“Five growing herons and two pooping parents make a total of…seven pooping herons!” reads Skagit Land Trust’s Volunteer & Education Programs Coordinator, Stacy Dahl, to rapt second graders at Washington Elementary School in Mount Vernon. “Oooh, yuck!”, students respond, faces scrunched up in disgust.

As part of the new Herons in the Classroom program offered by the Trust, students read Sapsucker Blues: The Story of an Enduring Family of Great Blue Herons and watch a video about the natural history of Skagit’s great blue herons – with photos and narration by volunteer heron expert Anne Winkes. Students also get the chance to watch herons in real time, through one of three wildlife cameras high in the trees at Skagit Land Trust’s March Point Heronry Conservation Area. Herons in the Classroom offers teachers and students the chance to learn about the Trust’s work without having to take field trips, which can be difficult to coordinate.

Herons in the Classroom is the newest of many paths that Skagit Land Trust has built for connecting youth with the land. Every year, we partner with Skagit Boys and Girls Clubs, Mount Vernon Schools, homeschool groups, Skagit Conservation District, and the Kulshan Neighborhood Youth Program to bring hundreds of youth to Trust properties for hands-on education and stewardship.

2025 marked the sixth year that Sedro-Woolley lower elementary school students visited the Utopia Conservation Area for field investigations of beaver, elk and owls, plants, macroinvertebrates, and birds. A new Investigation Station on seed dispersal helped to connect 405 students to classroom lessons.

Volunteer Paul Anderson, measuring wingspans at the Utopia field trip's bird station.

We are deeply grateful to our 23 volunteer facilitators, who engaged the students with their knowledge, enthusiasm, patience, and humor – we couldn’t have done it without them!

While school may be out for the summer, the Trust continues to engage Skagit youth through our partnership with libraries, particularly the Upper Skagit Library. We invite you to visit our Barr Creek Conservation Area near Rockport for the annual Story Trail! This year, enjoy a walk up to the falls and along Barr Creek while reading One Day This Tree Will Fall.

Thanks to Ellen Anderson for shepherding this project every year, to Loly Gomez of the Upper Skagit Library for translating the book pages into Spanish, and to the Concrete Boys and Girls Club who helped install the trail. This is truly a collaboration to get all youth into the outdoors.

Outreach Assistant Oceanna Boulanger and volunteer Ellen Anderson pose for a selfie in front of the new story trail at Barr Creek.

This diverse and creative array of youth outreach and education work is essential to our mission of conserving land “…for the benefit of the community and as a legacy for future generations.” Thank you to all of our volunteers and members for giving that mission the wings it needs to fly.

Boys & Girls Glub participant Tempe Johannsen, helping to install the Story Trail.