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March Happenings
Board of Trustees at PRI PRI Board of Trustees members converged on Tuesday, March 22, at the Pacific Rim Institute to make some important decisions regarding the future of PRI. Three main focuses included new fundraising strategies, the desire for additional board members, and contingency plans regarding pending news from the US Navy on easement funds. Good progress was made, but it continues to be apparent that there is still MUCH to be done. 2 Grants Received! 
The BIG news this month is that two of our proposals have been approved. The first is our third grant from the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program through the Natural Resources Conservation Service. This allows us to continue removing fencing, establishing hedgerow for habitat, and restoring native plants to the prairie. Keep a look out for another volunteer work day to get a move on some of these projects.
Second, our proposal to the US Fish and Wildlife Service for funds to create a Habitat Management Plan for our prairie site has been APPROVED IN FULL! This grant will allow us to create a plan for the future management of this property. The project will be led by Dr. Peter Dunwiddie of the University of Washington and will include components to protect the endangered Golden paintbrush (pictured) and several rare butterfly species. This will also equip us to significantly expand our propagation of native plants.
St. Labre joins us from Montana
Our annual visit from the St. Labre Indian School juniors brought life to PRI for a weekend in March. 22 juniors accompanied by six chaperones embarked on many adventures here in the Northwest exploring our ecosystems. We spent a day showing them around our prairie and sharing the significant relationship between the work we are doing and the history of the prairie with First Nation caretakers.
National Park Service (NPS) donates Stuewe Tubes
Craig Holmquist dropped of 3,234 stuewe planting tubes this month. These are the containers that we use to grow out native plants for prairie expansion both on our property and on other prairies in the region with NPS and others. This donation will be a huge help as we expand our plant propagation this summer.
Continuing Education courses THIS SUMMER
This month we finalized our three Continuing Education courses to be offered this summer. These courses are open to teachers for credit through Seattle Pacific University as well as to community members who wish to expand their knowledge of Puget Sound ecosystems. For class descriptions and logistics see our website.
Volunteers
200 volunteer hours were contributed in March. Thank you so much! We and the non-human creation are blessed by you.
Donors
In the month of March we had two completely new donors join the community of PRI supporters. Welcome and thank you! And to our faithful supporters - none of this would be happening without you!
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