Nooksack Salmon Enhancement

“A copy of the form 990 is provided to the board of directors prior to the filing of the return.”

“Board and staff are required to sign a conflict of interest form when becoming a board member or when hired. This policy is signed annually, or more often if needed.”

“Hiring committee reviews salary comparison for all positions that are being filled. Salaries are set based on budget, salary comparisons for similar positions at other rfegs and similar organizations in the region, and then are finalized based on the individual's qualifications and experience. This process was used in the hiring all staff.”

“Governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request to the board of directors.”

“Education: during 2022, nsea's education programming in schools continued to be reduced due to pandemic guidelines. Staff continued to focus on developing and sharing online resources. Program staff trained 31 interns who helped lead education programs outdoors and volunteers to plant trees. Nsea staff worked to educate and engage1,600 fourth grade students throughout whatcom county in the "students for salmon" program. Students removed over 5,500 pounds of invasive vegetation and planted over 232 native trees and shrubs along 15 streams. This flagship program, started in 2000, provides each class with a classroom presentation and facilitated field trips to study stream ecology. Additionally, nsea instructors lead classes through stewardship activities which often include restoration projects. Nsea partnered with several other local nonprofit organizations to lead 49 educators in teacher training through the ten-hour clime time program. We camp keystone had a successful second year as well. Summer and fall of 2022 brough increased opportunities to do outreach. Nsea's summer river stewards program led guided river walks along the nooksack river and hosted outreach boots for over 2,100 individuals during the summer 2022. During the fall, we hosted ten salmon sighting events along six creeks which over 500 people attended. These events provided an opportunity for community members to learn about salmon, salmon habitat, and how we, as individuals and as a c ommunity, can support salmon recovery.”

“Stewardship: nsea is a community-based organization and strives to engage community members in salmon recovery. Volunteers support many different programs throughout the year and help a small core staff accomplish far more than would otherwise be possible. Americorps members through washington service corps and a washington conservation corps implemented projects, led programs, and worked throughout the year to support habitat restoration and stewardship activities. Community volunteers are central to the mission of involving the community in salmon recovery. In 2022, 5,497 hours were donated by 1761 community volunteers who prepared sites, removed invasive vegetation, and planted native trees along local creeks to help improve salmon habitat. These volunteers restored about 3.2 miles of riparian habitat along 18 different creeks at 41 community work parties. Volunteers planted 3,700 native trees and shrubs and removed 98 cubic yards of invasive vegetation. Community members also potted up 5,000 native plants in the nursery for future work parties. Americorps program members through washington service corps & washington conservation corps contributed a total of 13,600 hours of time to nsea in 2022. Many of those hours can be used as in-kind match to meet grant funding requirements. The dollar value of the nsea volunteer hours in 2022 is worth 545,028. (2022 independent sector rate of 28.54/hour).”