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HomeMy WebLinkAbout031824 - RCO Newsletter - March 2024ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them. <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/1d9e606c-e643-9cc9-ddd8-3c4e3a1ffa7e.png> Message from the Director Welcome to the first online edition of the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office’s (RCO) newsletter. In this bimonthly newsletter, I will share useful news about important policy changes, upcoming grant deadlines, and approaching issues, as well as celebrate successful projects that are making sure Washington stays a great place to live, work, and play. Please enjoy! Announcements * Welcome Troy Wilson <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=d744d14734&e=186c5ff3d1> , a new cultural resources specialist, and congrats to Sarah Johnson Humphries <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=1fe6803cc8&e=186c5ff3d1> , who was promoted to Cultural Resources Unit manager! * Washington Invasive Species Council meets March 21 <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=4b25f7aa52&e=186c5ff3d1> . * Recreation Conservation Funding Board meets April 16 <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=4181759fac&e=186c5ff3d1> . What's Happening Now Accepting Recreation, Conservation Grant Apps Learn more Grant Scoring Criteria Changing to be More Equitable Learn more Calling Young Artists: Get Creative for Invasive Species Learn more <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/8bb00baf-2a98-65fa-ec16-535b69fa07b5.png> Need a Place to Hike or Bike? Check out North Bend Learn more Southern Resident Orcas to Get Help in the Salish Sea Learn more <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/a43ef5af-f6c1-2359-169b-110232a80a87.png> State to Accept Larger Projects to Recover Salmon Learn more <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/f0ce2dd2-1db8-2c3c-01ff-5848fbe1cb40.png> Need a Grant to Improve a Park or Trail? Apply Now! RCO is accepting applications for grants to build parks, trails, ball fields and boat moorage, as well as to conserve wildlife habitat and working farms and forests. These grants are the largest source of state funding for many of Washington’s outdoor recreation experiences, and one of the few sources of state funding for conserving working farms and forests. This is the only opportunity to apply for these grants until 2026. “Spending time outside provides so many benefits–from improving your health, both physical and mental, to reducing stress and increasing performance in school,” said Megan Duffy, RCO’s director. “We think every community should be able to offer these benefits to its residents. This year, we made some changes to our programs to increase opportunities for smaller and underserved communities to be competitive.” Grant applications are due May 1. More information about the grants <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=4d847ad049&e=186c5ff3d1> is available RCO’s website. <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/bc48e835-21fb-216e-0075-d576a36162a6.png> Calling Student Artists The Washington Invasive Species Council and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are calling student artists to design posters to educate people about invasive species. The winning poster will be displayed for one year at all the boating check stations and in an educational trailer that travels to schools, libraries, and events, helping educate people about invasive species that threaten Washington’s natural resources. Kids from kindergarten through high school age can enter. Not only will they win the prestige of having their artwork reproduced, but they receive an Amazon gift card! Don’t dawdle, entries must be in by May 31. Full contest rules and entry form <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=a89202f274&e=186c5ff3d1> . <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/1d7ac60b-d588-3a3a-f508-f1e5683c4c3d.png> Orcas Receive Extra Protections Washington is preparing for boating season with a pilot program, education, and new laws aimed at keeping endangered Southern Resident orcas safer. Tara Galuska, the Governor’s orca recovery coordinator and RCO staffer, helped educate the public about the plight of Southern Resident orcas at the Seattle Boat Show this winter. The Southern Resident population is down to seventy-four individuals from a high of ninety-eight in 1995. They are suffering from a lack of food, vessel noise that disrupts their ability to find food, and polluted waterways. Galuska and fellow natural resource agencies, organizations, and volunteers hosted the Be Whale Wise Booth to educate people about a new law <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10ae d86ddd51107b5e&id=881daaf876&e=186c5ff3d1> , which will take effect next year, requiring boaters to stay one thousand yards away from Southern Resident orcas. The buffer will make it easier for whales to find food using echolocation. Orcas send out a series of clicks and then can determine the size, shape, speed, composition, and direction of objects from the returning echo. To further aid in the protection of the orcas, the U.S. Coast Guard launched a four-year pilot program in December to alert ships when whales are swimming in Puget Sound. The goal of the “cetacean desk ” is to reduce the number of whales that get hit by boats and reduce underwater noise. The new whale desk uses sightings from boaters and the public on whale-watching apps and data from underwater listening devices to determine where the whales are and then send out alerts through a mobile app to commercial vessels and ferries (not recreational boats). Boats can slow down and avoid the whales when safely possible, to quiet the waters and allow the whales safe passage. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Salish Sea hosted nearly three hundred thousand vessels in 2023, not including private boats, and that number only is expected to increase. To learn more about Southern Residents, visit orca.wa.gov <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=af386da995&e=186c5ff3d1> . Headline orca photo provided by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/33eb647a-9dbb-1da3-f0ef-a0e6bc8f1192.png> RCO Changes Application Scoring Criteria for Popular Recreation Grants The state Recreation and Conservation Funding Board has changed the way it evaluates grant proposals with the goal of improving opportunities for outdoor recreation in communities with fewer parks and less open space. The board, which is the largest state funder of outdoor recreation facilities, changed the way it looks at need, scope, design and project engagement for project proposals in its six popular grant programs: Aquatic Lands Enhancement Account, Land and Water Conservation Fund, Youth Athletic Facilities, and the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program’s Local Parks, Trails, and Water Access Categories. A detailed description of changes <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=d708b56b26&e=186c5ff3d1> can be found on the RCO website. <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/9cafb023-a8e9-fce3-b070-e042ad3da1f8.png> North Bend Cuts Ribbon on New Trailhead New hiking and mountain biking trails will open to the public in North Bend when officials cut the ribbon at Tennant Trailhead Park at noon April 19. A partnership between North Bend, Si View Metropolitan Park District, King County, Snoqualmie Tribe, and the Trust for Public Land, this project conserved nearly thirty-five acres on Rattlesnake Mountain, south of Interstate 90 at North Bend Exit 31. The partnership used an RCO grant of $300,040 from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, and matching resources of $1.7 million, to build a community park, parking lot, picnic area, viewpoints, interpretive signs, and a restroom. But the star of the project is a system of family-friendly mountain biking trails that, in the future, will connect to more than 100,000 acres of public land, including the Raging River State Forest trail system for more advanced mountain bikers. See more details about the project on RCO’s project snapshot <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=a04bebe2f8&e=186c5ff3d1> . <https://mcusercontent.com/f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e/images/5b159448-3ccb-8892-4f60-92a1ee413e03.png> Board to Accept Larger Salmon Recovery Projects The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board created a new grant program, called Targeted Investments, aimed at funding larger, high-impact projects. Each regional salmon recovery organization will be able to submit up to six projects ranging between $1 million and $5 million for funding consideration by the board and state Legislature. The resulting ranked list of projects will be funded with any additional money received in the 2024 supplemental session and will form the basis for a large project request to the Legislature for the 2025-2027 biennium. <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=6c97ae43ab&e=186c5ff3d1> <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=b522aa8ad3&e=186c5ff3d1> <http://www.rco.wa.gov/> view this email in your browser <https://mailchi.mp/rco.wa.gov/rco-newsletter-march-2024?e=186c5ff3d1> © 2024 Recreation and Conservation Office, all rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? Subscribe <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=7bf3b1bb78&e=186c5ff3d1> to newsletter or unsubscribe <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=f12461e10ae d86ddd51107b5e&id=1945f2650d&t=b&e=186c5ff3d1&c=5ef5f66643> . <https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/open.php?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=5ef5f66643&e=186c5ff3d1> 8T17:06:39.7208525Z" }, { "@type": "ContactPoint", "@context": "http://schema.org", "@source": "TEE,52.0.0,20240305.21,7513b05f62eb142f66add0038aa546e073c032fc;en-US.ContextUrl,52.0.0,2021.5.5.1,2021.5.5.1", "@entityExtractionTrustLevel": "Unknown", "@outputVersion": "1.0", "@schemaOrgVersion": "1.93", "url": "#OLG Grant", "url/anchorText": "Learn more", "url/prefixText": "Kids playing soccer Now Accepting Recreation Conservation Grant Apps", "url/suffixText": "group of young men playing basketball", "url/urlTextSpan": { "@type": "TextSpan", "beginIndex": 927, "length": 10 }, "@EntityId": "313930ae-4427-48a8-8b45-b235025dcc2f", "@correlationTrail": "AssetId=b390bb8e-8e80-48c9-a423-62489140c433;ExtractionId=3d658aec-4e8c-44e5-a470-13e89d0997e6;EntityId=313930ae-4427-48a8-8b45-b235025dcc2f", "@extractionTimeUtc": "2024-03-18T17:06:39.7208525Z" }, { "@type": "ContactPoint", "@context": "http://schema.org", "@source": "TEE,52.0.0,20240305.21,7513b05f62eb142f66add0038aa546e073c032fc;en-US.ContextUrl,52.0.0,2021.5.5.1,2021.5.5.1", "@entityExtractionTrustLevel": "Unknown", "@outputVersion": "1.0", "@schemaOrgVersion": "1.93", "url": "#Kenmore", "url/anchorText": "group of young men playing basketball on an outdoor court", "url/prefixText": "soccer Now Accepting Recreation Conservation Grant Apps Learn more", "url/suffixText": "Grant Scoring Criteria Changing to be", "url/urlTextSpan": { "@type": "TextSpan", "beginIndex": 939, "length": 57 }, "@EntityId": "722ffb3f-d665-4913-bcf3-7d716e329a8f", "@correlationTrail": "AssetId=b390bb8e-8e80-48c9-a423-62489140c433;ExtractionId=3d658aec-4e8c-44e5-a470-13e89d0997e6;EntityId=722ffb3f-d665-4913-bcf3-7d716e329a8f", "@extractionTimeUtc": "2024-03-18T17:06:39.7208525Z" }, { "@type": "ContactPoint", "@context": "http://schema.org", "@source": "TEE,52.0.0,20240305.21,7513b05f62eb142f66add0038aa546e073c032fc;en-US.ContextUrl,52.0.0,2021.5.5.1,2021.5.5.1", "@entityExtractionTrustLevel": "Unknown", "@outputVersion": "1.0", "@schemaOrgVersion": "1.93", "url": "#Kenmore", "url/anchorText": "Learn more", "url/prefixText": "outdoor court Grant Scoring Criteria Changing to be More Equitable", "url/suffixText": "Outside art on the invasive species", "url/urlTextSpan": { "@type": "TextSpan", "beginIndex": 1052, "length": 10 }, "@EntityId": "e06ea770-2e86-4571-ae86-5f71b2fd62fb", "@correlationTrail": "AssetId=b390bb8e-8e80-48c9-a423-62489140c433;ExtractionId=3d658aec-4e8c-44e5-a470-13e89d0997e6;EntityId=e06ea770-2e86-4571-ae86-5f71b2fd62fb", "@extractionTimeUtc": "2024-03-18T17:06:39.7208525Z" }, { "@type": "ContactPoint", "@context": "http://schema.org", "@source": "TEE,52.0.0,20240305.21,7513b05f62eb142f66add0038aa546e073c032fc;en-US.ContextUrl,52.0.0,2021.5.5.1,2021.5.5.1", "@entityExtractionTrustLevel": "Unknown", "@outputVersion": "1.0", "@schemaOrgVersion": "1.93", "url": "#PIGGY", "url/anchorText": "Outside art on the invasive species trailer. 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"https://rco.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f12461e10aed86ddd51107b5e&id=a89202f274&e=186c5ff3d1", "url/anchorText": "Full contest rules and entry form", "url/prefixText": "dawdle entries must be in by May 31", "url/suffixText": "left Maria Sabando", "url/urlTextSpan": { "@type": "TextSpan", "beginIndex": 3493, "length": 34 }, "@EntityId": "2fc1d49a-cc0d-4ba7-b26f-0c05d88a4a0c", "@correlationTrail": "AssetId=b390