By Susannah Prenoveau, Washington Service Corps AmeriCorps Member – Nisqually Land Trust Volunteer Coordinator | December 2020
“We entered through the first gate, and headed south on faint elk trails. We passed the edge of a slough, and then across a gully we actually saw elk for the first time since I’ve been site steward (we’d heard and smelled them on previous visits). They were among the trees about 100 meters away, so we only got glimpses of them. I’m guessing 2-3. We also found what smelled like the elks’ living room in a grove of cedars with lots of evidence they bed down there.” Suzanne Simons – Site Report for November 2020 at Lackamas Flats Protected Area
This is just a small glimpse into what you might see, smell, and hear out on the land as a site steward for the Nisqually Land Trust. Suzanne Simons, a professor of poetry, journalism, and community studies at The Evergreen State College, has been a site steward for the Land Trust at the Lackamas Flats site for over two years, and she highly recommends it.
Suzanne has a strong connection to the Nisqually Watershed. Since moving to WA in 1990, her family has spent a lot of time exploring nature all around Mt. Rainier and the 78-mile course of the Nisqually River and its watershed communities. They even collected water from the Nisqually Glacier for their sons’ naming ceremonies.
Being aware of the Nisqually Land Trust from nearly its founding in 1989, her first interaction with the organization was on one of the annual River Float events. As she witnessed the stretches of protected land and experienced the watershed from her position in the boat, she decided it was time to be more intentional about how she spent her volunteer time and energy and become a site steward.
Looking upstream along the Nisqually River from Lackamas Flats.
Photo Credit: Elinor Jordan, on a recent visit with Suzanne to Lackamas Flats
On her visits to steward Lackamas Flats, she usually brings friends along to experience that “little piece of land trust heaven,” as she calls it. She likes to go out on the land every equinox and solstice and what she loves most about being a site steward is “having a consistent and deepening connection with the land.” With each visit, she observes something different, and she enjoys the enduring connection with the land and wildlife that visiting her site brings.
“We continued south until we came to a bigger slough with water too deep to cross even in knee-high rubber boots. We could see the trees in the distance that line the Nisqually, but couldn’t find a way to make it to the river on that route. Throughout our visit, we saw lots of fresh elk scat. Other animals we saw near or at the big slough included a couple of tiny frogs, crows, ravens, kingfisher, a pair of mallards, red-tailed hawk and great blue heron.” Excerpt from Suzanne’s November Site Steward Report at Lackamas Flats
When asked the question of why someone might want to become a site steward for the Land Trust, Suzanne’s response was, “If you like a bit of adventure and the unknown, site stewarding will provide that. It’s a lot a bushwhacking and very few trails and to me, that’s so appealing. There are very few places that we can do that anymore.” She also added that being a site steward is part of doing something for the common good. At the Land Trust, that means looking after the lands and wildlife throughout the Nisqually River Watershed and doing what we can to help protect it for future generations.
“On the way back to the car, we saw a deer along the fence near the farm, and in the brush saw Bewick’s wren, winter wren, flickers, and heard red wing blackbirds.” Excerpt from Suzanne Simons site report-November 2020
Thank you, Suzanne, for your time and dedication to the Nisqually River Watershed.
Interested in becoming a Site Steward with us? Attend our upcoming Site Steward “virtual” workshop on Jan. 30th from 10 am-12 pm. Sign up at this link. Or contact Susannah at