Sustainability in Prisons Project
Newsletter

Winter 2013‐14
Issue 4
We bring
science, nature,and sustainable
practices intoprisonsPhoto by Benj Drummond & Sara Joy Steele

SPP‐WA Nears One Million Plants!
By Conservation Nursery Manager, Carl Elliott
SPP’s conservation nurseries are thriving at three facilities in Washington State: Stafford Creek Corrections Center, Washington Corrections Center for Women and Shotwell’s Landing Nursery. Since 2010, we have grown almost 1,000,000 plants for restoration and habitat
enhancement projects on Puget lowland prairies; 967,000 delivered, a mere 33,000 to go!
SPP’s conservation nursery programs represent a highly collaborative effort. Regional coordination is provided by the Center for NaturalLands Management: (CNLM; also see partner profile p. 3). CNLM brings together managers responsible for prairie habitat to develop
detailed restoration and habitat enhancement plans for the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly. The plants cultivated by SPP’s nurseries benefit
stakeholders such as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Department of Natural Resources, Joint Base LewisMcChord, Wolfhaven International, and CNLM. We have also increased the number of plants sent to restore northern Puget lowlands,including Whidbey and the San Juan Islands; we hope to further increase our north-bound deliveries in the future.
Though we came up just short of the magic number of 1 million in 2013, we will blow right past that goal in 2014 and continue on to ournext milestone!
SPP‐grown western buttercup in the hoophouse at CNLM‐owned Shotwell’s Landing. Photo by Jaal Mann.

Partner Profile Issue
p 2 Featured partner: Anthony Pickard; newturtle programp 3 Director’s corner: Carri LeRoy;
Featured partner: Sierra Smith

p 4 Utah’s INSPIRE: programs and part‐ner profile
p 5 Correctional Industries & Roots ofSuccessp 6 SPP partners

Sustainability in Prisons ProjectFeatured Partner

Winter 2013‐14, Issue 4Turtles!
By Graduate Research Assistant, Fiona Edwards

Anthony Pickard
Classification Counselor & SPP Liaison
Cedar Creek Corrections Center
Anthony Pickard (yes, pronounced like the Captainfrom Star Trek) has worked for WDOC since the fallof 2008, first as an officer and then as a Classification Counselor. He has been involved with SPP inone capacity or another since his start. He is committed to serving and contributing to the community tomake it a better and safer place for the next generation. As the SPP Program Liaison at Cedar Creek,
Anthony, with the assistance of the wonderful SPP
Graduate Research Assistant Fiona Edwards, supervises the Oregon spotted frog and western pond
turtle programs (see Turtles! this page), as well as beekeeping with Officer Glenn Epling. Anthony’s leadership style harkens back to those great qualities
found in both Alexander of Macedon as well as theever magnificent Barry Gibb.
When asked why he enjoys working with SPP, Anthony responded: “Because at the end of the day I
want to say that I’ve been involved with somethingimportant and bigger than myself. I care about ourenvironment and I want to ensure that my children
and their children can enjoy it as I have. And quite
frankly, it’s amazing to see that with a little hard
work we can save a species or restore an ecosystem
or eliminate an entire facility’s waste. Who wouldn’t
want to be a part of that?”
2Inmate technician Jamar Glenn welcomes Andrea406 back to Cedar Creek
after a successful veterinarian check‐up at PAWS .

In June 2013, SPP began working with the Washington Departmentof Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on a western pond turtle rehabilitation program. WDFW, Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo havebeen working toward the recovery of western pond turtles since thelate 1990s. At the start of recovery efforts, only about 200 turtles
remained in two locations in the wild. So far, they have released
more than 1500 turtles at 6 locations.
In the last few years, WDFW has found that some western pondturtles in Washington have an infection of the shell (“shell disease”).
In some individual turtles, the disease is severe. Currently, WDFW
and their partners do not know why this disease is showing up in
Washington’s western pond turtles. WDFW is working with many
partners, including veterinarians and researchers, to figure out what
is causing the infections.
SPP is playing an important role in helping WDFW care for the sickturtles. Initial treatment requires a great deal of intensive care froma specialized veterinarian at PAWS, a rehabilitation facility. Theturtles are then moved to Cedar Creek Corrections Center for
extended care while their shells heal. Cedar Creek staff adapted anoutbuilding to house six turtle tanks, each of which can house twoturtles with areas for swimming, basking, and eating. Inmate technicians monitor their health and provide frequent, hands-on care.
Two turtles have already been released back to the wild. After theirrelease, WDFW monitors the turtles to see if they remain healthy
and are able to reproduce normally in the wild.

Winter 2013‐14, Issue 4

Sustainability in Prisons Project

Director’sCornerCarri LeRoySPP Co‐Director
Please join us in celebrating our 10 year anniversary! Early SPP programming was initiated atCedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock, WAin 2003. We have since grown our programming
considerably and have expanded in Washington toall 12 prisons. In addition, within the past twoyears, the SPP idea has spread to many new SPP
Dr. LeRoy speaks at SPP’s 10 year celebration at The Evergreen State College, withsites across the US and is inspiring corrections
Kelli Bush and Superintendent Cole. Photo by Dani Winder.
changes in other countries on almost every continent! Our SPP Network is growing and we welcome you to continue to support our work. Please join us in celebrating 10 years ofamazing partnerships and collaborations.
Of course, it would not be possible to thank the hundreds, if not thousands of partners who have dedicated their time and energy to
SPP programs, but we are hoping to highlight some of our terrific partners from the past year. Please see the list on the back page ofthis newsletter for major partner organizations, and please visit our website and earlier versions of our newsletter to view past partner
profiles. We have done a significant amount of work in the past 10 years and SPP is bigger and stronger than it has ever been. Thankyou for all of your continued support and interest! Keep up with our new programs on Facebook, Twitter (@SPP-WA), and ourregular blog posts.

Featured Partner
Sierra Smith oversees the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM)’s seednursery operations. CLNM manages two seed farms and Shotwell’s Landing nursery; the latter is also one of SPP’s nursery sites, managed by Carl Elliott and JaalMann with assistance from the restoration crew from Cedar Creek Corrections
Center.
Sierra grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and studied Marine Biology at UCSanta Cruz. After starting his own landscape company and working as a nursery
manager for Mendocino Coast Botanic Garden, he completed his graduate studies
in Restoration Ecology at the University of Washington. Following this experience, he moved on to become a botanist for Yosemite National Park and start anorganic farm in east San Diego County.
In his work with CNLM, Sierra works hard to keep SPP’s nursery operations fullyfunded and running smoothly. His most memorable experience with SPP: “gettingto know inmates on a personal level and opening my eyes and heart to a portionof our society that is typically ignored and written off.” He hopes that in the future SPP will be able to involve inmates in working with as many people of varied
backgrounds as possible: “If our correctional systems are going to improve, people need to know and care about them and this will only happen with a personalconnection.”

Sierra Smith
Conservation Nursery Program Manager
The Center for Natural Lands Management3

Sustainability in Prisons Project

Winter 2013‐14, Issue 4

Utah’s INSPIRE launches new programs
By Emily Gaines‐Crockett

INSPIRE’s Antonia Fitzgerald prepares the greenhouse for the new program.

The INSPIRE (Initiative to Bring Science Programs to the Incarcerated) program at the University of Utah’s Center for Scienceand Mathematics Education plans to launch a science lecture series at both the Draper State Prison and the Salt Lake County Jaillater this month. Faculty members from the University of Utah and other institutions and agencies will present monthly lectures ateach correctional facility, with the first lecture given by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, INSPIRE Director. Extensive evaluation of the program will provide an opportunity to examine impacts and identify future program directions.
In addition to the lecture series, a greenhouse project is underway at the Salt Lake County Jail. In collaboration with Dr. KarinKettenring (Utah State University) and the Jail’s existing horticulture program, INSPIRE's greenhouse project will provide anopportunity for offenders to work with scientists and gain hands-on science experience as they help to identify the optimal growing conditions for two species of bulrush. The findings of the research project will contribute to wetland restoration efforts along
the Great Salt Lake, where the invasive weed Phragmites sp. is currently out-competing bulrush and other native plants.

Featured Partner
INSPIRE: Initiative to Bring Science Programs to the Incarcerated
INSPIRE and SPP-WA have partnered on planning and support for theSPP Network from the start, and it continues to be a productive, innovative
collaboration. Nalini Nadkarni is SPP’s Senior Advisor, and she is well
supported by Program Manager Emily Gaines-Crockett and Program Assistant Antonia Fitzgerald; their efforts to further the SPP Network have been
impressive and relentless. We feel very lucky to partner with these hardworking, generous women!

4INSPIRE‘s Nalini Nadkarni, Emily Gaines‐Crockett &Antonia Fitzgerald.

Sustainability in Prisons Project

Winter 2013‐14, Issue 4

Correctional Industries’ dedication to Roots of Successby SPP Network Manager, Joslyn Rose Trivett
Roots of Success is an environmental literacy curriculum that was first brought to ourattention by SPP-Ohio. In Washington state, SPP and Correctional Industries (CI) saw
the program as a way to expand offerings to offenders preparing for release. CIemploys incarcerated men and women in WA to build, manufacture, ship and receive
products for use in corrections and other state institutions. They also offer training &education programming throughout the term of employment with the goal of postrelease success. In 2013, CI funded Roots of Success (Roots) at four facilities: CI’swarehouse, Washington State Penitentiary, and Cedar Creek and Stafford Creek
Corrections Centers. The trial run has been very successful, and in 2014 we are considering training for instructors at several more WA prisons, and for two of our own
Master Trainers!
One of the Master Trainers would likely be CI’s Lucienne Banning (see photo); she andMike Colwell, Assistant Director for CI, have been champions of the program.
Lucienne and I co-supervise a student-staff coordinator for Roots, and planning,delivering, tracking, and improving the program is an ongoing collaboration between CI
and the SPP offices at Evergreen.

Photos by Jaal Mann

Special thanks to many others from WA corrections who have made the Roots program
successful: Chris Idso, Robert Aleksinski, Robert Branscum, and Superintendents Cole,Glebe, and Sinclair. Thank you also to the many inmate instructors and students who
have contributed to the program’s success.
I am excited to see where we can take Roots of Success. At the same time that we are
expanding the offering in WA, Oregon’s SPP has a similar plan. SPP staff in the twostates hope to learn from each other how to make the most of the curriculum andspread the benefits of environmental literacy far and wide!

CI’s Offender Workforce Development Man‐
ager Lucienne Banning has been central tooffering Roots of Success in WA state. She isalso an Evergreen Masters of Environmental
Studies graduate!

Roots’ graduating classes at Cedar Creek and Stafford Creek Correction Centers: staff, instructors, and students alike expressed satisfaction with theprogram and pride in their many achievements. All photos by Joslyn Rose Trivett.

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Sustainability in Prisons Project

Winter 2013‐14, Issue 4

SPP‐Washington Partners
Founding partners
The Evergreen State College
Washington State Department of Corrections
Program partners
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
US Fish and Wildlife Service
The Center for Natural Lands Management
Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Oregon ZooWoodland Park Zoo
Wolf Haven International
Northwest Trek
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

PAWS
Whidbey-Camano Land Trust
Friends of Puget Prairies
Pacific Rim Institute for Environmental Stewardship
Steilacoom Tribe
The Center for Math and Science Education, University of Utah
Brigadoon Dog Service, Prison Pet Partnership, Spokanimal,
Diamonds in the Ruff, and many more
WSU Cooperative Extension offices, including Master Gardenerprograms
University of Washington, Washington State University, Edmonds Community College, Tacoma Community College, Centralia College, and many more
Also see our Thank you pageThe Sustainability in Prisons Project
The Evergreen State CollegeEnvironmental Studies, Lab II
2700 Evergreen Parkway NW
Olympia, Washington 98505
bushk@evergreen.edu & trivettj@evergreen.edu
sustainabilityinprisons.org

Sustainability in Prisons
Project Vision
The mission of the Sustainability in Prisons Projectis to bring science and 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, and human costs of prisons byinspiring and informing sustainable practices.
This union of ideas and activities—and people inPhoto by Benj Drummond & Sara Joy Steele
Photo by Cyril Ruoso
side and outside prison walls—creates a collaborative, intellectually stimulating environment in which incarcerated men and women play key roles in conservation and the advancementof scientific knowledge. We encourage teamwork, mutual respect, and a stewardship ethic among individuals who typically have little orno access to nature or opportunities in science and sustainability. To donate to the project, please go to: http://goo.gl/jkYHF76