Kula Stewardship Project: Salmon Restoration at Chinook Bend

Salmon have a hard job.

They swim upstream for miles—sometimes hundreds—battling powerful currents, navigating waterfalls, and dodging predators along the way. They keep going until they reach the place where they were born—to spawn, and eventually die. Their sacrifice creates the next generation and nourishes an entire ecosystem—from orcas, eagles and bears to the rivers, forests and people who depend on them.

Hikers don't have it nearly as bad.

We hike uphill for miles, suffer through rain, sweat and the occasional blister—all for killer views, and an epic selfie. Then we go home.

Let’s help the salmon out!

Kula Cloth, Sound Salmon Solutions and King County Parks invite you to make a little sacrifice of your own—by doing some genuinely hard work: removing invasive plants at Chinook Bend Natural Area, an important Snoqualmie River salmon spawning site. About 20% of the Chinook salmon that spawn in the Snoqualmie do so here.

We'll spend four hours removing invasive plants and improving habitat for young salmon. It's hard work. It's not glamorous. And it matters.

Plus, you'll spend the day outside with some really good humans who care about the places we love and the creatures that depend on them.

What to Wear & Bring

This is an outdoor day of stewardship. Dress for the weather and expect to get dirty! Sound Salmon Solutions will provide tools, gloves, and instruction. Come ready work hard, and have some fun outside -- rain or shine.

Wear:

• Sturdy, waterproof footwear such as work boots, mud boots, or hiking boots
• Long pants - that can take abuse from blackberries and other weeds
• Rain pants and rain jacket
• Layers, including a long-sleeve shirt and jacket
• Older clothing that you don't mind getting muddy

Bring:

• Lunch
• A full water bottle

About Sound Salmon Solutions:

For over 30 years Sound Salmon Solutions has supported salmon recovery in the Stillaguamish, Snohomish, and South Island County watersheds by connecting people to their watersheds through interactive education, hands-on stewardship, and state-of-the-art habitat restoration. Sound Salmon Solutions strives to live out its core values through its work. It believes in creating and sustaining a community devoted to
salmon recovery through collaboration, engagement, education, and celebration. It
believe people make lifelong connections to their watersheds through joyful
meaningful work for a common cause. It believes everyone can connect and
contribute to salmon recovery in their own way -- no matter their age, skills,
interests, background, and ability.

About Kula Cloth:

Kula Cloth is the first of its kind, intentionallly designed, antimicrobial pee cloth for anybody who squats when they pee. It's a Leave No Trace alternative to toilet paper for number one — and is made for the trail, the road, festivals and every wild place in between.

About the Kula Academy:

Since the pandemic, the Kula Academy has hosted nearly 700 classes and events. We’ve hiked sections of the PCT, summited volcanoes, paddled wild rivers, camped under starlit skies, painted, jumped into cold water for no good reason and danced — A LOT! Along the way, we’ve removed tons (literally) of garbage from the Mountain Loop Highway, planted deciduous and evergreen trees, and taught people how to leave the world a better place. It's a corner of the universe where adventure, creativity and stewardship collide!

Whether you’re here to learn how to find golden larches, master winter camping, learn “How Not to Die” doing the things you love, or simply because a pee cloth brought you our way, doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re here! And we’re glad that our paths have crossed. We hope that you’ll join us on our adventures because you’re the missing ingredient in our trail mix. Come ready to laugh, learn, and leave with new friends and hopefully a deeper connection to others, yourself, and the world around us.

Check out all of our classes here. And if you're interested in teaching a class, feel free to reach out to allison@kulacloth.com