Backyard Conservation

Making the world a better place, one back yard at a time...

The Skagit Conservation District Backyard Conservation Short course is a yearly, six-week program offered in partnership with the City of Anacortes, City of Burlington, City of Mount Vernon, City of Sedro-Woolley, and Skagit County.

The Backyard Conservation Program was established in Skagit County on March 1, 2005. It is a national program developed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in cooperation with the National Association of Conservation Districts and the Wildlife Habitat Council because of the need to comprehensively address issues effecting water quality. Testing has shown that urban and suburban runoff is a significant contributor of the pollutants that enter our waterways.

Understanding the problem is the first step to fixing the problem.

The guiding principle of this program is that we are all a part of the problem and therefore we are also all part of the solution.

We are the key to protecting our resources, our homes, our families, and our world, one backyard at a time, because water quality is important to us all.

Program Goals and Objectives:

“To increase public awareness on a variety of backyard conservation practices and to promote community stewardship by exploring and investigating the fascinating natural world in our own backyards.”

To teach practices that can be applied in everyone’s backyards to help reduce stormwater pollution, provide habitat for wildlife, and create a healthy and more sustainable environment.

And to provide people with the tools and resources they need to create sustainable, healthy, backyard landscapes.​

We hope to encourage community participation in the Backyard Wildlife Habitat and/or Backyard Sanctuary Certification programs. ​

And to create a network of community residents willing to share their love of gardening and the outdoors and to inspire others to use environmentally friendly gardening practices.

Check out https://www.skagitcd.org/backyard-conservation for information on Rainwise gardening , Low Impact Development and green infrastructure, Gardening for Pollinators, Native Plants, Integrated Pest Management, Soil & Mulch, Invasive Plants, Rainwater Harvesting, Water quality, and more.

And let's make the world a better place, starting in our own backyard.