Sustainability in Prisons Project
Newsletter

Winter 2015
Issue 6

We bring
science, nature,and sustainable
practices intoprisons

Edmonds Community College hor culture program creates gorgeous gardens at Monroe Correc onal Complex.

The Importance of Peers
By SPP Network Manager, Joslyn Rose Trivett
About a year ago, our SPP Network peers in Utah suggested that we spend down the remnants of the NSF conference grant(Award 120448) on “peer-to-peer mentoring.” Utah and Washington helped teams shape their peer-to-peer plans, made small
grants available, then watched how far those small dollars could stretch!
In SPP-Washington, we hosted SPP Network visitors from Maryland, Ohio, Santa Clara County, and Oregon. We traveled toSustainable Jail Project (Multnomah County) for their statewide summit. We created a peer-to-peer action planning session at
Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in south-central Washington State. I was stunned by how much we learned and gained fromeach meeting, how much energy was generated just by sharing time and ideas. Into the fall, we continued to make more connections, and visit prisons further afield in our own state.
This April, we will follow The Sustainable Jail Projects’ peer-to-peer example, and host our first statewide WA summit. SPP
partners and potential partners from across the state will meet in the Olympia area for two full days to discuss WA DOC’s
new Sustainability Policy, what it means to be “SPP,” and what we want to do next. I cannot wait!
Le : Oregon’s
statewide summit
met in late June.
Photo by McKenzie
Southworth. Right:
Warden Buchanan ofSPP‐Ohio & Director
Felicia Hinton of SPP‐Maryland talk withSupt. Glebe atStaﬀord Creek CC.

2 Conserva on programs& a new turtle shed
3 Director’s corner: Dan Pacholke
Featured partner: Mary Linders

4 Lecture Series Update
5 Roots of Success Update
6 Mission & Vision

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Winter 2015, Issue 6

SPP CONSERVATION PROGRAMS:
How can something so complicated be so successful?
Programs working with rare andendangered species require themost partners and coordination;
they require cooperation fromgovernment regulators, biologists,veterinarians, zoos, land owners,plus all regular SPP partners. Evenso, conservation programs areflourishing in 5 WA prisons, and 3
more are in the works.
Unbelievable!

An inmate turtle technician releases an endangered western pond turtle. Photo by a WA
Dept of Fish and Wildlife Biologist.

We think it shows what teamwork
can accomplish.

A Big Thank You for the New Turtle Shed!
by Sadie Gilliom, SPP Frog andTurtle Program Coordinator
After discovering that the western pond
turtle program at Cedar Creek Corrections
Center needed a new turtle shed, Mr.
Bruce Carley, the building maintenanceeducation instructor from Centralia College, decided that if they were going tobuild a new shed they were going to do itright! He wanted the new building to reflect the uniqueness of the program andprovide a new building challenge for hisinmate crew. He successfully achieved
both goals! With the leadership of Mr.
Carley and inmate Noblin, the team creat- The Amazing Turtle Shed was built by students of Centralia College’s building program. Photo
by Mr. Bruce Carley.
ed a turtle shed masterpiece! They usedmostly re-claimed and recycled products and learned how to install a prismatic skylight that helps bring in light and heatto the building. The most magnificent aspect is that a giant turtle that acts as a roof for the building!
Thank you so much to everyone involved in the project and for providing the turtle program with such a unique and representative structure! Thank you to Mr. Carley for your initiative, expertise, guidance and skill building! Thank you to inmate Burham for your beautiful sculpting artwork! Thank you inmate Noblin for your leadership skills! Thank you inmates Gronholz, Torres, Gosney, Wharton,Easton, Ausen, Feltus, Jackson and Link for all of your hard work! Finally, thank you Superintendent Cole and all other staff involved
for your support of this project!
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Winter 2015, Issue 6

Director’s Corner

Dan Pacholke, le , shakes hands with a fellow speaker at Monroe
Correc onal Complex’s TEDx.

Dan Pacholke
Deputy Secretary for WA Corrections
Our path with SPP in Washington State is based on anarray of unlikely partnerships, and the tension andsuccess each has provided over more than eleven yearsof sustainability work. Our model is more complex andmessier than most, and this has been part of our success.
Still, there can be advantages to a more formal path, andthe time is right to announce a Department-wide
Sustainability Policy. This is WDOC’s first overarchingpolicy for how sustainability programs are coordinated,tracked, and improved. It also points to the resources and support available to every SPP program across the state.
The policy will serve to unify our efforts and will help us share our stories. It will help prisons access expertise, connect withkindred efforts, and make their unique contributions to a growing culture of sustainability. We think of the policy as another
tool in our tool box that will reduce the human, environmental, and economic costs of prisons.

Partner Profile
Mary Linders, Species Recovery Biologist, WDFW
by Lindsey Hamilton, SPP Butterfly Program Coordinator

Mary releases caterpillars to the prairie.
Photo by Dennis Aubrey.

It is hard to know where the Washington Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly
population would be without Mary Linders. Mary is a species recovery
biologist at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) andshe is highly involved in all south Puget Sound recovery efforts for thisState and federally-endangered species. She recalls collecting monarchbutterflies near her house as a child in Minnesota, yet took an indirect
path to becoming our butterfly superhero. Inspired by a summer wilderness camp as a teen, she started a limnology (the scientific study oflakes) program at the University of Wisconsin. She graduated with adegree in anthropology, which she says “is a better match for wildlife
than you ever would have guessed, because wildlife is all about workingwith people.” After many adventures working in wildlife and anthropology in Wisconsin, Colorado, and Wyoming, she completed her Masterof Wildlife Science at the University of Washington in Seattle in 2000.

Mary has been a fearless leader and enthusiastic partner in the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP)’s Taylor’s
checkerspot butterfly rearing and breeding program at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women (MCCCW).
She had already worked with Oregon Zoo on captive rearing for several years, and when they needed to expand theprogram, she identified SPP as the most promising partner. Mary’s passion for what she does is inspiring. She consistently goes above and beyond her mountain of responsibilities. She has provided an amazing opportunity for SPP
staff, students and MCCCW inmates, while saving a regionally unique and beautiful butterfly.
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Winter 2015, Issue 6

Students of the lecture series show systems diagrams they created in a sustainability work‐

A student poses with a guest lectur‐

shop at WA Correc ons Center for Women. Photo by Joslyn Trive .

er. Photo by Tiﬀany Webb.

Lecture Series Update
By Tiffany Webb, SPP lecture series coordinatorSPP’s Science and Sustainability Lecture Series started in 2004 and is going strong at two prisons in Washington—theWashington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) and Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC). Each month, aguest expert gives a 90-minute presentation or workshop. Topics range from climate change to beekeeping; this past year’s
lecture topics included solar energy, salmon habitat enhancement, environmental justice, nature drawing, greywater reclamation, volcanology, pollinators, native plants and the natural history of Mt. Rainier. Lecturers came from a variety oforganizations including the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, RainThanks, South Sound Solar, Yoga Behind Bars,
Facing the Future, WA Dept. of Ecology, and our own Evergreen State College. And we have expanded our program toinclude certification in science and sustainability education to inmate students who attend the series regularly!
Recent feedback from lecture students and guest presenters was exciting and encouraging. We heard from guests that theinmate audiences were attentive and asked many thought-provoking questions. The students expressed gratitude for theprogram and the educational opportunity it offers. In fact, inmates are constantly seeking new educational outlets. Rootsof Success has complimented the lecture series at SCCC by providing a 10 week environmental literacy curriculum led byinmate instructors. Since the start of this new
program, lecture attendance has increased by
40%. WCCW hopes to implement Roots attheir facility soon, too, and we hope for a similar bump in lecture series students as a result.
Data analysis from lecture student surveys has
shown that inmates who attend the lectures 1)
show an increase in content knowledge related
to environmental topics and 2) an increased
interest in seeking information and talking toother inmates about the environment and thespecific lecture topics presented. The data
match the experience!

SPP Taylor’s checkerspot bu erfly coordinator Lindsey Hamilton describes theprogram at Staﬀord Creek Correc ons Center. Photo by John Dominoski.

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Sustainability in Prisons Project

Roots Update
By Christina Stalnaker
SPP Roots of Success coordinator
Following SPP-Ohio’s success with Roots of Success, an environmental literacy curriculum, SPPWA is bringing the course to all 12 prisons inWashington. During 50 hours of classroom instruction, “Roots” covers vital environmental topics andvocabulary to discuss prominent issues, and challenges students to think critically in order to innovate community-based solutions. Students are also A Roots graduate at Coyote Ridge Correc ons Center shows his drama c feelings forequipped with job readiness and re-entry skills tothe course. Photo by Joslyn Trive .
prepare for jobs in the green economy.
Roots supplies a fitting introduction to SPP’s other sustainable programs, and we hope it will become the regular first step forparticipation in our sustainability programs. At Washington State Penitentiary’s Sustainable Practices Lab, successful completion of the course is a prerequisite for inmates seeking employment in the pioneering laboratory. The lab is also pairedwith the classroom work, and the students gain practical experience working in many sections of the lab until they graduate.
They have the chance to extend theory to the practice of vermiculture, aquaponics, wood reclamation, and more.
Roots classes are instructed by inmates who have been trained by Dr. Raquel Pinderhughes, Professor of Urban Studies &Planning at San Francisco State University and an internationally recognized expert on the green economy and green workforce training. Austin Mays, recent Roots graduate, cook, and inmate at Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC), says that...living in a place where you have little outside interaction causes you to be left behind. We, in prison, fail to see theworld consuming itself. I recently graduated from Roots of Success (an environmental literacy curriculum) and during this course my eyes were opened. Prison is its own city. The overhead is huge and anyway we can work together
to create the best living conditions, by using the natural resources around us, is the best way.

To date, SPP-WA has graduated 334 students
from Airway Heights, Cedar Creek, Coyote
Ridge, Stafford Creek, and Washington State
Penitentiary.
Clallam Bay will soon graduate their very firstcohort, and Monroe Corrections Complex
and Washington Corrections Center are preparing for their first classes to start in thespring of 2015. Washington Correctional Industries will also be delivering a shorter, 12hour version of Roots to all employees withless than two years to release.
A Roots instructor delivers the curriculum to his peers at Coyote Ridge Correc ons
Center. Photo by an inmate volunteer.

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Winter 2015, Issue 6

NPR’s Tom Banse interviews members of the Conserva on Nursery at Staﬀord Creek Correc ons Center. Photo by Ricky Johnson.

The Sustainability in Prisons Project
The Evergreen State College
Environmental Studies, Lab II
2700 Evergreen Parkway NW
Olympia, Washington 98505
Kelli Bush bushk@evergreen.edu
Joslyn Trivett trivettj@evergreen.edu
sustainabilityinprisons.org

Mission & Vision
The mission of the Sustainability inPrisons Project is to bring scienceand nature into prisons. We conduct
ecological research and conserve
biodiversity by forging collaborations
with scientists, inmates, prison staff,students, and community partners.
Equally important, we help reduce
the environmental, economic, andhuman costs of prisons by inspiring Students of SPP’s lecture series at Washington Correc ons Center for Women meet a rescued
and informing sustainable practices. ’possum. Photo by Tiﬀany Webb.
This union of ideas and activities—and people inside and outside prison walls—creates a collaborative, intellectually stimulating environment in which incarcerated men and women play key roles in conservation and the advancement of scientificknowledge. We encourage teamwork, mutual respect, and a stewardship ethic among individuals who typically have little
or no access to nature or opportunities in science and sustainability.
To donate to the project, please go to: http://goo.gl/jkYHF7.
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