Sustainability in Prisons Project
Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

Responding to enthusiastic interest from Washington State Department of Corrections (WA DOC) staff and inmates,
beekeeping programs were a major focus this year. In this photo, visiting SPP-Evergreen staff watch beekeeping students and a Master Beekeeper at Washington State Penitentiary (WSP); the expert had just captured the queen froman unexpected swarm found on the outside of a hive box and the group was discussing where to put them. Photo by
Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project
Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report
Contents
Executive Summary: Sustainability in Prisons Project, FY16 ........................................................................ 3
Program Highlights FY16: also see Year in Photos .................................................................................... 3
Programs Highlights FY17 ......................................................................................................................... 4
1. Background Information ........................................................................................................................... 5
Report Objectives...................................................................................................................................... 5
SPP Mission ............................................................................................................................................... 5
SPP Vision .................................................................................................................................................. 5
SPP Essential Components ........................................................................................................................ 5
SPP Staff and Organization Chart .............................................................................................................. 6
Partnerships .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Safety and Security.................................................................................................................................... 7
2. Budget ....................................................................................................................................................... 8
3. Sustainability Job Programs .................................................................................................................... 10
4. Sustainable Operations ........................................................................................................................... 12
Sustainable Operations Background ....................................................................................................... 12
A Map for Success: Setting Goals, Providing Strategies, Initiating Activity ............................................ 12
Outcomes at a Glance ............................................................................................................................. 13
Measures and Progress ........................................................................................................................... 14
5. Community Contribution Programs ........................................................................................................ 19
Dog and Cat Programs ............................................................................................................................ 19
Reclaim, Repurpose or Restore, and Donate Programs ......................................................................... 20
Community Work Crews ......................................................................................................................... 24
5. Biophilia Programs .................................................................................................................................. 26
6. Ecological Conservation Programs .......................................................................................................... 28
Oregon Spotted Frog Program ................................................................................................................ 28
Western Pond Turtle Programs .............................................................................................................. 28
Sagebrush Conservation Nursery ............................................................................................................ 30
Prairie Conservation Nurseries ............................................................................................................... 30
Emergent Pre-Vegetated Mat (EVM) Production ................................................................................... 33
Plantain Programs ................................................................................................................................... 33
Animal Feed Programs ............................................................................................................................ 34
Honeybee Programs................................................................................................................................ 34
Pacific Northwest Monarch Butterfly Program ...................................................................................... 35
Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Program ................................................................................................. 35

Wildlife Habitat Programs ....................................................................................................................... 37
7. Environmental Education Programs ....................................................................................................... 38
Academic Credit & Certifications ............................................................................................................ 38
Community College Courses ................................................................................................................... 38
Lecture Series .......................................................................................................................................... 38
Roots of Success ...................................................................................................................................... 41
8. Evaluation ............................................................................................................................................... 44
Program Evaluation ................................................................................................................................. 44
Research .................................................................................................................................................. 44
Student Theses ........................................................................................................................................ 44
9. SPP Network............................................................................................................................................ 45
SPP-WA ................................................................................................................................................... 45
SPP Network-International ..................................................................................................................... 45
10. Dissemination ....................................................................................................................................... 47
Presentations and Events........................................................................................................................ 47
SPP Tours................................................................................................................................................. 47
SPP Products, Publications, and Internships ........................................................................................... 48
Media Coverage ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Website/Social Media ............................................................................................................................. 52
Appendix 1. SPP Programs in Washington State Prisons FY16 ................................................................... 54
Appendix 2. SPP Programs Partners in Washington State Prisons ............................................................. 59
Appendix 3. Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................... 62
Year in Photos ............................................................................................................................................. 63

In the foreground, violets grown for prairie conservation bloom at WCC's Skill Builders Unit. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report2

Executive Summary: Sustainability in Prisons Project, FY16
The fiscal year 2016 (FY16, July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016) was a productive year for the Sustainability in
Prisons Project (SPP) in Washington State. The attached report aims to acknowledge all science andsustainability programs under the umbrella of SPP, and as data are available, to demonstrate theirproductivity. The number of new programs, partnerships, and incarcerated individuals involved in SPP
programs has increased; at the same time, reporting and data collection have improved. The summary
below highlights some new programs and partnerships launched in FY16, plus initiatives in development
in fiscal year 17 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017). For full details, please see the attached Annual Report.

Program Highlights FY16: also see Year in Photos
Emergent wetland vegetation mats: SPP established a pilot program at Stafford Creek Corrections
Center (SCCC) growing native emergent wetland vegetation mats in an aquaponics system. The programprovides ecological education to inmates and supports important wetland habitat research.
Beekeeping: Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC) started a new beekeeping program and several
other facilities advanced program planning. SPP-Evergreen staff began work on a beekeeping “toolkit”
which will give host prisons guidance on equipment, education, safety, partnerships, and more.
Turtles and plantain: Larch Corrections Center (LCC) added two SPP programs this year: 1) western pond
turtle care, and 2) growing plantain plants as food for larval Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies. Bothprograms rely on partnerships with Oregon Zoo and other conservation organizations.
PBS News Hour: PBS NewsHour created a piece on Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly recovery and thecaptive rearing program at Mission Creek Corrections Center (MCCCW). The story included inmate
technician interviews, provided educational information, and attracted international attention.
Certifications: We updated and improved certificate awards for ecological conservation and lecture
series programs, and awarded 149 SPP certificates. A formerly incarcerated SPP technician was awarded
15 academic credits by Evergreen for her achievements in the butterfly program.
Single use plastic reduction: WA DOC is working to reduce single use plastics in prisons across the state.
Plastic bottles in visit room vending machines have been replaced with recyclable aluminum cans. In all
locations, compostable or durable cutlery is replacing single use plastic.
Community Contributions: Prisons made significant contributions to communities and sustainable foodproduction including 30,200 donated items made from repurposed materials and more than 417,000
lbs. of produce grown for food banks and prison kitchens.
Energy conservation: Statewide prison facilities have reduced energy consumption by 24% exceeding
the executive order to reduce by 20%. This was achieved in part by replacing old perimeter lighting with
LED’s on lower light poles with the additional benefit of significantly reducing regional light pollution.
SPP Advisory Panel: March 2016 an eight-person advisory panel was formed including academic,
corrections, conservation, and formerly incarcerated representatives.
Reentry: SPP-Evergreen staff and students learned more about reentry and explored ways to provide
greater support pre- and post-release. This effort included contributions from a formerly incarcerated
Evergreen student and WA DOC reentry staff.
Lectures for new audiences: SPP offered science and sustainability lectures in Intensive Management

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report3Units and a Special Inmate Unit at Monroe Corrections Complex (MCC) and Washington Corrections
Center (WCC). These sorely under-served audiences enthusiastically received the educational content.
Increased state-wide engagement: To offer support, strengthen partnerships, and improve knowledgeof programs, SPP-Evergreen staff increased visits to prisons across the state. This year AHCC and Clallam
Bay Corrections Center (CBCC) engaged in SPP action planning. Both facilities identified key
development goals, and we’re working together to attain them.
Social science partnerships: Beneficial new partnerships were formed with social scientists from
University of Denver and University of Washington-Tacoma. Together we submitted several grant
proposals and developed research methods to better understand impacts of SPP programs.

Programs Highlights FY17
SPP has plans for several exciting new programs and partnerships in FY17. We are in the process ofdeveloping the collaborations and resources needed for these initiatives. Highlights are below.
Program
Domestic sheep

Program partners and facility
WA Dept. Fish & Wildlife & WA
State University at Washington
State Penitentiary (WSP)

Planned outcomes
Raise certified disease-free domestic to reduce diseasetransmission to wild bighorn sheep populations.

Sagebrush for
greater sage grouse

Institute for Applied Ecology
Bureau of Land Management
at WSP

Establish a new sagebrush growing programDog program
research

University of Denver at 10
facilities

University of Denver partners collect & analyze data on
dog program impacts on psychosocial wellbeing

Woodpecker nest
predation research

U.S. Forest Service at Mission
Creek and Cedar Creek
Corrections Centers

Educate incarcerated technicians on forest health, bird
& mammal identification, & train to review
woodpecker nest video data for research projectGreen Track

All facilities

Advance work w/green track think tank & implement
green track passport system to build education & job
training resumes for participants

Beekeeping

WA State Beekeeping Assoc.&
local bee assoc’s at all facilities

Increase number of programs & include certification
education; hold a statewide beekeeping summit

Increasing
education,
certifications &academic credit

Evergreen academics, WA
Community Colleges, Seattle
Tilth, Roots of Success

Increase SPP issued certifications, identify & add
educational materials for existing SPP programs,
discuss ways to add academic credit

Conclusion
We are pleased with progress in FY16, and we’re looking forward to initiatives of FY17. We still see
ample room to expand and better SPP programs, broaden access to these opportunities, and enhance
post-release benefits for incarcerated participants. We are mindful that any additional new efforts must
consider limited personnel and financial resources on both sides of the SPP partnership. As SPP nears
capacity with current resources, we are carefully selecting new initiatives based on a suite of factors.
While our reporting primarily emphasizes SPP’s accomplishments, we faced several challenges over the
past year, including failed grant proposals and initiatives that we were not able to advance as quickly as
hoped (green track and certificated learning). We learn from each challenge and adapt to improve. FY16
was largely a success thanks to all who contribute to this exciting, challenging, and rewarding
collaboration. Together we are providing a model for transforming lives and the environment.
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report41. Background Information
Report Objectives
This report provides information on SPP activities during Washington State fiscal year 2016 (FY16) which
includes the period from July 1st, 2015 through June 30th, 2016. Washington Department of Corrections(WA DOC) considers all sustainability initiatives in Washington prisons to be part of SPP regardless ofwhich partner(s) operates the program. The primary objective of this document is to update allcollaborators and stakeholders on SPP-Washington activities. This report represents the most complete
information available with current reporting mechanisms. Working lists of all SPP-WA programs(Appendix 1) and partners (Appendix 2) are included to recognize the impressive diversity and numberof opportunities offered. Appendix 3 lists common abbreviations.

SPP Mission
The Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) is a partnership founded by the Washington State Departmentof Corrections (WA DOC) and The Evergreen State College (Evergreen). Our mission is to bring science,education, and nature into prisons. We conduct ecological research and conserve biodiversity by forging
collaborations with scientists, incarcerated people, prison staff, students, and community partners.
Equally important, we help reduce the environmental, economic, and human costs of prisons byinspiring and informing sustainable practices.

SPP VisionThis union of ideas and activities – and people inside and outside prison walls – creates a collaborative,
intellectually stimulating
environment in whichincarcerated men and women
play key roles in conservation,
sustainability, and advancing
scientific knowledge. We
encourage teamwork, mutual
respect and a stewardship ethic
among individuals who typicallyhave little or no access to nature
or opportunities in science andsustainability. Our vision is tobroaden access to environmental
education and participation in
the environmental movement
Students of a drawing from nature workshop at AHCC work on their illustrations.
by while also providing
Photo by Ricky Osborne.
opportunities for personaltransformation, saving natural resources, and tax dollars.

SPP Essential Components
Although each endeavor and corrections institution is unique, our experiences point to five Essential
Components for every SPP program:
1. Partnerships and collaborations with multiple benefits
2. Bringing nature “inside”
3. Engagement and education
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report54. Safe and sustainable operations
5. Evaluation, dissemination, and tracking

SPP Staff and Organization Chart
The organization chart in Figure 1 includes staff as of July 2016.This chart is limited to core staff at WA
DOC and Evergreen; there are many more corrections, academic, conservation, and community
organization staff contributing to program success. SPP is co-directed by Dr. Carri LeRoy from Evergreen
and Mr. Steve Sinclair from WA DOC. In FY16, the SPP-Evergreen co-director, Dr. LeRoy reduced her rolein SPP. As a full-time faculty member at the college, this change was necessary to make the position
more sustainable. As a result of this change, staff on the Evergreen side of the partnership absorbed
additional SPP-Evergreen leadership responsibilities. Meetings between co-directors and staff are heldat least every other month.
Program Coordinator positions are staffed by Evergreen students working 19 hours per week. Studentstaff are typically recruited from the Evergreen Master of Environmental Studies graduate program andwork for two-year terms. Each summer several students complete their work with SPP and train newstudents to the positions. Four student-staff not named on the chart below worked for SPP during FY16:
Lindsey Hamilton, Tiffany Webb, Christina Stalnaker and Zandra Jones. In addition, Daniel Cherniske
worked as volunteer, student intern, and temporary employee throughout FY16. Daniel made significant
contributions to the new wetland emergent vegetation mat program at SCCC.

Figure 1. SPP Organizational Chart
In FY16, SPP launched a new SPP Advisory Panel comprised of eight participants including SPP’s two codirectors. Panel members represent corrections, conservation, education, and formerly incarcerated
partners. The Advisory Panel is available to provide expertise, creative thinking, advice and assistancewith SPP initiatives and program development.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report6Figure 2. SPP Advisory Panel

Partnerships
Partnerships and collaboration are an essential component of SPP work and nearly every SPP program.
We continually work to identify new potential partners and mutually beneficial programs. A working listof SPP partnerships is included as Appendix 2; during FY16 more than 100 different organizations
contributed to SPP programs in WA.

Safety and Security
SPP programs aim to improve facility and community safety by offering programs that reduce idleness,
provide education (proven means to reduce recidivism), and offer a therapeutic, stress-reducing
connections with the natural environment. Programs are operated in compliance with WA DOC safety
and security rules, SPP-Evergreen protocols for working in the prison environment, and partner
protocols for work with plants and animals. All SPP-Evergreen staff complete required WA DOC training.
Security is a topic included on every staff meeting agenda (held every two weeks).

SPP Co-Director Steve Sinclair admires a turtle
cared from at LCC just before releasing it to thewild. Photo by Sadie Gilliom.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report7

2. Budget
This section of the report addresses budget resources available on the Evergreen side of the SPP
partnership. WA DOC dedicates significant resources to SPP through personnel time, sustainable
operations funding, and contract support for SPP-Evergreen. While Evergreen does not provide direct
funding for SPP programs they do make significant contributions by providing space, payroll, access tostudents and faculty, human resource services, grant, foundation, and budget support, and more.
Regular budget reports were sent to Co-Directors and SPP managers throughout the fiscal year. Reports
include current funding source start and end dates, program areas supported, starting balance, current
balance, notes on the status of the funding source, and payment details. A subsection of the regular
report includes status information for pending grants, contracts, and awards.
In FY16, SPP had approximately $515,000 in funds from 12 sources, including a contract with WA DOC.
The percentage of funding provided by individual sources varies from month to month as sources
become available or close. Funding sources include state and federal contracts, foundation donations,private donations, and a federal grant. Following a pattern of annual giving, SPP-Evergreen received
another generous contribution from an anonymous donor at the Seattle Foundation. These funds havebeen awarded for general SPP initiatives and make a significant difference in the programming,outreach, and education SPP is able to offer. SPP staff continuously seek new funding and close out
existing grants and contracts. In FY16 SPP Evergreen staff were responsible for stewarding funds from 18
different sources (see Table 1).
Table 1. SPP FY16 Grant and Contract Funding Requests (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)
SourceProgram Area
Funded Timeline
Burt's Bees Foundation
Beekeeping
no1/1/16
12/1/14 to
CNLM/ACUB Plants/Seeds 2015
Conservation Nursery
yes
10/31/15
11/1/15 to
CNLM/ACUB Plants/Seeds 2016
Conservation Nursery
yes
12/31/16
WA DOC FY16
SPP Generalyes
7/1/15 to 6/30/16
Foundation Donations
JBLM Plants 2014/2015
JBLM Plants 2015/2016
JBLM Seeds 2014/2015
National Institute of JusticeNorcliffe Foundation
NSF Coupled Human Natural
Systems
NSF INCLUDES pre-proposal

SPP General
Conservation Nursery
Conservation Nursery
Conservation Nursery
Evaluation/Conservation
Beekeeping
Evaluation/Conservation
Education/ Evaluation
SPP Network
Roots and beekeeping
Conservation Nursery &SPP General
Veg
Mats

NSF Utah Agreement
WA DOC Green Track FY16SPP Operating
USFWS
WDFW 2015
Butterflies
WDFW 2016
Butterflies*proposals highlighted in green were successfully funded

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

yes
yes
yes
yes
no
no
no
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes

until spent
9/1/14 to 8/31/15
9/1/15 to 8/31/16
9/1/14 to 8/31/15
10/1/15
10/1/15
11/1/15
4/1/16
6/1/12 to 8/31/15
8/1/15 to 6/30/16
on-going
2/1/16
1/1/15 to 12/31/15
1/1/16 to 12/31/16

8

SPP-Evergreen spent the entire amount provided in the two WA DOC FY16 contracts awarded. Funds
were spent to operate and improve SPP programs in Washington State in accordance with contract
requirements. May 2016, WA DOC offered SPP unexpected funding support to purchase materials forthe development of the emergent pre-vegetated mat program at Stafford Creek Corrections Center(SCCC). SCCC staff received the funds directly and worked with SPP-Evergreen staff to identify items andswiftly make purchases. These funds were a critical boost to this innovative pilot program.

Program partners in the Emergent Pre-Vegetated Mat (EVM) program at SCCC meet the northern red-legged frog that has taken
up residence in the nursery-grown habitat. Photo by Daniel Cherniske.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report93. Sustainability Job Programs
SPP jobs provide inmates opportunities to contribute to communities and ecosystems while gaining job
training, education, and sustainable living skills. The list included in Table 2 shows all sustainability job
program placements during FY16 (data provided by WA DOC staff; OMNI system).
The SPP job programs listed in Table 2 encompass all jobs involving sustainability of resources, science,and contact with non-human nature as documented and reported by WA DOC staff. It does not capturesome sustainability jobs that have been coded in a non-sustainability category; for example, techniciansworking on composting and aquaponics at SCCC are not represented, and neither are electricians who
install energy efficient fixtures. These job programs represent an enormous variety of activities, many ofwhich were initiated and run with little-to-no input from Evergreen partners. SPP-Evergreen aims topromote and support the educational enrichment of every program, and will continue to build
partnerships and capacity with this goal in mind.
The approximately 3,660 inmates in sustainability jobs are approximately 19% of the 19,000 men andwomen currently incarcerated in Washington State.
Table 2. FY16 SPP Jobs in WA Prisons: all jobs involving science, sustainability of resources, and/or
contact with living things.
Number of
Sustainability Job Program
participants(does not include students)
during FY16
Agricultural Engineer
8
American Boarding Kennel Assc
2
Aquaponics
2
Basic Obedience - ABKA
1
Basic Pet Care - ABKA
27
Bee Conservation Tech
11
Bicycle Repair
28
Bike & Wheelchair Repair
28
Bio Waste Custodian
28
Book Repair
1
Butterfly Rearing Tech
6
Cat Handler
70
Clerk Sustainable5
Community Work Crews
745
Computer Refurbishing
12
Cultural Crafts Program
17
Diversity Garden
3
Dog Handler Mentor
6
Dog Obedience Handler
247
Dog Service Handler
29
Dog Srvcs/Obed Secondary
44
Dog Walker
22Fire Wood Stacker
6
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report10Food Srvcs Waste Recycler
Forestry I Worker
Forestry Ii Worker
Frog Rearing
Groundskeeper I
Groundskeeper II
Horticulture I Worker
Horticulture Worker II
Horticulture-Therapeutic Com
Inside Groundskeeper
Kennel Worker ABKA
Prairie Plant Conservation
Recycling Worker
Re-Use Fabric-Sustainable
Root Of Success Trainer
Roots Of Success Practice Lab
SawyerTeddy Bear Creations
Turtle Technician
Waste Treatment Helper
Waste Treatment Operator Ii
Waste Trt 1 Operator
Worm Farm Worker

99
790
35
3
399
52
149
39
16
11
18
72
402
67
34
5
27
39
3
4
10
22
22
3666

A bicycle repair technician at WSP's Sustainable Practice Lab works on a bike frame. Photo by
Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report114. Sustainable Operations
Mission: To reduce the economic, environmental and human costs of prisons.

Sustainable Operations Background
The Washington State Department of Corrections (WA DOC) is the third largest agency in Washington
State. They are responsible for managing all 12 adult prison facilities in the state and supervising adultinmates residing in our communities. WA DOC staff leads all SPP sustainable operations programs.
Through these programs they are reducing energy consumption, solid waste creation, and water usage
for facilities across the state while also maintaining overarching statutory responsibility for reducing
inmate idleness, and providing self-improvement opportunities. Innovative partnerships such as SPP
help the Department fulfill both fiscal responsibility and the statutorily-mandated rehabilitation for
adults in their custody.
Prison facilities are required to provide health and dental care, chemical dependency treatment
programs, educational and employment training programs, as well as housing, laundry and nutritional
services. These facilities range in age and designfrom the 126 year-old Washington State Penitentiary
in Walla Walla to the nation’s first LEED Gold prison
THE THREE PILLARS OF
campus, the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center incentral Washington.
SUSTAINABILITY GUIDES OURAPPROACH

A Map for Success: Setting Goals,
Providing Strategies, Initiating Activity

SOCIALWA DOC’s goals for sustainable operations
programs are to reduce the economic,
environmental, and human cost of prisons bycreating and fostering a culture of sustainability and managing facility operations in ways that align withthose values. Values include: Reducing waste Reducing consumption
 Engaging in training and educational
opportunities as part of their involvement
SUSTAINABILITY
in sustainable operations
 Providing opportunities for inmates tocontribute to the community

Three major strategies employed to affectsustainable operations in the Department are to:
1. Improve Practice and Process
2. Improve Communication and Enhance Partnerships
3. Enhance Sustainability Education and Training

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report12Outcomes at a Glance
All three major strategies reinforce the three pillars approach to sustainable operations:
Cost Avoidance (fiscal responsibility)• The agency has documented significant cost avoidance related to energy and waste.
Environmental Benefits (environmental responsibility)• The agency has reduced facility greenhouse gas emissions by over 15 percent.
Effect on Incarcerated Individuals Behavior and Well-Being (social responsibility)• Early data shows evidence of positive and lasting effects of sustainability-related
programs on inmate behavior.
What is being measured?
 Prison resource consumption and waste generation
 Engagement in meaningful activity
 Opportunities for environmental education

Pet partnership program participant
at Monroe Corrections Center
Special Offenders Unit. Local animal
shelter, Perfect Partners, engages
the incarcerated population to assist
with animal rescue andrehabilitation.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report13

Measures and Progress

Energy use is decreasing
DOC Purchased Power in kWh
Per Inmate Per Day
57.8

56.5

56.7
54.2
52.2

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

53.2

2016

AnalysisTarget goal: 54.2 kWh/inmate/day
Data: The data represents power demands to operate the facilities
conditioned spaces, perimeter lighting, food service, laundry, health care,and industrial operations. Sources of power include; electricity, natural gas,
propane, and fuel oil. The consumption records for each facility from eachpower source are converted to equivalent kWh hours and divided by the
number of inmates served.
Activities and initiatives that that got us there
Lighting retrofits: Operational funds made available for LED lighting projects
resulted in significant energy savings.
Preventative maintenance: Robust preventative maintenance programsand budgets are directly correlated to building performance – energy
consumption. Deferred maintenance results in higher energy use andpremature equipment failure.
Energy audits: ESCO’s and utility incentives utilize a guaranteed project
performance and funding mechanism to facilitate energy projects.

Paying forEnergyConservation
ESCO projects provide a costeffective and convenient
process to design andcomplete energy upgrades inaging buildings and a means
to use utility savings
generated from the project
to pay for the project costs.
These projects are usuallylarge dollar, multi-measureprojects.
Smaller scale energy
conservation projects arecompleted by working
directly with the facility’s
utility providers andoptimizing available
incentives coupled with inhouse labor and training
programs, such as theElectricians Apprenticeprogram. This combination
helps both fund andcomplete the projects.
Between 2012 and 2016, theDepartment received overone million dollars in utility
incentives for completing
energy projects.

Photo by Benj Drummond.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report14

Solid Waste: Waste generation declines

Vermicomposting
Monroe Correctional
Complex boasts a very
unique program to help
manage its food waste
using worms. For the past
several years, a program
has been diverting foodwaste to be processed byworms. This effectively
eliminates waste while
creating valuable soil
amendments andfertilizers donated to thecommunity.

DOC Solid Waste Pounds Per
Inmate Per Day

2.25

2011

2.15

2012

1.95

2013

1.78

2014

1.7

2015

1.5

2016

AnalysisTarget goal: 1.5 lbs./inmate/day
Data: The data represents the amount of waste generated by the facility
that was not diverted to better solutions, but taken to the municipal landfill
or incinerator. Wastes diverted from these totals include food waste
diverted to composting operations, any recyclable materials diverted, andhazardous and universal wastes, such as electronics and light tubes, which
are captured and managed specially.
Activities and initiatives that that got us there
Upstream Waste Diversion Program: There is the expectation that every
person will responsibly manage their own personal waste and waste
generated in their operational area, and that there will be opportunities
and appropriate receptacles conveniently located to facilitate this culture.
Food waste composting and recycling: All facilities are expected to haverecycling and composting programs.
Sustainable purchasing: A major initiative over the past year was to reduce
the WA DOC’s consumption of single use plastics. Prisons eliminated plastic
bottles from vending machines, disposable cutlery which was replaced withdurable sporks or paper spoons and continues toward elimination of plastic
trash liners.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

The program is now
experimenting with blacksoldier fly (Hermetia
illucens) larva to increase
the capacity of the
program and expand thetype of waste the program
can process to include fats
and oils. As a bonus,
surplus fly larva are
donated to the Woodland
Park Zoo to supplement
the diet of birds andreptiles.

People ‘over-produce’ pollution
15 for the
because they are not paying
costs of dealing with it ― Ha-Joon
Chang

Potable Water: Continuing
Challenge/Conflicting Interests

GARDENS TO TABLE

DOC Potable Water Use
Gallons Per Inmate Per Day
129
119

2012

2013

121

124

117

2014

2015

2016

AnalysisTarget goal: 120 gallons/inmate /day
Data: The data represents the amount of potable water consumed by all
prison facilities. It does not include consumption of water from rainwater
catchment systems, reclaimed water, or agricultural well water sources
which some of the facilities use to reduce their demand on potable water.
Challenges
Attention: This goal has gotten relatively little attention in past years inpart because of the perception that water conservation projects were too
expensive to pursue. Setting a new target goal this past year has revealed
new opportunities and generated staff interest.

Gardening at prison
facilities has deep roots
going back many years,
but it has been just in thepast several years thatfacility grounds have been
reclaimed for various
garden projects with suchrapidity.
Garden space at facilities
has increased
significantly, claiming
lawns and gravel yards.
Production of vegetables
has increased with moreemphasis on growing
produce that can be easily
utilized by facility foodservice operations.
The water use goal will
not diminish support for
garden programs, butrather bring a newopportunity forinnovation to theprograms.

Activities and initiatives underway
Plumbing retrofits: Investing in new valves and controllers with a projectedwater savings of 65% (toilets & lavatories) and a projected project paybackof under two years. If successful, retrofits will be expanded whereapplicable.
Metering and facility water use assessments: Five of our facilities havecompleted metering of their entire campuses and will use this equipment
to monitor and reconcile water use to reduce consumption and detect andrepair leaks. Cost benefit analysis of this project may support further
Photo by Benj Drummondmetering of other campuses.
Water sensitive landscaping: While facility kitchen garden programs
depend on sufficient water use to thrive, several facilities across the state
are making up for this need by replacing traditionally high water use landscape installations with morewater sensitive and native plantings

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report16Effect on Inmate Behavior: Sustainable Operationsand Low-Cost Programming
As part of the SPP partnership, WA DOC and collaborators operate numerous, overlapping,and complimentary programs. These program are designed to humanely and positively
impact the experience and outcome of a person’s time in custody as well as their integrationback into the community. The vision for sustainability includes social wellbeing of thecommunity, staff and incarcerated people, and ties directly to WA DOC’s core mission public safety. Toward this end, SPP programs encourage and facilitate the emergence ofnumerous projects that can best be described as programs that elevate the human spirit.
Because the WA DOC’s sustainable operations program holds to the classic “three pillars ofsustainability” ideology, the human well-being component is as important as environmental
responsibility.
All projects require corrections staff and leadership support, collaboration with community
partners, and dedication. These programs have another thing in common—they are initiatedand operate at low or no cost to the facility or to the state.

SUCCESS:Engaging theincarcerated populationin sustainability
programs is successful if
it improves the mood ofjust one person for just
one hour, ideally
increasing the likelihoodfor further positive
educational andtherapeutic experiences
and lessening theoccurrence of behavioral
problems in the facility
and re-offense once
released to thecommunity.

Dog program participants at WSP Close Custody
Unit

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report17

Cost Containment: Sustainable Operations Must be
Economically Viable and Fiscally ResponsibleReduced resource consumption
Reduced waste management expenses
Low-cost programming opportunities
Positive contributions ( opportunities for incarcerated people to contribute to community and facility
operations)

As an economic component of sustainability, it is essential that programs are fiscally responsible and economically
viable. As the cost of operations continues to increase with the steady rise of utility, fuel, and service costs, it isimportant to consider innovative solutions and partnerships built on the pillars of sustainability. This includes
identifying purchasing efficiencies, committing to high efficiency building, being a champion of preventive
maintenance and coupling low-cost programming with facility operations.
Resource consumption: Creating a formalized sustainable operations program and articulated goals to reduceresource consumption began in 2003, and significant cost avoidance had been realized. While the WA DOC
continues to spend more each year on utility expenses, demonstrable cost avoidance of increased expenses has
been achieved because consumption continues to decline.
Reduced waste management expenses: Building onsite compost facilities on the majority of facility campuses,
compelling upstream waste diversion, and recycling programs contributed to the reduction of waste management
expenses by 27%.
Low-cost programming opportunities: Fostering low-cost educational programs such as: gardening, waste-water
treatment plant operation, durable medical equipment repair and facility composting, provides meaningfulactivity, skill and certification attainment for incarcerated individuals, and real cost benefits to the facility.
Trades training and certification programs: Providing
incarcerated individuals opportunities to gain confidence,
new skills, job training, and certifications can assist in
successful reentry.

Reducing our levels of
consumption will not
be a sacrifice but abonus if we simply
redefine the meaningof the word ‘success.’– David Wann

Photo by Jody Becker-GreenNew Skills: Electrician Apprenticeshipprogram participant changing lighting
ballasts at the Washington Corrections
Center for Women.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report18

5. Community Contribution Programs
Community contribution programs are those sustainability programs that directly give back to nearby
communities. They train pets for adoption and donate crafts and living essentials (firewood, quilts)
made from reclaimed materials. Other community contribution programs provide community services
such as habitat restoration and removing hazard trees.
Typically, these programs are partnerships between corrections centers and community organizations.
The partnerships help community organizations to increase capacity and provide inmates opportunities
to contribute to the world outside the secure perimeter. Many of these programs are well-establishedand predate the formal SPP partnership. Our objective is to acknowledge and support these productive
partnerships and to provide a comprehensive overview of activities taking place statewide.
SPP’s conservation and sustainable operations programs also make community contributions; forexample, the Conservation Nurseries provide hundreds of thousands of plants to regional restoration,and Sustainable Operations programs contribute by reducing prisons’ environmental footprint andsaving taxpayer dollars. See those sections of the report for details.

Dog and Cat ProgramsDog and cat programs are common in prisons across Washington State. Nearly all of Washington’sprisons have formed one or more partnerships with community nonprofits to create pet programs.
Inmates receive support from partner organizations to provide excellent animal care and obedience
training, and—in a few cases—service and/or therapy training. We have heard from inmates and staff
that pet programs are a benefit to all directly involved, and to the larger prison community as well. We
have numerous testimonials on both the in-prison and post-release benefits of pet programs.

Cat handler Leon Fannon holds a cat at Larch Corrections Center, outside Vancouver, WA. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report19In FY16, cat programs were added at two prisons, and 479 incarcerated men and women participated in
dog or cat programs in prisons across the state. A complete list of FY16 dog and cat programs andpartners is included below.
Table 3. FY16 Dog and Cat Programs (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)PrisonProgram
Program Partners

Highlights

AHCC

Pawsitive dog training

Diamonds in the Ruff andSpokanimal

Graduated 27 dogs in 4 graduation
ceremonies

CBCC

Dog training & adoption

Welfare for Animals Guild (WAG!)

46 dog & 13 Puppies graduated

CBCC

Cat program

Welfare for Animals Guild (WAG!)

New program in close custody

CCCC

Training dogs for veterans

Brigadoon Service Dogs

12 dogs trained for individual veterans

CRCC

Ridge Dogs

Benton Franklin Humane, AdamCounty Pet Rescue

139 dogs graduated

CRCC

Kitten Program

Benton Franklin Humane, AdamCounty Pet Rescue

20 kittens in the program

LCC

Larch Cat Adoption ProgramWest Columbia Gorge HS, HS for
Southwest WA

MCC

Dog training and adoption
Cat program: Special
Inmates Unit

Summit Assistance Dogs

24 dogs graduatedPurrfect Pals

17 inmates participatedPawsitive Prison Project

Kitsap Humane Society

96 cats graduatedOlympia Peninsula Humane Society

138 dogs graduated since 2010; dog
handlers trained AKC Canine Good
Citizen practices, meet 1xweek for groupstudy, group training 2xweek

MCC
MCCCW

OCC

OCC Dog Program

SCCC

Freedom Tails

SCCC

Service dogs for veterans

Harbor Association of Volunteers for
Animals (HAVA)Brigadoon Service Dogs

4 graduation ceremonies

Graduated 24 dogs including 1 service
and 1 therapy dog; first in-prison pet
program in the country!

WCCW

Prison Pet Partnership

WSP

Kittens in the Klink

Blue Mountain Humane Society

WSP

Dog training & adoption

Blue Mountain Humane Society

Reclaim, Repurpose or Restore, and Donate Programs
Consistent with the earliest days of SPP programs, WA prisons have a mindset to “throw nothing away,”
to pull from a waste stream (within or outside the prison) and transform refuse into something of value.
In some cases, these programs directly meet an organization’s need, such as quilts to a homelessshelter, refurbished computers to schools, and produce to food banks. In other cases, they donate
handmade or restored creations for organizational fundraising. The productivity and generosity of these
programs are best illustrated in state-wide numbers, below. Transforming soil and sunlight into delicious
produce also falls within this category.
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report20

Table 4. FY16 Community Contributions Programs state-wide totals (12 prisons)
Item
Statewide totals (approximations)
Garden area
15.3 acres cultivated
Produce grown
417,350 pounds to food banks & prison kitchens
Crafts made from reclaimed materials
Refurbished bicycles
Refurbished wheelchairs
Firewood

30,200 items donated459 donated295 donated890 cords donated

A gardener walks through the main garden at AHCC. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Reclaim and donate details by prison are in the table following.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report21

Table 5. FY16 Community Contributions Programs to Reclaim, Repurpose, Restore, or Donate (seeAppendix 3 for abbreviations)PrisonPrograms
Program Partners
Highlights
100,000 ft2 of gardens grew nearly
80,000 lbs of produce; most went to theprison kitchen; 933 pounds of pumpkins
donated to partners

AHCC

Gardens: Main

Second Harvest Food Bank, Master
Gardeners, Cheney Outreach forChildren, and Salvation Army

AHCC

Gardens: Minimum

Second Harvest Food Bank, Master
Gardeners, and Gospel Mission

20,000 ft2 of gardens grew 1,400 lbs of
produce

AHCC

Computers 4 Kids

School districts – OSPI, DES

Donate 4,500 refurbished computers
annually; incarcerated technicians learn
basic computer diagnostics and can test
for certification

AHCC

Firewood donation

SNAP Spokane

Donated 660 cords of wood to lowincome families; received firefighting
training

CCCC

Gardens

Centralia College, Rochester Organizationof Families, Thurston County Food Bank,
Littlerock School District

40,000 sq. ft. of gardens, growing~17,000 lbs/year for prison kitchens anddonation to partners

CRCC

Gardens: Minimum

1,100 ft2 of gardens produced 1,645 lbs

CRCC

Pumpkin Patch

Grew 200 pumpkins for visitors andcommunity

CRCC

Toys for Tots

Tri-Cities Toys for Tots

150 crafts donated to event

CRCC

Teddy bears fromreclaimed materials

Hospitals, API events at CRCC, ARC of TriCities, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office

Donated 275 teddy bears to partners andbenefit events

LCC

Gardens

Clark County Food Bank

LCC

Wood craft donations

MCC

Worm Farm

City of Monroe, Fircrest Residential
Habilitation Center, Northwest Trek

Worm bins donated to partners

MCC

Black Soldier Fly pilot(food waste composting)Woodland Park Zoo

Larvae donated to zoo and local area
chicken farmer

MCC

Sustainable Practices Lab(SPL): Bike program

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office,Snohomish Boys & Girls' Club, Night Out
Against Crime

145 bikes donatedMCC

SPL Wheelchair programMCC

SPL Toy program

MCC

Craft donation

MCCCW

Gardens

OCC

Gardens

Wheels for the World
Developing partnership with Children’s
HospitalCommunity Aide Coalition (CAC)

Peninsula College

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

On track to donate first 300 wheelchairs

Donated 111 quilts and 1000 crocheted
hats and scarfs
5 gardens, 250 ft2 total; grew 1000
pounds of produce for prison kitchen
24,000 ft2 of gardens, 4,000 ft2
greenhouses; produced 900 lbs forinmate kitchen, 400 lbs for local food22

banks, and 300 lbs of pumpkins tovisiting children

Wood shop

Quileute High School scholarships,
Cherish our Children, Forks Lions Club,
CASA, Quillayute Valley School District,
Relay for Life, Forks Chamber ofCommerce, Timber Museum, Olympic
Anglers, Calm Waters, Forks
Soroptimists; wood provided byWestport Shipyard & OCC Community
Crews (DNR)

Donated ~160 toys, crafts, sculptures,and pieces of furniture to charitable andnonprofit partners

OCC

Firewood

Olycap, Quillayute Valley Scholarship
Auction, Lake Quinault Fire Department,
OCC Community Crews (Department of
Natural Resources)

120 cords for Native American
ceremonies; 86 cords to elderly andhandicapped clients of Olycap; 25 cords
donated to scholarship auction, worth$8,000; 237 cords donated to fire
department

SCCC

Bicycle Repair

Lions Club259 bikes repaired & donated

SCCC

Wheelchair Repair

Wheels for the World

295 wheelchairs repaired & donated

SCCC

Gardens & greenhouses

OCC

25,000ft2, nearly 9000 lbs; all goes tostaff & inmate kitchens

WCC

Gardens & greenhouses

Thurston County Food Bank, The Saint’s
Pantry Food Bank, The City Reach Food
Bank, and The Shelton Community
Kitchen

WCCW

Gardens & greenhouses

WSU Extension, Pierce County

Grew 7,084 lbs of produce for inmate
kitchen

WCCW

Mother Earth Farm

Mother Earth Farm, Real Food Network

Offsite crew of 7 inmates; grow food for
donation to partners

WCCW

Bicycle Repair

Kiwanis Gig Harbor supplies bikes;
donate to “Gear Up For School” at KP
Middle School; schools in Peninsula
School District; individual kids identified
by Kiwanians

More than 200 bikes for middle school
kids at start of the school year

WCCW

Quilts and other fabriccraftsCommunity members donate all items.

Donated 2,500 craft items (Christmas
stockings, knitting, beds for West Sound
Wildlife, quilts, etc.)

WSP

Institutional
Sustainability Garden

WSP SPL

Sustainable Practices Lab(SPL), 18 programs incl.
bikes, wood shops,
aquaponics, plant starts,
worm composting, teddy
bears, & quilts; a few
detailed below

received materials donations frompartners; since 2012,donated to 438
charities

Since 2012, donated 25,342 items tononprofits; fixed or built 8,932 items forstate use; hosted 298 educational toursof the lab; and deferred $170,000 incosts for Washington DOC

WSP SPL

Water filtration pilot(SPL)

Project 41

Developing low-cost technology for clean
drinking water w/out electricity

Grew 30,000+ lbs, value of $56,300; alldonated to partners

Retail produce savings $371,285

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report23Community Work Crews
The minimum security prisons (LCC, OCC, MCCCW, and CCCC) and units (Minimum Security Unit=”MSU”)
house inmates for a relatively short time preceding release. Many minimum security inmates areallowed to work “outside the fence”, and join offsite crews working on forested and community sites.
These crews allow positive reconnection to outside communities: providing exposure to and experiencein the world outside the fence while contributing needed community services.
These crews employ more inmates than any other kind of program under the SPP umbrella: 1,662
incarcerated men and women this fiscal year. With so many inmates participating at hundreds of sites
statewide, we still have much to learn about these programs, including how well each does and does not
fit the SPP model. Reported details are shown in the table below.
Table 6. Community Work Crews FY16 (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)PrisonPrograms
Program Partners
AHCC

COMMUNITY WORK CREWS

AHCC

FORESTRY I WORKER

CCCC

COMMUNITY WORK CREWS

CCCCFORESTRY I WORKER

CCCC

FORESTRY II WORKER
PRAIRIE PLANTCONSERVATION

CCCC
CRCC

COMMUNITY WORK CREWSLCC

COMMUNITY WORK CREWSLCCFORESTRY I WORKER

MCCCW

COMMUNITY CREW

MCC

COMMUNITY WORK CREWS

OCC

COMMUNITY WORK CREWSOCCFORESTRY I WORKER

WCCW

COMMUNITY WORK CREWSWSPCOMMUNITY WORK CREWS

Highlights
Contribute to Firewood donation
program

CNLM, DNR, JBLM, Friends of Puget
Prairies, and others

Dedicated to prairie restoration insouthern Thurston County

Kitsap County Conservation, Hood
Canal Salmon Enhancement Group,
WSDOT

Beards Cove tree planting; Chico
Creek restoration; Theler Trail
maintenance; knot weed removal;
Union River Fish Ladder maintenance;
planted 4,000 trees & 2,500 shoreline
spp. & removed 48 yards3 of Scot's
broom

WA Department of Fish & Wildlife

OCC’s Community Service Crews
clipped an estimated 1 million
hatchery fish, contributing to wild
salmon recovery efforts.
Forestry 1 Workers complete 101.5
hours of National Wildland Fire
Training

Mother Earth Farm, Real Food
Network

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

Offsite crew of 7 inmates; grow foodfor donation to partners

24

SPP’s Prairie Restoration Crew sows seeds at CNLM's Shotwell's Landing. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report25

5. Biophilia Programs
Biophilia was defined and popularized by Edward O. Wilson as “the urge to affiliate with other forms oflife.” SPP brings nature inside prisons with the motivation to relieve the stress of prison environments.
Scientific literature shows that when nature is available within institutional and urban environments,
inhabitants experience many positive, therapeutic benefits. The therapeutic value of SPP’s programs has
been recognized widely and consistently by both inmate and staff partners.
This year, we recognized that SPP includes several programs that don’t fit into established reportingareas. Thus, while many of these efforts have been ongoing for years, adding this new program area
helps us to report on them. Again, while all SPP programs are intended to offer positive contact withnature, the programs detailed below include enjoying nature as their primary function. We are pleased
to provide these programs a formal place within the suite of SPP programming.
Table 7. Biophilia Programs FY16
ProgramPartners

PrisonPrograms

AHCC

Nature Imagery

AHCC

Flower gardens

AHCC

Diversity garden

Cultural groups grow food and flowers for their special
events

CBCC

Flower gardens

Ornamental gardens in courtyard and access breezeway

CCCC

Flower gardens

CRCC

Heritage Garden

Inmates’ designs honor the cultural and natural heritageof our area, using native plants to minimize water use.

LCC

Flower gardens

Ornamental plantings throughout the campus.

LCC
MCC

House plants
Houseplants
Flower gardens, boxes,
baskets

Only WA prison with house plants in inmate rooms
Houseplants on hospital floor.
Flower gardens are grown to attract bees to pollinate
the vegetables.
Two living units have fish ponds; the other has afountain and basin
Pollinator-friendly plantings in the Horticulture area;
each living unit has several garden beds planted andmaintained by residents; hanging baskets and flowering
beds throughout staff and inmate areas

MCC
OCC

Water features

OCC

Flower gardens, boxes,
baskets

OCC
SCCC
WCC

Chickens
Flower gardens, boxes,
baskets
Flower gardens, boxes,
baskets

MillerHomestead LLC

Centralia
CollegePeninsulaCollege

Highlights
Inmates in maximum security area can watch nature
videos on a computer monitor.
Ornamental and pollinator-friendly plantings throughout
the main and minimum areas.

Ornamental and pollinator-friendly plantings throughout
the campus.

Extensive flower and pollinator-friendly plantings
throughout the campus.
Flowers planted throughout the campus.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

26

WCC

Nature Imagery

WCC

House plants

WCCW

Flower gardens, boxes,
baskets

WCCW Chickens
WSP
WSP

Rental garden boxes
Houseplants

Nature Imagery
in Prisons teamIn all shared and staff areas
WSU
Extension,
Pierce County,
TacomaCommunity
College
Mother Earth
Farm and Gig
Harbor FoodBank

Flowers and pollinator-friendly plantings throughout thecampus.

All eggs donated to partners
62 boxes available in south and east complexes
Throughout SPL and staff areas

Renee Curtiss holds one of the chickens that lives at Washington Corrections Center for Women. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report27

6. Ecological Conservation Programs
SPP conservation programs represent ambitious collaborations among multiple partners. Each program
receives crucial support from a variety of contributors including incarcerated people, corrections staff,
graduate student staff from Evergreen, SPP staff, agency scientists, and community partners. Program
success is dependent on each participant contributing their expertise and time. Programs are designed
to maximize benefits for each collaborator by sharing workload and leveraging resources. Since 2009,
SPP has steadily expanded programs rearing threatened and endangered species and producing nativeplants for ecological restoration. In 2009, Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC) hosted the first captive
rearing program to raise threatened Oregon spotted frogs and our first conservation nursery program
started at Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC). We now support eight ecological conservation
programs involving animals and insects and five conservation nursery programs throughout the state.

Oregon Spotted Frog Program
The Oregon spotted frog (OSF; Rana pretiosa) is a state-listed endangered species and federally-listed
threatened species; this warm water marsh species has vanished from an estimated 70% of its historicrange. From 2009 to fall 2015, inmates, staff, and students partnered with scientists and conservation
leaders from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and three zoos
to successfully raise 879 OSF at Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC; see Table 8).
The US Fish and Wildlife Service has suspended the OSF captive rearing program indefinitely. While
captive rearing was very successful, frogs released into the wild don’t seem to be successfully breedingat the designated release site. Partners are evaluating the program to determine if it may be reinstatedin the future, and we are working with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife partners to consider
other animal rearing programs that may be operated in prisons.
Table 8. Oregon Spotted Frog Rearing at CCCC March 2009 – October 2015
Year
2015
TOTAL
20092015

Eggs
Received
269(201 viable)
1172
(1050
viable)NumberReleased

Overall
Survival

Overwintering
Received

Overwintering
Released

Overall
Survival

Total
Released

167

83%

0

N/A

N/A

167

785

77%

112

94

84%

879

Western Pond Turtle Programs
The western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) is a state-listed endangered species and federal species ofconcern. The turtles once ranged from the Puget Sound lowlands to Baja, California. Led by Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), partners have been working toward the recovery of western
pond turtles since the late 1990s. At the start of recovery efforts, only about 150 turtles remained in thewild. Today, more than 2,150 captive-reared turtles have been released at 6 locations.
In 2013, SPP joined recovery partners to assist with the rehabilitation of western pond turtles that wereafflicted with a newly discovered “shell disease.” In some individual turtles, the disease requires aninitial period of intensive care provided by veterinarians. After completing intensive care treatments,
some turtles are moved to correctional facilities to receive extended care provided by trained inmate
technicians. The technicians provide daily maintenance care while the turtle’s shells complete thehealing process. As each turtle heals, it can be released back into the wild. After their release, WDFW
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report28monitors the turtles in the wild for health and ability to reproduce. Inmate technicians receive SPP
certifications for this work.
Turtles have been housed at Cedar Creek Corrections Center since 2013 and at Larch Corrections Center
since December 2015. The new program at Larch began in response to the need for assistance with theColumbia Gorge turtle population and is modeled on the program at Cedar Creek. In addition to caring
for the turtles, the technicians raise mealworms as a sustainable food source to feed the turtles. Since
the program started, five certificates have been awarded to technicians, two graduate students haveprovided program coordination, and three corrections staff have served as liaisons. Community partners
for these programs include Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, PAWS Wildlife Rehabilitation
Center, Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo. Results of these recovery efforts are in the tables below:
Table 9. Western Pond Turtle Rehabilitation at CCCC August 2013 - August 2016
Turtles
TurtlesYear
Received Released
2013
8
2
2014

14

17

2015

8

i

6

2016

ii

4iii

2

Total
25
25iv
Notes: i5 of 8 being re-treated. As knowledge of the disease advances and treatment procedures further
develop, veterinarians have learned that minor lesions may go deeper into the shell requiring further
treatment.
ii
These turtles have a neurological issue and were held back for observation. One was humanely
euthanized for research purposes and the other is still currently housed at Cedar Creek. Six additional
turtles are expected to arrive for treatment in late September.
iii
All 4 turtles were those that had been re-treatediv
Does not include re-treated turtles
Table 10. Western Pond Turtle Rehabilitation at LCC December 2015 - August 2016
TurtlesYear
Turtles Released
Received
2015

5

0

2016

4

9

Total

9

9

Table 11. SPP Certificates awarded to Turtle Technicians (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)PrisonNumber of Criteria
Technicians
Certified
CCCC
4Completed at least 150 hrs of academic studies, at least 600 hrs ofanimal husbandry, at least 50 hrs of public speaking and at least 10
hrs of laboratory and/or field work totaling 1,000 hrs
LCC2

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report29Sagebrush Conservation Nursery
Fall 2015, approximately 20,000 sagebrush were planted to help restore habitat for the greater sagegrouse. The majority of the plants were installed on a sagebrush steppe site in the Wenatchee area
previously burned by wildlife. This planting marked the end of a successful first season for the program.
Incarcerated participants and corrections staff play a critical roles in program operation. This program
also receives support froma local contract employeewith Institute for Applied
Ecology (IAE) supporting
program coordination andeducation elements.

Morning sun shines on sagebrush seedlings at CRCC's conservation nursery. Photo by Ricky
Osborne.

Early spring 2016, 40,000
Wyoming big sagebrush(Artemisia tridentate) andthree-tip sagebrush(Artemisia tripartite) weresown at CRCC. Plants will bedelivered and planted on
Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service refuge sites October
2016.

At the end of the first season of this program (October 2015) five inmate technicians had participatedand each received certifications. In FY16, educational workshops were provided for program technicianson six different nursery topics and two lectures were held for the broader population on topics such assagebrush and greater sage-grouse and shrub-steppe song birds.
Program funding is provided primarily by partners with the IAE and the BLM. The CRCC program is partof a multi-state effort led by IAE to restore habitat for the greater sage-grouse. Sagebrush prison
programs are currently operating in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Washington prisons. In FY17 weare expanding sagebrush growing to a second WA prison site at WSP.
Table 12. SPP Certificates awarded to Sagebrush Technicians
Number of
PrisonTechnicians Criteria
Certified
CRCC
5Completed a full season of work in the sagebrush conservation
nursery.

Prairie Conservation Nurseries
Primary funding support for the Prairie Conservation Nurseries comes from the Center for Natural Lands
Management (CNLM) and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). Plant materials produced by SPP’s prairie
conservation nurseries are used by state and federal agencies and conservation organizations including
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, JBLM, WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, WA Dept. of Natural Resources,
and CNLM. In close collaboration with CNLM, we will be expanding services to collaborators across the
Pacific Northwest.
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report30Prairie Plant-Plug Production
During FY16 the prairie conservation programs grew plant starts at three sites: Stafford Creek
Corrections Center (SCCC), Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW), and Shotwell’s Landing
Nursery. Shotwell’s Landing Nursery is supported by a Restoration Crew from Cedar Creek Corrections
Center (CCCC), a crew of 10 inmate technicians dedicated to prairie restoration at multiple sites inThurston County. Currently, the three nursery sites have an annual sowing capacity of 700,000 plugs,
and this produces up to 420,000 viable plant-plugs annually. This year, the nursery delivered 421,649
plant plugs of 62 species for Taylor’s checkerspot recovery and lowland prairie restoration; see Table 13
for more information. Cumulatively, the nurseries have delivered nearly 1.9 million plant-plugs since
2009.
Plant-plug production remains a vital component of the regional recovery plan for Taylor’s checkerspot
butterflies. However, seeding will become the primary method of habitat restoration in future years.
This plan will decrease local requests for the number of plant-plugs produced by SPP. Cultivating diverse
plant materials for an increased number of collaborators will allow us to maintain the strength of SPP’s
prairie conservation nursery programs.
Table 13. Conservation Nursery Regional Plug Summary, delivered FY16
# ofspecies
PlantsTotal Sown Winter34
467,960
Total Sown Summer
30
297,224
Total Sown
64765,184
Total Sown Capacity
700,000
Percent of Capacity
109%
Percent Delivered ofSown
55%
Total Requested
58425,61462421,649
Total Delivered
Prairie Seed Production
SPP continues to cultivate plants for seed at WCC and WCCW. Seed production in a corrections setting
has proven successful for species poorly adapted to mechanical agriculture techniques. The two seedproduction gardens at WCCW and WCC harvested over 14 lbs. of seed of early blue violet from 5400 sq.
ft. This is more than two times the harvest rate of other regional seed nurseries including the National
Resource Conservation Service.
Potential collaborators beyond the Salish lowlands have recognized the cultivation accomplishments ofour seed nurseries. A number of agencies working on the recovery of the Silverspot butterfly, a federally
listed group of species, have funded efforts to increase the genetic diversity of cultivated early blue
violets. This will not require an increase in cultivated space, but will deliver more seed to new regions
along the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington.
Training and Education
SPP’s graduate student program coordinators provide frequent guidance and education to inmate
technicians. The graduate students serve as the primary liaison between partners, including the WA DOC
staff who supervise and counsel the inmates. Since 2010, the Conservation Nursery Program has trained
nearly 200 inmate technicians, 14 graduate students have provided program coordination, and six
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report31

corrections staff have served as program supervisors. The lectures and workshops offered within theprairie conservation nursery programs are detailed in Table 14.
Table 14.Prairie Conservation Nursery Lectures and Workshops FY16 (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)
Presented Presented
Presented
by SPPby program DOC
by SPP Staff students
partner
Attendees Total
LECTURES
SCCC
4
6
0
17
10
WCCW
4
6
1
5
11
CCCC - Shotwell's Landing 4
6
2
31
12
WCC
16
0
0
32
16
Total Lectures
28
18
3
53
33
WORKSHOPS
SCCC
WCCW
CCCC - Shotwell's Landing
WCC
Total Workshops

2
2
2
2
8

8
16
16
26
66

0
1
4
0
5

17
5
31
32
53

10
19
22
28
79

SPP offered extra lectures at WCCW and WCC to address the intricacies of violet seed collection, seedcleaning, and the ecological significance of restoration. The program at WCC’s Skill Builders Unit (SBU)
required extensive preparation and contact time with inmate technicians with cognitive challenges. The
time investment is necessary for the crew to be effective, and also builds trust and demonstrates animpressive work ethic. SPP staff and graduate students invested significant resources researching andpresenting curricula fitting the diverse and variable learning levels of SBU inmates.
From FY15 through FY16, SPP staff emphasized improvements in education supporting certifications forconservation nursery technicians. Certifications provide tangible documentation that may increase
personal investment and responsibility and can help translate skills to resumes and academic credit. The
retention rate and certification awards continue to increase by 10% among all the facilities.
Table 15: Conservation Nursery Certificates FY16
800
hours

400
hours

Total
Participants% Certified

SCCC

10

3

13

17

76%

WCCW

3

2

5

5

100%

CCCC - Shotwell's Landing

9

3

12

31

39%

WCC

2

0

2

32

6%

Total

24

8

32

53

60%

Location

Total

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report32

Emergent Pre-Vegetated Mat (EVM) Production
SPP embarked on an ambitious pilot project in FY16 to cultivate pre-vegetated mats of wetland plant
species to assist in habitat restoration for the Oregon spotted frog and salmon species. The surplus
tilapia facility at SCCC was converted to an aquaponics system with significant support and ingenuity
from SCCC staff and technicians. In addition to the labor and financial investment by WA DOC, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), JBLM, SPP-Evergreen, and CNLM provided funds. The annual target
production is 230 15m2 mats from 390m2 of growing area, with successional sowings throughout theyear.
The EVM program supports a collaborative experiment. The mats produced will be installed in wetlands
following weed control techniques to limit the spread of reed canary grass. The areas will be monitored
for plant establishment and weed suppression success over a three-year period. The technicalaccomplishments of the project thus far bode well for positive results from this experiment in ecologicalrestoration.

In the background, you can see some of the elaborate, color-coded plumbing that supports the EVM pilot. Photo by Carl Elliott.

Plantain Programs
Narrow leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolate) is being raised at MCCCW and LCC to support the larval foodneeds for Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly programs. The plantain beds at MCCCW were first established in2013 and have since been expanded to serve as the sole source of food for growing butterfly larvae raised in
the prison’s rearing program. Building on the success of these beds, we built a new plantain nursery at LCC.
Inmate technicians harvest plantain leaves which are transported to the Oregon Zoo to feed larvae raised in
the zoo’s Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly rearing program

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report33Animal Feed Programs
Several prisons raise high quality feed for animals in the care of zoos and SPP programs. Providing
suitable food for Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies has been a priority, as partners want to ensure that theinsects’ food sources are free of harmful pesticides. A summary of zoo food programs is provided below.
Table 16. SPP programs providing food for captive animals (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)
Food source

Facilities

Recipients

Meal worms

LCC, CCCC, and
SCCC

Western pond turtles and koi in prison facilities

Plantain

LCC

OR Zoo’s Taylor's checkerspot rearing program

Nectar Plants

LCC

Developing program for OR Zoo's Taylor's checkerspot rearing
program

Plantain & Nectar
PlantsMCCCW

Taylors checkerspot rearing program at MCCCW, in collaboration
with OR Zoo

Soldier fly larvae

MCC

Birds and reptiles at Woodland Park Zoo

Soldier fly larvae

MCC

Western pond turtles at LCC and CCCC recovering from acutecare received at OR Zoo and PAWS wildlife care facility

Honeybee Programs
Matching interest we have heard from DOC headquarters and multiple prisons, developing andimproving beekeeping programs are a priority for SPP-Evergreen staff. These programs provide
meaningful education and therapeutic activities for incarcerated and DOC staff beekeepers, contributeto honeybee conservation and restoration, and have the potential to create and contribute related
goods (hives, honey, beeswax products) to nearby communities.
Adding to the four existing programs, AHCC initiated a beekeeping program in FY16, with educational
and technical support from a Master beekeeper. Four additional prisons were planning or poised tolaunch programs in FY17. A detailed summary of program status as of June 30, 2015, is in Table 17.
Table 17. Beekeeping Certification Overview by Institution FY16 (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)PrisonHives

Certified
Apprentices

CCCC
LCC

Partners
Olympia Beekeepers
1 Association
Bee Thinking

WCCW

2 Mother Earth Farm

Notes
Graduated 3 classes of inmates and
21 staff since November '14
New program
Certification planned Mother Earth
Farm

SCCC

Olympia Beekeepers
4 Association

Longtime program; planning to add
education

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

34

WCC
WSP
AHCC
MCC
CRCC
MCCCW
OCC
CBCC
Total

Olympia Beekeepers
Association
West Plains Beekeepers
4 Association
4 Millers Homestead
Snohomish Beekeepers
Mid- Columbia Beekeepers
TBD
TBD
North Olympic Peninsula
Beekeepers Association
12

Very interested; need new site plan
Inmate participation & education in
FY17
Staff education 1st; inmates'
8 planned for FY17
Planning programs for TRU and WSR
Planning program
Unknown status
Unknown status
Planning education & program for
FY17
25

Pacific Northwest Monarch Butterfly Program
Monarchs from the Pacific Northwest are “seriously under-represented in the monarch world”(www.facebook.com/MonarchButterfliesInThePacificNorthwest). In an effort to restore and conserve
Pacific Northwest monarchs, Washington State University professor Dr. David James partners with staff
and inmates at WSP. During August and September 2015, inmates from the Mental Health Unit reared,
tagged and released a total of 1,487 monarchs from Walla Walla, Yakima, and Prosser, WA.

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Program
Our flagship pollinator program is rearing and releasing Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydras editha
taylori), a federally-endangered species that once flourished from southern British Columbia to central
Oregon. Only a few small, isolated populations of the butterfly remain. The SPP rearing facility at
Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women (MCCCW) adds to the scope and resilience of recovery
efforts and bolsters the original rearing program at the Oregon Zoo. The first Taylor’s checkerspot
caterpillars were delivered to MCCCW February 2012. The end of FY16 marks the completion of the
program’s fifth successful breeding season and four cohorts of these animals have been cared for byinmate technicians throughout their complete life cycle.

This year for the first time, incarcerated butterfly technicians were able to attend arelease on a native prairie site; here, Technician Michelle Dittamore poses withcaterpillars she helped rear. Photo by Seth Dorman.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

As of September 2016, inmate
technicians, students,
corrections staff, and partners
have reared andreleased more than 10,000
caterpillars and adultbutterflies onto South Sound
prairies. More than 23 inmate
technicians have received
animal husbandry training,
three graduate students havecoordinated the program, andfour WA DOC staff have
served as liaisons. Since fall2013, SPP has issued ninecertificates for inmate
technicians completing35

training in the program—FY16 details are in Table 20. In June 2016, a former technician currently
attending Evergreen as an undergraduate student was awarded 15 academic transfer credits for her
certificate accomplishments in the butterfly program.
In 2016, we released caterpillars at two sites within Glacial Heritage Preserve and Scatter Creek Wildlife
Area. Incarcerated butterfly technicians participated in one of the releases, coinciding with media
coverage by a crew from PBS NewsHour.
We retained 363 wild caterpillars to grow to adulthood for the 2016 breeding season. Rearing outcomes
for this reporting period are summarized in Table 18.Percent survival by life stage is available in
Table 19.
Table 18. Taylor’s Checkerspot Rearing and Adult Butterfly Breeding at MCCCW FY16
Into
Diapause
July 2015
Wild
Captive-bredSecond Diapause
Caterpillars
Unidentifiable
Caterpillars
TotalsRetained for
Breeding
March
2016

Released February
2016

Egg Laying
Females
April/May
2016

Eggs
Produced
May/June
2016

2,186

1,776

363

7

2122

637

623

0

11

1262

49

15

33

2

N/A

26

92

0

N/A

N/A

2,898

2,879

363

3,374

Table 19. Number of individuals and percent survival by life stage for wild and captive-reared Taylor’s
checkerspot butterflies FY16
Life stage

MCCCW Wild & Captive-bred Summary#% survival

Diapause to wake-up

2,879

99.3

Diapause to release

2,731

94.9

Breeding colony

363

---

Multi-diapause

48

---

Pupae

310

98.4

Adult

300

96.8

Eggs

4,934

---

Eggs to hatch

3,819

77.4

Hatch to diapause

3,183

83.3

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report36

Table 20. Certificates awarded to Butterfly Technicians
Number of
PrisonTechnicians Criteria
Certified
MCCCW
2
One season of training, practice, and hands on butterfly rearing of the Taylor’s
checkerspot butterfly through all life-stages represents a minimum of 200
hours of academic study and 1,300 hours of lab practicum.

Wildlife Habitat Programs
Several facilities have installed structures or plantings to benefit wildlife. A summary follows.
Table 21. Reported efforts to provide wildlife habitat and forage, FY16 (see Appendix 3 forabbreviations)PrisonPrograms
Program Partners
Highlights
AHCC

Pollinator-friendly
plantings

Miller Homestead LLC

Throughout the main and minimum
areas.

CCCC

Pollinator-friendly
plantings

Centralia College

Throughout the campus.

CRCC

Wildlife habitat

CRCC

Nesting Platforms

MCC

Wildlife habitat

Bird boxes, owl box, and pollinatorbox in garden
Lower Columbia Basin
Audubon Society

Washington State Reformatory has
bird houses & hummingbird feeders;pollinator-friendly plantings

MCCCW Wildlife habitat
OCC

Pollinator-friendly
plantings

SCCC

Pollinator-friendly
plantings

WCCW

Pollinator-friendly
plantings

Coming FY17

20 bird boxes

Throughout the campus.
WSU Extension, Pierce
County, Tacoma
Community College

Throughout the campus.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report37

7. Environmental Education Programs
Education is integral to SPP’s programs; our aim is to make the most of formal and informal
opportunities for education and to offer new knowledge and new practice to inmates, staff, and allpartners. SPP programs dedicated to education as a central focus include our Science and Sustainability
Lecture Series, an environmental literacy course called Roots of Success, and those community college
programs related to nature and/or sustainability.

Academic Credit & Certifications
By law, Washington State taxpayers’ funds may not be spent on four-year, academic college credit. SPP
has sought creative ways to overcome this limitation while also maintaining low program costs, because
low cost programs generally are available to more students. This year, we improved and standardized
SPP-issued certificates. SPP-certificated programs track and recognize academic experience andachievements of ecological conservation technicians and lecture series students; these certificates may
be recognized as transfer credit for enrolled students of some four-year colleges. We awarded 149
certificates during the fiscal year, 43 of which warrant consideration as transfer credit by Evergreen orother four-year colleges. Students who complete beekeeping apprentice classes and Roots of Successreceive certificates generated by partner organizations.

Community College Courses
OCC, WCC, and WCCW offer vocational horticultural classes, and those students gain access toclassroom instruction and hands-on work in those prisons’ extensive gardens. At CCCC, horticulture
graduates may be hired as Teaching Assistants who largely oversee the greenhouses, aquaculture
program, and vegetable and fruit production areas. At WCC, students also participate in SPP’sconservation nursery, producing seeds of a prairie violet essential to rare and endangered butterflies in
the region. WCCW’s students have access to diverse specialties such as flower arrangements, houseplants, and farming. OCC’s students gain skills and knowledge working through a variety of stations suchas aquaponics, container gardens, and grafting. The successful horticulture program at MCC was
discontinued when the instructor left the institution.
Through a partnership with Peninsula College, OCC offers Green Building and Carpentry, with anemphasis on small-footprint structures that are affordable to build and maintain. Other facilities also
have vocational building programs that include green building modules.

Lecture Series
Since 2009, we have offered more than 200 lectures in six prisons from 175 scientists and practitioners
representing 75 agencies, businesses, and schools. We have recorded 2,018 inmate-students from thetwo main sites: 1,092 from SCCC and 926 from WCCW. Adding known inmate-students from otherfacilities and years, we estimate at least ~2250 inmate-students have attended the lecture series. Mostof those students have attended multiple lectures, translating to thousands of lecture attendees.
Overall attendance of the Lecture Series for FY16 has been strong. Particulars on lecture series
attendance and topics are detailed in Table22. Fiscal Year 2016 highlights from SPP’S Science andSustainability Lecture Series include:Provided a lecture to the Special Inmate Unit (SOU) and to the Intensive Management Unit
(IMU) at Monroe Correctional Complex.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

38






Offered four lectures at Washington Corrections Center, two for general population and two in
the IMU; plans for more are in development.
Built relationship with prison library staff and are soliciting lecture series related book andreading material donations to build resources on SPP related topics in prison libraries.
Met high-demand for live animal lectures with three live animal presentations at SCCC and one
at WCCW.
Improved lecture series attendance and survey data tracking documents to better track
candidates for and recipients of certificates (awarded certificates shown in Table 23).

Table 22. Lecture series attendance statewide, FY16
Lecture Series at Stafford Creek Corrections Center
Date

Presenter

Topic

Attendance

7/16/2016

Tiffany Webb, Evergreen & SPP

Climate Justice75

8/20/2015

Aquaponics at SCCC

59

Earthships and Sustainable Construction

73

History of Science58

11/18/2015

Daniel Cherniske, Evergreen & SPP
Florian Becquereau & Zarna Joshi, Earthship
SeattleKevin Francis, Member of the Faculty,
Evergreen
Rus Higley, MaST Center at Highline College

Live Animal Presentation: Octopus (1)71

12/17/2015

Rus Higley, MaST Center at Highline College

69

1/21/2016

Tiffany Webb, Evergreen & SPP

Live Animal Presentation: Octopus (2)MES Thesis Presentation: Environmental
Justice & Prisons
Salmon in the Pacific Northwest

69

9/17/2015
10/15/2015

62

3/17/2016

Claire Williamson, South Sound Salmon
Enhancement
Nicolas Bond, NOAA

Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest

23

4/21/2015

Peter Dorman, Faculty, Evergreen

Economics of Climate Change74

5/19/2015

Candace Vanderhoff , Rain Thanks

59

5/19/2015

Fawn Harris, West Sound Wildlife

Sustainable Greywater Systems
Live Animal Presentation: Vulture &American Kestrel

2/18/2016

Total

44
736

Lecture Series at Washington Corrections Center for Women
Date

Presenter

Topic

Attendance

7/7/2015

Florian Becquereau, Earthship Seattle

Earthships and sustainable construction

35

8/4/2015

Andrew Barry, Washington State University

18

9/8/2015

Zarna Joshi, Climate Activist

Composting and Soil Science
Women of Color in Climate Change
Movement

10/6/2015

Jeff Antonelis-Lapp, Member of the Faculty,
Evergreen

Natural History of Mt. Rainier42

11/3/2015

Lynne Weber, West Sound Wildlife

Live Animal Presentation: American Kestrel
Falcon90

Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest

17

Indian Science of Ayurveda

76

Beneath the Puget Sound

70

Understanding Astrophysics, Space, & Time

55

Salmon in the Pacific Northwest

37

12/1/2015
1/5/2016
2/2/2016
3/1/2016
5/3/2016

Liliana Caughman & Emily Passarelli,Evergreen & SPP
Afrin Sopariwal, Climate & Sustainable Living
Activist
Laura James, Underwater Photography
Liliana Caughman, Evergreen & SPP
Claire Williamson, Sound Puget Sound Salmon
Enhancement Group

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

48

39

6/7/2016

Lisa Crozier, NOAA Fisheries

Climate Impacts on Native Salmon

Total

42
530

Lecture Series at Washington Corrections Center
Date

Topic

Attendance

SPP Overview

10

SPP Overview (IMU)

5

3/9/2016

Presenter
Liliana Caughman & Emily Passarelli,Evergreen & SPP
Liliana Caughman & Emily Passarelli,Evergreen & SPP
Daniel Cherniske, Evergreen & SPP

Aquaponics at SCCC

18

3/9/2016

Daniel Cherniske, Evergreen & SPP

Aquaponics at SCCC

2

12/9/2015
12/9/2015

Total

35

Lecture Series at Monroe Correctional Complex
Date

Presenter

Topic

Attendance

2/12/2016

Sadie Gilliom, Evergreen & SPP

Amazing World of Amphibians (SOU)

23

2/12/2016

Sadie Gilliom, Evergreen & SPP

Amazing World of Amphibians (IMU)

2

Total

25

Lecture Series at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center
Date

Presenter

Title/topic

Attendance

3/24/2016

Heather Wendt

n/a

5/12/2016

Janelle Down

5/31/2016

Gretchen Graber

Soil
Endangered Ecosystem-Washington’s
Vanishing Shrub Steppe
Sagebrush Steppe

6/1/2016

Kathy Criddle

Audubon Society-Birds

Statewide Total

1326

In general, inmatestudents share very
positive responses to thelecture series.
Workshops and lectureswith an interactive
component appear to
generate the highest
levels of student
engagement.
The lecture series offers
three levels ofcertification recognizing
attendance of 5 lectures,
10 lectures, and 20 ormore. Level 3 certificatesrecommend
A lecture series student shows her enthusiasm for achieving certification in the program.
consideration as transfer
credit for admitted students at The Evergreen State College. Certificates awarded since 2014 and in FY16
are detailed in Table 23.
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report40

Table 23. Students Eligible for Lecture Series Certification
Awarded since2014Awarded FY16

Level 1 – 5 or more lectures

222

47

Level 2 – 10 or more lectures

98

25

Level 3 – 20 of more lectures

23

2

Level 1 – 5 or more lectures

138

21

Level 2 – 10 or more lectures26

8

Level 3 – 20 of more lectures

5

1

512

104

Facility

Certificate

SCCC

WCCW

Total

Roots of Success
Roots of Success is an environmental literacy curriculum developed by Dr. Raquel Pinderhughes,
Professor of Urban Studies & Planning at San Francisco State University (more at rootsofsuccess.org).
WA DOC began offering the program in July 2013, and interest and availability of the program has grownsteadily since. Staff and inmate responses to the program content have been very positive.
The program is delivered by inmates certified as program instructors, a model we have found effective
and satisfying among students, instructors, and staff sponsors. This year was the first in which we could
rely on our own Master Trainers to train new instructors, rather than bear the expense of bringing in the
program creator. We have six incarcerated Roots of Success instructors certified by Dr. Pinderhughes totrain and award certification to other program instructors. They provided two training events during the
fiscal year—table below.
Table 24. Roots of Success Instructor details, FY16 (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)
Inmatescertified as
FY16 active
instructors
inmateFY16 active
Prisonsince start
instructors certified staff
AHCC
3
3
1
CBCC
7
4
3
CCCC
2
1
1
CRCC
8
7
4
LCC
4
2
1
MCC
3
3
1
MCCCW
6
0
1
OCC
4
1
1
SCCC
4
3
1
WCC
6
1
1
WCCW
7
3
1
WSP
13
13
2
67

41

18

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report41New instructors
certified FY16
CRCC
WSP

Date oftraining
11/30/2015
7/7/2016

2
7“You see, Roots of Success didn’t
only teach me how to make myenvironment a better place for me
to live in, but it also taught me how
to become a better person within
my environment” ~ Robert Mayo,
Roots of Success graduation
speaker, July 2015

Roots of Success staff sponsor, instructors and graduates show off theircertificates at Washington Corrections Center for Women. Photo by DOC staff.

Since the start of the program in 2013, 804 inmate-students have received certification for all ten
modules of the curriculum, and 67 CI inmate-students have been certified for the condensed curriculum.
Details for FY16 are provided in the following tables.
Table 25. Summary of Roots of Success Graduates FY16

AHCC

Numberof cohorts
4

CBCC

3

Facility

Graduates

Instructors

Staff sponsors

43

Alan Gard and Austin Tucker

Robert Mackey

23

Jonathon Dunn, Douglas Gallagher, Felix
Sitthivong, Raymond Williams, andTronie Young

Mark Black

87

CRCC

5

LCC

3

14

MCCCW

1

8

SCCC Total

4

180

WCCW

1

14

WSP Total

459

CRCC-CI
Total

4

44

Eugene Youngblood, Jonathan Bolden,
Yoshio White, Julian Reyes
Johnny Hudson, Brian Winters, andGuillermo Orthon
Melissa Jolly, Cami Graham, and Alyssa
Clark
David Duhaime, Grady Mitchell, Anthony
Powers, Cyril Walrond, and William
HarrisonRenee Curtiss and Teresa Settle
Kieth Parkins, Michael Oakes, Mike
Hoover, Dwayne Sanders
Tara Proctor, Thomas Brown, JulianReyes, and Yoshio White

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

Gena Brock
Shawn Piliponis
CabreraRobert Aleksinski
Paula Andrew
Robert Branscum
and Chris McGill
Tara Proctor

42

MCC-CI
1
5 Herb Blumer
Total
Total for all
477
facilities
30
Note: all Roots graduates receive a graduation certificate from Roots of Success.

Annie Williams

Green Track“Green Track” is the term conceived and coined by Washington State DOC leadership to organize
and formalize the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP)’s programs. SPP’s initiatives are the result ofgrassroots efforts at every facility, and we boast an enormous diversity and number of programs;
Green Track will add some higher-level structure to our efforts so that we can promote connections
among programs, better identify priorities for program development, and better meet inmates’
needs.
Green Track is envisioned as linked opportunities for inmates to learn about and solve local andglobal environmental issues. This year, a Green Track Think Tank was formed to advance theconcept. The group endorsed a scorecard approach, calling it a Green Track Passport. We created adraft passport (list of programs and activities within the Green Track and benchmarks forrecognition) which we plan to refine and formalize in the coming year.

Roots of Success graduates stand with their instructors at a CRCC graduation. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report43

8. Evaluation
Program Evaluation
This year, we continued to collect survey data on all programs supported by an Evergreen student-staff.
We are exploring means to increase our administrative capacity so that we can analyze and report on
results from these surveys.

Research
We pursued three grant sources of funding for more substantial research on program impacts, andthose proposals were refused. A partner on two of these proposals, Dr. Kevin Morris at the Institute for
Human-Animal Connection at the Denver University (DU) secured funding as a member of the faculty fora somewhat smaller, but still significant study: the social/emotional impacts for inmates who participate
in dog programs. The research will complement the 2015 study conducted by Washington State
University that found positive changes in behavior in dog program participants. The study also provides
a test case for the social/emotional assessment tools proposed for the larger studies involving
conservation programs.

Student Theses
Two students made SPP programs
the subject of their thesis for the
Master of Environmental Studies
program at Evergreen.
Conrad Ely took on a question
important to propagation
protocols in SPP’s prairie
conservation nurseries: How does
the addition of plant-derived
smoke water affect thegermination of six native Poaceae
species? He involved the
Restoration Crew from CCCC in
seed treatments and trials andprovided informal and formal
Conservation technicians track seed lots as participants in Conrad Ely's research on
education on the scientificgermination rates for native prairie species. Photo by Joslyn Rose Trivett.
method. As a result of theirefforts, we learned that one of the six species responded favorably to the treatment and two responded
negatively to the treatment; for the remaining three species, their germination rate was unaffected.
Tiffany Webb conducted a critical assessment of SPP’s programs in relation to principles ofenvironmental justice. They found that the Science and Sustainability Lecture Series is an example ofenvironmental “goods” made available to a population typically not afforded environmental educationand training. However, they were concerned about publicity for SPP programs distracting from and“greenwashing” substantial environmental and social injustices related to prisons and prison operations.
They pointed out that Washington State’s over-imprisonment of Black individuals is at an even higher
than the national average, incarcerating 6.4 Black people for every 1 White person. They emphasized
the importance of a justice-centered, anti-racism approach to all prison programming.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report44

9. SPP Network
SPP-WA
During FY16, we did not have sufficient resources to host a statewide event, as many requested, butmaintained a high level of contact with nearly every facility in Washington State. Despite the demandsof initiating and maintaining ecological conservation programs working with endangered species, we
now have successful programs at LCC and CRCC, and two more in development at WSP; each has had
multiple in-person visits from SPP-Evergreen staff (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations). Also, we havefrequently traveled to support Roots of Success programs at eight prisons and beekeeping programs atseveral. Overall, SPP as a cohesive, statewide movement has gained more traction.

SPP Network-International
Dedicated funding for a national and international expansion of the model ended at the start of the
fiscal year; despite this, we have continued to provide limited support to new and existing contacts andlay plans for future development. SPP-WA continued to act as the primary point of contact for the SPP
Network and is recognized by other countries, states, and counties for leadership in environmental
education and nature programs in prisons.

Figure 3. Implementation of and interest in SPP model programs in the United States.
Official Network sites are OR, MD, UT, OH, and WA states; Multnomah, Los Angeles, and Santa ClaraCounties. These eight teams were primary collaborators at the national level. Many more states andSustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report45

counties have or aspire to have SPP-model programs (see Figure 3). During this fiscal year, SPPWashington’s Kelli Bush and Joslyn Rose Trivett partnered with Utah’s Nalini Nadkarni to propose an SPP
Network Core Team to further development of the Network. The Core Team’s first meeting followed theclose of the fiscal year, and results will be reported in FY17.
Following major media coverage, such as the PBS NewsHour piece in May, we received an uptick ininquiries from multiple states and countries and representing corrections staff, community members,
students, faculty, and scientists. Highlights include:







Provided information about diversion rates to Recycling and Sustainability Manager for theVirginia Department of Corrections
Consulted with San Diego County staff from Public Works & Health and Equity, interested insustainable operations and education
A researcher from University of Colorado was granted permission to use a research tool
developed by SPP graduate student, the Life and Work Questionnaire, to study CI
Mailed SPP information to Poland corrections where they are planning on providing lectures,
environmental films, and planting projects
Provided beekeeping protocols to and shared social media from an Albanian prison’s proposal tostart a bee project
Regular media inquiries from international and national publications and producers (see Media)

Accomplishments, Products, and Publications






Worked with web designer to re-create online website dedicated to the SPP Network(http://network.sustainabilityinprisons.org), and including private, professional networking
forums; work nearly complete at the close of the fiscal year
Published paper co-authored by SPP-WA and SPP-OR in the Natural Areas Journal (see Formal
Publications, p. 38)
Partnered with SPP-Oregon partners from Institute of Applied Ecology to develop and initiate aconservation nursery at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center growing native sagebrush for habitat
restoration on central Washington BLM property
Completed final check in with all active Network teams, October 2014 and disseminatedsummary report
Developed and finalized Sustainable Practices Policy governing all four SPP program areas for
WA DOC statewide; shared policy with Network partners to aid their policy development

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report46

10. Dissemination
Presentations and EventsIn FY16, SPP-Evergreen staff presented at a variety of venues to highlight specific programs or represent
SPP as a whole. In addition, we attended numerous events at which we made informal or briefpresentation representing the organization; examples include tabling at Prairie Appreciation Day, GreenDay at WA DOC Headquarters, and Roots of Success graduation celebrations. A summary ofpresentations is given in Table 26. SPP-WA DOC staff made presentations on sustainability initiatives
that are not shown here.

Table 26. SPP Presentations FY16 (see Appendix 3 for abbreviations)
8/6/2015

Kelli BushSPP and Arboriculture

Centralia College Horticulture at
CCCC

8/20/2015

Emily Passarelli

SPP Virtual Tour

Roots of Success class at WCCW

Joslyn Trivett,
Emily Passarelli,and Laurie Pyne

SPP overview and programs at CCCC;
beekeeping overview

CCCC evening program

Sustainability in Prisons Project Conservation
Programs

Cascadia Prairie Oak Partnership
Conference

Joslyn Trivett

SPP Overview and research opportunities

Research in Institutions class,
Criminal Justice department, Dr.
Barb Toews, professor at UWTacoma

Kelli BushSPP Overview and Evergreen’s Role

Finance and Administration at
Evergreen

4/20/2016

Emily Passarelli,
Liliana Caughman

Just Sustainability

RAD sustainability day

May 23-27,
2016

Margaret Gilbert
and Eleanor
Vernell

Washington State Prisons: 12 sites forsustainability

Wardens Peer Interaction Program
Houston, Texas

6/9/2016

Carri LeRoy and
Kelli BushWA DOC Contract and SPP at Evergreen

Evergreen Board of Trustees at
Evergreen

6/16/2016

Dr. Kevin Morris

Examining How Relationships with Animals
Support Human Health.

LA City Hall

10/22/2016

10/26/2015

1/12/2016

2/21/16

Kelli Bush, Carl
Elliott, Conrad
Ely, Carolina
Landa, Sadie
Gilliom, &Lindsey Hamilton

SPP Tours
SPP staff from Evergreen, WA DOC, and at each facility regularly host visitors who want to see SPP
programs. A summary of tours reported for FY16 is in Table 27; we believe this underrepresents tours,
but do not have more data available.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report47

Table 27. SPP Tours FY16
Date

PrisonVisitors

Programs

7/30/15CCCC

Pierce College, Mr. and Mrs.
Mack

Sustainability Programs

8/4/15WCCW

Andrew Bary, WSU

Sustainability Programs

8/11/15CCCC

DOC HR staff

Sustainability Programs

8/19/15CCCC

JBLM Corrections

Sustainability Programs

8/27/15CCCC

King 5 News Reporters

Beekeeping

6/16/15

CCCC

Atsuko Otsuka, freelance
reporter

Sustainability Programs

9/24/15CCCC

Mr. Benjamin (WSP), and Mr.
Fischer (WSP)

Bee Program

January/
April/May

CCCC

Pierce College

Sustainability Programs

2/2/2016

WCCW

Laura James, PBS

Sustainability Programs

2/18/2016

SCCC

Claire Williamson, South Sound
Salmon Enhancement

Sustainability Programs

3/7/2016

CCCC

TESC / Greenhill (JJRA)

Gardens

5/16/2016

CCCC

TVW

SPP Education

5/19/2016

WCCW

Candace Vanderhoff, RainThanks

Sustainability Programs

5/19/2016

SCCC

Candace Vanderhoff, RainThanks

Sustainability Programs

6/3/2016

CCCC

JBLM corrections

Gardens

6/17/2016

CCCC

Legislative Tour

Sustainability Programs

6/28/2016

LCC

Ricky Osborne, Kelli Bush, Sadie
Gilliom, Emily Passarelli

Cat program, houseplants, Turtle program

WSP

298 program tours

Sustainable PracticesLab

2012-2016

SPP Products, Publications, and Internships
Self-PublishedIn FY16, we stepped up production of in-prison outreach and education materials. We created posters
on resource conservation for AHCC and CBCC, beekeeping programs for AHCC, CBCC, and WSP, and SPP
program overviews for CBCC and WCC. We designed a conservation nursery interpretive sign for thesagebrush nursery at CRCC. We continued to update and distribute one-pagers listing SPP programs
active at each facility.
During the fiscal year, we made progress on developing an SPP orientation video to be viewed byinmates at reception centers and transferring between facilities. Slides are ready for production, and the
project will move forward in FY17.
We published Summer 2015 and Winter 2016 Newsletters on schedule and distributed widely via email,website, and print.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report48Formal Publications
SPP publications for FY16 are summarized below; items that were in review during the last fiscal year
and published since are included.
Trivett, J.R., K. Bush, C. Elliott, J. Mann, R. Pond, E. Tharp, J. Vanneste, D.J. Pacholke, and C.J.
LeRoy. Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) horticulture programs. In: Sowing Seeds in the City:
Volume II – Human Dimensions. Springer. 2016.



Weber, S., M. Hayes, T. Webb, and C.J. LeRoy. Environmental education in prison: A comparisonof teaching methods and their influence on inmate attitudes and knowledge of environmental
topics. Interdisciplinary Environmental Review. Summer 2015.



Aubrey, D., M. Linders, C. Landa, L. Mullen, and C.J. LeRoy. Oviposition preference ofendangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies (Euphydryas editha taylori) among both native andnon-native larval hosts. Northwest Science. (Still in review).

Internships
In FY16, SPP staff supervised two academic internships:Winter quarter 2016 – Daniel Cherniske completed an internship to assist with planning for the
new wetland emergent vegetation mat project at SCCC.
Spring quarter 2016 – Carolina Landa completed an under-graduate internship on reentry
resources and programs; she was formerly incarcerated and had served as a butterfly
technicians for three years. The internship culminated on a reentry presentation at SCCC (seeYear in Photos).

Students
Formally and informally, we continue to support and work with numerous additional students,
graduates, and undergraduates, from Evergreen, many other academic institutions, and internationally.
Examples from the past year include:

We supported publishing and printing of a landscape guide for in-prison projects, written by
Graham Golbuff, a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Washington. The
finished product provides excellent guidance for developing proposals, and also can serve as an
educational text. See http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GolbuffPrison-Landscape-Guide-6-28-2016-2.pdf
We supported logistics, design, DOC inmate and staff input, and discussion of two MES thesis
involving SPP programs:o Connecting Environmental Justice and Prisons: A critical look at social movements,
environment and mass incarceration, by Tiffany M. Webbo Smoking Grass: Germination responses of six native Poaceae species to smoke water
treatments, by Conrad Ely

In FY16, we provided information to students from the University of California Hastings, Colorado State
University in Fort Collins, University of Oregon, and locally from Evergreen and St. Martin’s University.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report49Media Coverage
In FY16, SPP-WA was featured in more than 28 stories from local, regional, and international media
outlets. The table below includes all of the pieces SPP-Evergreen staff tracked during FY16. Links foreach of the pieces are available on SPP’s website at http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/press/pressarchive/.
Table 28. SPP Media FY16
Date

Paper/Source

Author

8/3/2015

The Chronicle ofPhilanthropy

Heather Joslyn

8/16/2015

Psychology Today

Sander van der Linden
Ph.D.

8/18/2015

KEPRTV.com

Nicole Fierro

8/28/2015

King 5

Alison Morrow

8/31/2015

Huff Post
Generation Change

Cameron Keady

9/1/2015

BioCycle

K. Bush, J. Vanneste, D.
Pacholke, J. Trivett, S.
Sinclair & E. Heinitz

9/6/2015

AP/The Oregonian

The Associated Press

9/9/2015

Correctional News

9/14/2015

Huffington Post

Cameron Keady

10/10/2015

DOC News Release

Jeremy Barclay

10/11/2015

Seattle Times

Gawlowski, Danny

10/23/2015

DOC News Release

Will Mader and Rachel
Thomson

10/25/2015

MSNBC.com

Alex Witt

10/28/2015

WSU News

11/10/2015
11/12/2015
11/18/2015
11/19/2015
11/19/2015
11/19/2015

Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Sierra Magazine
The Daily Utah
Chronicle

By Maegan Murray,
WSU Tri-Cities
Jule Gilfillan, Nicholas
FisherJake Abrahamson
Carolyn WebberKing 5The Christain
Science Monitor
USA Today

Lucy Schouten
Drew Mikkelsen

Title
Blooms Behind Bars: Making PrisonsMore Humane
The Rise of Green Prison Programs: How
Exposure to Nature is Reducing Crime
Coyote Ridge prisoners nurse orphaned
kittens to healthBees behind bars give prisoners a second
chancePrison Teaches Beekeeping,
Environmentalism To Inmates And It’s
All The Buzz
Department of Corrections Walks The
Walk On Sustainability
Washington prison mimicking Oregon
program showing nature videos tosolitary prisoners
Prison in Washington State is Latest to
Institute “Blue Room”
Nature Videos Could Help Inmates In
Solitary Confinement Cope
Governor Inslee Appoints Dan Pacholke
as Secretary of the Washington
Department of Corrections
Inmates training to raise endangered
butterflies
Video: Coyote Ridge Inmates Cultivate
Sagebrush to Boost Sage Grouse Habitat
Destroyed by Fire
Changing the Nature of Solitary
Confinement
Student helps inmates restore greater
sage-grouse habitat
Oregon Field Guide: Sustainable Prisons
Project
Bugs Behind Bars
U Program INSPIRE Strives to Introduce
Science, Conservation to Prison Inmates
Shelter cats in local [prison] is a 'winwin"
Can kittens make everything better?
Prisons inmates say yes.
Sending cats to prison: A 'win-win'

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report50

12/1/2015

The Daily Evergreen

Corinna Thomton

3/8/2016

The Stranger: The
Morning News

Sydney Brownstone

3/14/2016

Yes! Magazine

Marcus Harrison Green

4/26/2016

The Baltimore Sun

Joe Burris

4/29/2016

Linked in

Dan Pacholke

5/17/2016

PBS Newshour

Cat Wise

5/23/2016

UpworthyErin Canty

6/5/2016

Statesman Journal

Beth Casper

Forest ecologist awarded by WSU foradvancements in social justice
Washington's Women Inmates Are
Saving Endangered Butterflies
5 Prisons Improving Life on the Inside:
Prairie Conservation
UMBC initiative recruits inmates tospruce up vacant lots in West Baltimore
Humanity, Hope and Legitimacy
Do call it a comeback -- how thecheckerspot butterfly found salvation ina women's prison
These prison inmates are saving the
Earth as they serve their time.
Earthwise: Department of Corrections’Central Distribution Center

PBS NewsHour video on SPP’s butterfly program showcases both ecological and social benefits. Click on screenshot toview video.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report51Evergreen and WA DOC staff collaborated on a sustainable
operation article for BioCycle magazine.

A freelance reporter from Japan, Atsuko Otsuka, published abook about interviews with participants of the Prison Pet
Partnership; the title translates to "Dogs and Cats Gave Me
the Strength to Live."

Website/Social Media
During the reporting period, 40 blogs were authored by SPP-Evergreen staff and student-staff, andadapted from submissions by inmates, a few prison staff members and partners; see
http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/blog-galleries/blog/. This year, WA DOC media staff increased social
media presence, including many posts on SPP programs. We cannot report on particulars of theircampaigns, but welcome their contributions.
We maintained and updated nearly 100 pages to represent current programming and practices (e.g.,
http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/what-we-do/spp-programs-in-washington-state-prisons/ andhttp://sustainabilityinprisons.org/about/) and maintained our video(http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/blog-galleries/stories/) and press libraries(http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/press/).
According to Google analytics, the site had 46,676 page views during the year, average time spent per
page was 1 minute, 57 seconds, and an average of 2.05 pages per visit—very similar to the year
previous. The huge majority of users were from the United States, followed by United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, Brazil, and India. The seven most popular pages were:
1. / (homepage): 18% of page views
2. /what-we-do/spp-programs-in-washington-state-prisons/: 5%
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

52

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

/what-we-do/: 4%/blog/2015/07/02/spps-new-co-director-stephen-sinclair/: 3%/about/washington-department-of-corrections-WA DOC/: 3%/about/: 3%/blog-galleries/blog/

SPP’s main outlet for social media continues to be Facebook (www.facebook.com/sustainableprisons).
During the reporting year, we posted on a wide variety of topics, and our Likes increased from 1,108 to
1,450. The posts that attracted the most attention were:
1. January 12, 2016 LCC Roots graduation speech by an inmate (blog) – 2.09 K
2. February 7, 2016 Dan Pacholke resigns as DOC Secretary (share) – 1.99 K
3. October 16, 2015 Dan Pacholke appointed Secretary of DOC (share) – 1.86 K
4. April 7, 2016 John Legend performs at WCCW (share) – 1.65 K
5. June 16, 2016 Prison labor is the new American slavery (share) – 1.65 K
6. May 3, 2016 Turtle release for LCC, Steve Sinclair lead photo (blog) – 1.63 K
7. March 30, 2016 Liliana Caughman NSF Honorable Mention (share) – 1.61 K
8. February 25, 2016 Caterpillar release, inmates attending (photo post) – 1.54 K
9. March 15, 2016 Yes! Magazine article on positive prison programs, 2 SPP (share ) – 1.51 K
10. June 15, 2016 Carolina Landa reentry internship (blog) – 1.44 K
11. July 8, 2015 First SPP lecture in the IMU (blog) – 1.42 K
12. March 14, 2016 Institute for Applied Ecology 44 certificates in OR violet program (share) – 1.34 K
13. January 15, 2016 Live octopus in prison, great photos (blog) – 1.34 K
14. June 30, 2015 Royalty in prison, raptors at SCCC lecture (blog) – 1.25 K
15. July 1, 2015 New conservation nursery in Skill Builders Unit (blog) – 1.23 K
From both measures of popularity, and consistent with our outreach efforts, it appears that public
interest in SPP has extended from our conservation programs to more broadly embrace all program
areas.

AwardsSustainability in Prisons Project was invited to apply, and then named a
Semifinalist in the 2015 Innovations in American Government Awards
Program in October 2015; see
https://www.innovations.harvard.edu/sustainability-prisons-project. In 2010,
SPP was recognized with a Bright Idea award by the same organization,
Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance andInnovation. This year’s award represents a higher level of honor.
SPP’s co-founder, Nalini Nadkarni, received the 2015 William Julius Wilson
Award for the Advancement of Social Justice from WSU.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report53Appendix 1. SPP Programs in Washington State Prisons FY16
We reported on 170 SPP programs in Washington State’s 12 prisons this year; see Table 29, below.
Several additional programs were in development during the reporting period, and most of those are
not indicated here. For links to programs, partner organizations, and highlights for each program, see
http://sustainabilityinprisons.org/what-we-do/spp-programs-in-washington-state-prisons-v2/
Table 29. SPP-WA Programs
Airway Height Corrections Center (AHCC)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Gardens: Main
Gardens: Minimum
Diversity Garden
Flower gardens
Waste sorting & recycling
Worm farm: Main
Beekeeping
Computers 4 Kids
Pawsitive dog training – prison program
Firewood donation
Nature Imagery
Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC)
Water use reduction and catchment
Gardens
Flower gardens
Waste sorting & recycling
Vermicomposting
Beekeeping
Large-scale composting
Western pond turtle care
Prairie Restoration crew
Training dogs for veterans
Horticulture
Aquaponics
Clallam Bay Corrections Center (CBCC)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course, &Redemption
Gardens
Waste sorting & recycling
Dog training and adoption
Cat program
Green Building and Carpentry
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report54

Flower gardens
Beekeeping
Water catchment
Cloth hand towels
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center (CRCC)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Heritage Garden
Gardens: Minimum
Pumpkin Patch
Waste sorting & recycling
Conservation nursery, sagebrush
Ridge Dogs
Kitten Program
Toys for Tots
Teddy bears from reclaimed materials
Worm composting
Composting: Medium
Plant and Animal Habitat
CRCC Land restoration
Larch Corrections Center (LCC)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Large-scale composting
Gardens
Flower gardens
Waste sorting & recycling
Waste reduction
Food waste reduction
Wood craft donations
Western pond turtles care
Beekeeping
House plants
Larch Cat Adoption Program
Mission Creek Corrections Center for
Women (MCCCW)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Small-scale composting
Gardens
Waste sorting & recycling
Water use reduction & catchment
Salmon habitat restoration
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report55

Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly program
Project Feeder Watch
Pawsitive Prison Project
Unit gardens
Plant and animal habitat
Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Gardens: Twin River Unit
Gardens: Washington State Reformatory
Gardens: Special Inmates Unit
Waste sorting & recycling
Water use reduction & catchment
Worm FarmBlack Soldier Fly pilot (food waste composting)
Sustainable Practices Lab (SPL): Bike program
SPL Wheelchair program
SPL Woodshop
Waste Water Treatment Certification
Dog training and adoption
Cat program: Special Inmates Unit
Houseplants
Flower gardens, boxes, baskets
Plant and animal habitat
Craft donation
Olympic Corrections Center (OCC)
Gardens
Horticulture
Pollinator-friendly plantings
Waste sorting & recycling
Large-scale composting
Waste Water Treatment
Water catchment
Wood shop
OCC Dog Program
Green Building
Firewood
Water features
Flower gardens, boxes, baskets
Chickens

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report56

Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC)
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Gardens and greenhouses
Lifer Garden
Science & Sustainability Lecture Series
Beekeeping
Waste sorting & recycling
Large-scale composting
Water catchment
Bicycle Repair
Wheelchair Repair
Freedom Tails
Service dogs for veterans
Prairie Conservation Nursery
Emergent Vegetation Matts Conservation Nursery
Flower gardens, boxes, baskets
Washington Corrections Center (WCC)
Gardens & greenhouses
Flower gardens, boxes, baskets
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Science & Sustainability Lecture Series
Waste sorting & recycling
Large-scale composting
Shoe & clothing repurposing
Nature Imagery
Prairie Conservation Nursery
Horticulture
House plants
Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW)Roots of Success, environmental literacy course
Science & Sustainability Lecture Series
Prairie Conservation Nursery
Gardens & greenhouses
Horticulture
Flower gardens, boxes, baskets
Prison Pet Partnership
Beekeeping
Chickens
Farm program
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report57

Bicycle Repair
Quilts and other fabric crafts
Waste sorting & recycling
Large-scale compostingLighting upgrades
Washington State Penitentiary (WSP)
Gardens & greenhouses
Rental garden boxes
Beekeeping
Kittens in the Klink
Dog training & adoption
Waste sorting & recycling
Sustainable Practices Lab (SPL), 18 programs
including bike shop, wood shops, aquaponics, plant
starts, worm composting, teddy bears, and quilts; a
few detailed below
Roots of Success, environmental literacy course (SPL)
Green Zone (SPL)
Water filtration pilot (SPL)
Monarch program
Houseplants

SPP partners and visitors walk through the Washington State Reformatory campus at MCC. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report58Appendix 2. SPP Programs Partners in Washington State PrisonsComplementing the efforts of founding partners WA DOC and Evergreen, program partners contributeto almost every SPP program. Most programs would not be possible without their input, enthusiasm,
and resources. In FY16, we have 94 known and named partners. Considering that the Sustainable
Practices Lab has donated program creations to more than 400 charitable organizations, we believe theactual number is far greater!
Table 30. SPP-WA Partners
Adam County Pet Rescue
ARC of Tri-Cities
Bee Thinking
Benton Franklin Humane
Blue Mountain Humane Society
Brigadoon Service Dogs
Bureau of Land Management
Calm Waters
Center for Natural Lands Management
Centralia College
Cheney Outreach for Children
Cherish our Children
City of Monroe
City of Steilacoom
Clark County Food Bank
Community Aide Coalition (CAC)
Correctional Industries
Diamonds in the Ruff
Walla Walla area charities: SPL has donated to 438 since 2012
Emergency Food Network
Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center
Forks Chamber of Commerce
Forks Lions Club
Forks Soroptimists
Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
Friends of Puget Prairies
Gig Harbor Food Bank
Gospel Mission
Harbor Association of Volunteers for Animals (HAVA)
Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group
Institute for Applied Ecology
Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Kalaloch Lodge
Kitsap Humane Society
Kiwanis Gig Harbor
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report59

Kitsap Conservation District
KNS Recycling
KP Middle School
Lake Quinault Fire Department
Lions Club
Littlerock Elementary School
Master Composters
Master Gardeners
Millers Homestead
Mother Earth Farm
National Night Out Against Crime
Nature in PrisonsNorth Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers Association
Northwest Trek
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
OlycapOlympia Beekeeping Association
Olympic Anglers
Olympic Peninsula Humane Society
Oregon Zoo
Pacific Rim Institute for Environmental Stewardship
PAWS
Peninsula College
Peninsula School District
Project 41
Purrfect Pals
Quileute High School
Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction
Quillayute Valley School District
Relay for Life
Rochester Organization of Families
Roots of Success
Salvation Army
Second Harvest Food Bank
SNAP Spokane
Snohomish Boys & Girls’ Club
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office
SpokAnimal
Summit Assistance Dogs
Tacoma Community College
The City Reach Food BankThe Saint’s Pantry Food BankThe Shelton Community Kitchen
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report60Thurston County Food Bank
Timber Museum
Tri-Cities Toys for Tots
U.S Department of Agriculture’s Carl Hayden Bee Research Center
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WA Department of Enterprise Services
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Washington Department of Natural Resources
Washington State UniversityDepartment of Entomology
Welfare for Animals Guild (WAG!)
West Columbia Gorge Humane Society
Westport Shipyard
Wheels for the World
Whidbey-Camano Land Trust
Wolf Haven International
Woodland Park Zoo
WSU Extension, Pierce County
95 organizations + 100s of SPL charitable partners

A dog trainer at OCC shares his program notes with researchers from the University of Denver Institute for Human-Animal
Connection. Photo by Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report61

Appendix 3. Abbreviations
Table 31. Common abbreviations found in FY16 Report.
Prisons
AHCC
Airway Heights Corrections Center, Airway Heights (near Spokane)
CCBC
Clallam Bay Corrections Center, Clallam Bay (northwest Olympic Peninusula)
CCCC
Cedar Creek Corrections Center, Littlerock
CRCC
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, Connell (south, central Washington)
LCC
Larch Corrections Center, Yacolt (northeast of Vancouver)
MCC
Monroe Correctional Complex, Monroe (northeast of Seattle)
MCCCW
Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women, Belfair (Kitsap Peninsula)
OCC
Olympic Corrections Center, Forks
SCCC
Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Aberdeen
WCC
Washington Corrections Center, Shelton
WCCW
Washington Corrections Center for Women, Gig Harbor
WSP
Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla
Organizations
WA DOC
Washington State Department of Corrections
ABKA
American Boarding Kennel Association
CI
Correctional Industries
CNLM
Center for Natural Lands Management
Evergreen The Evergreen State College
JBLM
Joint Base Lewis-McChord
NSF
National Science Foundation
SPL
Sustainable Practices Lab
SPP
Sustainability in Prisons Project
USFWS
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WDFW
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

A sewing technician in WSP's SPL smiles as he tells a tour about his work. Photo by
Ricky Osborne.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

62

The year began with a goodbye to the well-loved Oregon spotted frog program: SPP’s first endangered
animal program was hosted by Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC) from 2009 to 2015. Here, partners from WA DOC and Evergreen celebrate the final release. Photo by Woodland Park Zoo.

SPP’s certification for conservation technicians and lecture series students has expanded and improved. Kristina Faires, a butterfly technician at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women, wasrecognized for her work in 2016. Ms. Faires’ certificate could earn her transfer credit from Evergreen
where she has since enrolled. Photo by SPP butterfly technician.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual ReportLeaders within WA DOC have asked for Evergreen’s help making programs available to the most segregated populations in the prisons. Planning and delivering content in a maximum security environment is extra challenging, but worth the effort; we want to broaden access to nature for everyone.
Photo by Emily Passarelli.

This year, western pond turtle care programs were in full swing at CCCCand at Larch Corrections
Center (LCC) where they tend to turtles from two different populations. Mr. Hill and Mr. Goff, technicians at LCC, were able to join a turtle release in March, 2016. They pose with Shawn Piliponis, the
WA DOC staff sponsor at LCC. Photo by Sadie Gilliom.
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual ReportSPP-Evergreen staff visited all the prisons in Washington this year, expanding our geographic range
and capacity. This increased contact translated to building more partnerships, and developing andimproving programs statewide. The photo captures the Action Planning process at Clallam Bay Corrections Center. Photo by Joslyn Rose Trivett.

SPP formed an Advisory Panel to help guide and inform our development. The panel brings together
diverse expertise from academic, corrections, ecological conservation, and incarceration. Photo by
Joslyn Rose Trivett.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

CCCC led the way with providing beekeeping education to incarcerated beekeepers. This year, theycertified their 3rd and 4th classes of inmate and staff beekeepers, and other prisons are following suit,bringing Master Beekeepers into prison to share best practices for this complex and vital practice.
Photo by Sadie Gilliom.

PBS NewsHour reporters visited MCCCW’s butterfly program for a caterpillar release in February, and again
in May to see work with adult butterflies. The technicians spoke eloquently and beautifully about the program, and the resulting video has drawn international attention to SPP. Photo by Kelli Bush.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual ReportA new program category describes efforts that have long been part of SPP: Biophilia. These programs bring nature inside primarily for its therapeutic benefits. Ornamental flowers and houseplants
relieve starkness of institutional settings, and have been shown to benefit people in that environment. Photo of Airway Heights Corrections Center by Joslyn Rose Trivett.

Prison staff and inmates demonstrate incredible resourcefulness and talent for turning discarded
materials into items of utility and beauty. With improved reporting, this year we know that prisons
donated at least 30,200 items to community organizations outside the fence. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual ReportSPP-Evergreen staff investigated how to increase program benefits to participants reentering outsidecommunities. A formerly incarcerated Evergreen student gathered reentry input and experience during spring quarter, culminating in a special presentation at Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC).
Photo by Ricky Osborne.

The partnership embarked on an innovative and ambitious pilot program at SCCC growing native
emergent wetland vegetation mats in an aquaponics system. The vegetated mats will be used in scientific trials restoring habitat for Oregon spotted frogs. Photo by Jim Snider.

Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report