with the salmon

On April 1, nearly 130 students, teachers and volunteers gathered in North Creek to get a glance at releasing small-fry Coho salmon. Skyview Junior High students have been carefully monitoring the steady growth of these salmon in our very own classrooms. We are on our way to setting an example for the rest of our community.

It is important that everyone understands the importance of the way salmon live and how amazing these creatures are. People should also understand the fragility of the salmon species and that they are a metaphor of us humans. In our data collected today (in the pouring rain and frostbiting cold), we found that the turbidity (visibility from dirt) was 26.6 JTU in the stream water.

If you ask me, how dirty the water is sure does affect how the salmon live. Just like how polluted our air is, affects the way we live! We have to change how we act and react to many things if we want to help improve the salmon habitat. Decrease your use of water and leave some for the salmon! I know you want to keep your lawn looking nice, but do you really know how many pesticides are in those fertilizers? When it makes its way into the streams, it’s creating an even worse salmon habitat. Imagine waking up one day to find that your home has been oozed in mud and covered with slime. I bet that left a bad taste in your mouth. That’s why it’s so important that we learn to reduce, reuse and recycle for the sake of the salmon!

Brittany Pham, Skyview

seventh-grader

This was a field trip to go release about 240 salmon that have been grown in Mr. Nowak’s laboratory to North Creek. People should really care about the salmon because if the salmon go extinct, then this will affect humans in the future.

For example, if salmon go extinct, then predators that rely on salmon for food will die and the ecosystem would go out of control and collapse. If the river/ocean ecosystem collapses, humans will find it harder to grow/find food.

The most important data that might affect whether salmon live or not for most of the year in the stream was turbidity. We found turbidity pretty high, some data almost to the maximum (50. 0 JTU) and some salmon might be affected by this. The pH was good, the oxygen was OK, but it could have been a little bit higher. And a little bit of nitrates and phosphates were found, but not too much to worry about, though we should still be careful about what fertilizer we put in our back yards, for they will eventually end up in the river.

Some suggestions I would give to better improve the salmon’s habitat are to prohibit cutting trees around the stream so the roots will hold dirt from falling into the creek; the trees provide shade for the stream so direct sunlight will not make the temperature rise, and branches from the trees hold food and insects for the salmon to eat. Without the trees, salmon will surely die. Another law (or action in this case) that could be taken is to create jobs for people to clean the creeks and to take care of the environment to make a better place for salmon and animals to live.

Finally, I thank the local authorities for the time and money they put to release the salmon and help make the world a better place.

David Bellini, Skyview

seventh-grader

Sheriff speaks up

on the economy

Changes in our economy have affected all of us in one way or another. Although many of us will need to be more conservative with our finances, I can only hope that we are fortunate enough that those changes come without too much sacrifice. Our health and safety are, above all else, the No. 1 priority.

During the past several months we have seen an increase in the number of burglaries throughout King County. Anyone who has endured this crime will tell you that almost nothing feels as invasive as being a victim in your own home. Please be sure to take a look at my newsletter from last month (www.kingcounty.gov/safety/sheriff) that contained tips for keeping your home and family safe.

Despite having to cut many property crime detective positions this year due to our budget being reduced, I am still doing everything I can to keep you safe. I am teaming up with other local law enforcement jurisdictions, crime analysis teams and representatives from the King County Prosecutor’s Office to form a burglary task force. Much like the very successful task force created to reduce auto theft, we will be focusing on the most serious repeat offenders. We reduced auto theft by more than 30 percent through this coordination and focus. It is my hope we will achieve the same results with burglaries.

Community policing still remains the most effective method for preventing crime. Through education and outreach, we can make our neighborhoods safer while strengthening the sense of community. I will fight with every tool at my disposal to protect your safety!

King County Sheriff Sue Rahr