Community invited to Common Ground Workshops

Community members are invited to participate in the 2026 Wahkiakum Common Ground Workshop Series. You should consider attending if you are interested in learning more about making Wahkiakum County's watersheds more friendly to people and fish. The four half-day workshops will provide an in-depth look into cooperative approaches to stabilizing streambanks, removing fish passage barriers, improving public safety, and mitigating high-water events.

Workshop participants will hear directly from landowners, ecologists, engineers, and others involved in local restoration projects through both lectures and field trips, allowing them to see the projects firsthand. The workshops focus on demonstrating methods to enhance community resilience through watershed projects that deliver multiple benefits; for example, upgrading county culverts and bridges, reducing erosion and flooding on private lands, and improving instream and floodplain habitat for salmon.

Participants will explore how collaboration often results in successful hazard mitigation and adaptation projects. The workshops will create a space for participants to connect with a broad suite of citizen, business, county, agency, tribe, nonprofit, and special district leaders. Creating strong relationships built on shared experiences and mutual respect is viewed as the cornerstone of achieving the Common Ground vision: a Wahkiakum County that respects the past, thrives in the present, and adapts to future challenges by using a collaborative, community-focused approach that fosters a healthy environment, rural lifestyle, and vibrant economy.

Workshops:

Jan. 28: Cultural, Ecological, and Economic

Significance of Restoring Wahkiakum Water sheds

Feb. 25: Restoring and Managing Salmon in Wahkiakum Streams

Mar 25: Mitigating Flooding in Wahkiakum's Tidal Stream Reaches

May 6: Living Behind Dikes in Wahkiakum County

Workshops are free, include lunch, and run from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at varied locations around the county. Participants are expected to attend all four workshops. A small number of stipends are available for those who need to take time away from work to attend. Learn more at https://beav.es/WCG.

Interested in Participating? Complete the Interest Form at https://beav.es/CG-reg without delay. Space is limited. Questions? Email: carrie.shofner@wsu.edu.

Wahkiakum Common Ground is a project of the Wahkiakum Marine Resources Committee and WSU Wahkiakum County Extension, in collaboration with many partners. Cascadia Coastlines and Peoples Hazards Research Hub funds the workshops. We invite you to consider this an opportunity to engage in stewardship of Wahkiakum County's lands and rivers.