In a press release issued today, the IRS recommends that when completing their federal tax returns each year, consumers chose the “direct deposit” option, to a selected bank account or accounts, for any refunds that may be due. More than 78.4 million taxpayers opted for direct deposit to be used if they were due refunds from their 2010 tax returns, most of which were filed in April, 2011. The agency also recommends electronic tax filing, chosen by 8 out 10 filers. A combination of direct deposit for refunds and e-filing minimizes risk of refunds being delayed or lost, according to the IRS.

The agency also reminds taxpayers it never uses email to provide notification of tax refunds due, and if they receive an email claiming to be from the IRS, and regarding a tax refund, they shouldn’t open it.

Nationally, 99,123 taxpayers are due refunds totaling $153.3 million.

Below is a screen-shot of the IRS “Where’s My Refund” online tool. Note that to use it, you will need to have your tax return in hand.

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By Scott Patton

You already know that Washington’s extensive trail network serves tens of thousands of annual users. But you may not know that it’s also a training ground for 15,000 volunteers a year from all over the globe, who learn outdoor stewardship from the local non-profit EarthCorps, headquartered off Sand Point Way in Northeast Seattle next to Magnuson Park.

On a recent summer weekend, EarthCorps member and crew leader A.J. Velon was helping move rocks that weigh hundreds of pounds to build a turnpike on the Snoqualmie Lake Trail. The Snoqualmie Lake camp used by the crew is an eight mile hike from a fairly remote trail head. The crew of six included participants from Kazakhstan, Peru, and Fiji. The work starts everyday at 7:30 am and goes until 5:00 pm and consists of tasks ranging from repairing campsites, to repairing trails and building drainage structures. This goes on for 11 days.

Most of the work is physically taxing; it’s all done by hand. The group spent most of their time building a turnpike, which is a raised area of packed down dirt on top of a foundation of rocks. The construction work required the crew to carry rocks weighing hundreds of pounds. Often four or five workers were needed to move them and put them into place on the trail. Despite the exhausting nature of the labor involved, the volunteers are still upbeat and quite proud of the work they’ve done.

EarthCorps volunteers hard at work, improving the Snoqualmie Lake Trail/Scott Patton

Velon said, “backcountry work is an experience that is not comparable to any other work. It’s an excellent opportunity to test your strength and endurance both physically and mentally. It’s a challenge, but the sense of accomplishment, of helping the environment and changing as a person makes it worth it.”

Velon, originally from the Chicago area, went to school at Illinois State University where she earned a BA in religion and politics. After college she came to the Northwest on an Americorps assignment which sparked an interest in the environment and brought her into contact with EarthCorps. She’s been with EarthCorps nearly two years now, and plans on continuing to work in this field using the outdoor project management experience she’s gained.

EarthCorps was founded as Cascadia Quest in 1993 by Dwight Wilson, who had returned to the region from the Peace Corps with the goal of preserving the unique ecosystem of the region and bringing together youth from all over the globe in the spirit of creating a better world through volunteering. According to executive director Steve Dubiel, EarthCorps’ current mission is to not just restore the environment but to do so in a way that builds community globally.

The organization started out with just 40 volunteers, by planting trees three weeks out of the year. Today they have 20 full-time staff members, 50 corps members like Velon, and had help from 15,000 volunteers last year. Volunteers range from teenagers to senior citizens. They come to EarthCorps from the community at large, schools, civic organizations, corporations such as R.E.I., other environmental groups like the Cascade Land Conservancy.

Corps members tend to be between the ages of 18-26. Many have degrees in fields such as environmental science and biology, but others have backgrounds in academic majors such as math, political science and philosophy. Most of them have previous experience working with other non-profits such as the Peace Corps, smaller regional organizations like the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps or international organizations like the Great Baikal Trail organization. Half of the corp members come from the organization Americorps. The rest are here on J-1 visas issued by the State Department for study-based exchange programs. Their responsibilities include planting trees in urban environments, trail work in the backcountry, managing volunteers and staging environmental education workshops.

There are currently two kinds of EarthCorp projects. The first is basic environmental restoration; doing things like removing noxious plants and planting trees in places like city parks. The other is working to maintain and improve trails in both urban and backcountry settings. Dubiel says this is crucial to their mission, because trails encourage both access to and stewardship of the outdoors.

Currently EarthCorps has backcountry projects in progress at Necklace Valley and Snoqualmie Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the Snoqulaime Mount Baker National Forest, in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service. For opportunities with EarthCorps, see their volunteer calendar.

Earthcorps crew taking a pause from work on the Snoqualmie Lake Trail in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness/Scott Patton

Scott Patton is a recent graduate of Central Washington University where he studied political science and history with the goal of working as a community organizer. At CWU, he was an active member of Vox Voices for Planned Parenthood, and worked on a congressional campaign. Currently he lives in Orting, Wash., where he was raised. He spends his time participating in bicycle racing, and working at a warehouse.

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The Department of Defense’s military contract announcements database reveals more.

Absher’s military contracts include not only the multiple barracks projects at Fort Lewis and the Naval Station Kitsap work, but also:

• a $13.5 million contract announced in 1996 for vehicle maintenance shop improvements and expansion at Fort Lewis;
• a $16.3 million contract announced in 2002 to build an Army Reserve Center and Aviation Support and Maintenance Hangar at Fort Lewis;
• a $17.9 million contract announced in 2003 to build a battle simulation center at Fort Lewis;
• a $38.2 million contract announced in 2010 for officer training command quarters at Naval Station Newport, in Rhode Island.

Absher was one of twenty companies to be solicited for bids on the Oahu project but only one of three to submit a bid. The work is to be completed by August, 2014. A third-generation, family-owned business, Absher Construction was founded in 1940. Absher’s current projects include public housing, public school and commercial construction projects.

The Schofield Barracks agreement between Absher and the Army Corps of Engineers is another in an ongoing series of military contract awards to Washington state companies, which according to a September 2010 state report, totaled more than $5 billion in 2009.

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Eating skunk cabbage leaf salmon or stinging nettle soup doesn’t sound like an entrée at a local restaurant, but Pacific Northwest Native Americans have eaten these foods for centuries.

“I liked the stinging nettle soup but the aftertaste numbed my tongue,” said Samantha James, Ferndale High student and Lummi member. “It felt like my tongue was asleep. I tried to talk but no one understood me,” she said. Samantha learned about nettles and other traditional native foods at the Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash. She enjoyed the salmon wrapped in skunk cabbage, it was juicy and tender, but the leaf stunk.

Samantha James comes across stinging nettles plant while using loppers to clear brush away from Boyd Creek Interpretive Trail/U.S. Forest Service

Samantha’s interest in native foods and heritage led her to participate in the college’s Saturday Science Academy. High school students meet with college students every second Saturday of the month to learn about a science, from physics to astronomy. This month the academy took a trip to Boyd Creek Interpretive Trail on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest to help open the ADA accessible trail.

Here Samantha and the students did trail maintenance: hacking away encroaching shrubs, brushing off winter debris from the boardwalk and cleaning moss-covered signs; but what they took away was more than sore muscles and blisters. They learned about a healthy forest ecosystem and made another connection to their tribal heritage and the land.

Boyd Creek is a salmon-spawning creek that feeds into the North Fork Nooksack River. The Lummi Reservation sits at the mouth of the Nooksack River. “Many of the kids have never been out to the headwaters of the Nooksack,” said Lindsay Taylor, volunteer coordinator with the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association. “Most of them don’t realize how far the salmon travel to spawn. From ocean to Boyd Creek is over 60-river miles,” she said.

Taylor explained to the students that spring-Chinook salmon are now waiting in the river before traveling to their spawning grounds. “They come into the river around March or April and settle in deep, cool, calm pockets of water until the fall,” she said. “Spring Chinook spawn higher up the river than fall runs,” she said.

Salmon need clean, cool water to survive. Planting native shrubs and trees along the waterways help shade the water, keeping soil and runoff from entering the system. “Salmon cannot breathe in cloudy murky water. It would be like us trying to breath in a smoke filled room,” said Taylor.

Salmon lay eggs in a nest in gravel called a ‘red.’ The gravel provides safety for the eggs and allows water to flow through, giving oxygen to the nest. After a month or so the eggs hatch, in two months they are ‘fry’ and are eating macro invertebrates and insects. A female can lay 3,000 eggs in a red. “The ocean provides more food for salmon and plenty of room to grow,” said Taylor.

Salmon are a keystone species in northwest forest ecosystems and provide a food source for bears, eagles and other plants and animals. Gravity pulls everything downstream towards the ocean. Salmon swim upstream and bring with them marine nutrients. “Trees use the decaying salmon carcass for fertilizer. Nitrogen and phosphorus are two basic building blocks for the development of life,” said Taylor. “Trees along a salmon-baring stream grow three times faster and have traces of Omega 3 amino acids in their system,” she said.

Salmon are not only a food source but a way of life for tribal fisherman. First Salmon ceremonies celebrate the return of the salmon, signifying the tribe will eat for the next year Taylor told the youth.

“Most salmon spawn within 100 yards from where they are born,” said Taylor. “Here at Boyd Creek you will be able to watch. We need to take care of their habitat from forest to the ocean,” she said.

Kelly Sprute’s email is ksprute (at) fs (dot) fed (dot) us

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RESOURCES
Northwest Indian College
Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association
Lummi Nation
Nooksack Indian Tribe
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Recipes for stinging nettle soup
Skunk cabbage salmon

The internships are: news-writing; video storytelling; and data visualization.

WHAT IS PUBLIC DATA FERRET? Currently, Public Data Ferret produces objective blogged synopses of recent high-news-value government documents and data. (Site; earned media; parent non-profit – Public Eye Northwest). The synopses are written in a standardized and bias-free format we have developed to help make the work of government more clear to a general audience. The entries are archived at the Public Data Ferret site by jurisdiction and topic. Our material is drawn from freely available online sources of local, regional and county governments in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties; plus the State of Washington and the U.S. government.

The aim is to help fill important gaps in the news and information ecosystem and help encourage thoughtful non-partisan dialog around public policy, while accenting digital civic literacy, voluntary online government transparency and constructive engagement. Public Data Ferret is a Seattle Times news partner and also contributes to AOL-Patch sites in Central Puget Sound and the blog of the Washington, D.C.-based Sunlight Foundation. The founder and editor in chief is Matt Rosenberg, a Seattle-area journalist, blogger, public policy and communications specialist.

AVAILABLE UNPAID INTERNSHIPS, SUMMER 2011

Starting not later than July 11; lasting through August and if desired, into September.

Job Descriptions
News-writing intern. Write entries for Public Data Ferret, according to established format, and based on recent, high-news-value online government documents and data. Assignments given by editor. Also may write analysis and overview pieces on selected topics in open government and civic collaboration, as assigned.

Video storytelling intern. Develop short (three- to five-minute) creative video narratives on news-related topics assigned by editor. Videos will be posted to YouTube or Vimeo, and then to Public Data Ferret or its parent blog site, Social Capital Review.

Data Visualization intern. Apply your expertise with current data visualization tools to content and assignments from editor. Familiarity with tools such as Google Public Data Explorer and Tableau Public is important.

Minimum time commitment: 15 hours per week.

Contact: Matt Rosenberg: matt (at) publiceyenorthwest (dot) org
(Send brief cover letter as an e-mail, with resume pasted into body of e-mail. Links to online published work also welcome. No file attachments, please).

“We give government our tax dollars with few strings attached. But one “string” – the most important string – is that we insist on having the right to know how our money is spent. This string is attached by transparency laws. The people’s “right to know” is how We the People can maintain at least some control over how government spends our money.

One such string was contained in the Wall Street reform bill passed by Congress last year. An audit provision required the Federal Reserve to disclose that it loaned $9 trillion to private banks and corporations during the 2008-09 bailout – more than four times the United States’ annual tax revenue – including more than $1 trillion to foreign banks.

These are the taxpayers’ dollars, so taxpayers have a right to know how the Federal Reserve makes its decisions – all of its decisions, not just those made during the bailout.”

Read the full guest op-ed in The Everett Herald.

These next few months will be busy here in Open Missouri-land. Mizzou J-School master’s students who are working on the project will be stepping up their efforts to collect inventories of databases held offline by state government agencies. How’s that going, you ask? It depends on the agency. Some, such as the Missouri Ethics Commission, have happily told us about the public data they collect. So give them a gold star for openness; the commission clearly gets its obligation to the public. Gold stars go to the departments of Conservation and Natural Resources; both of them provided detailed information in the spring, during a pre-Open Missouri pilot run. Other agencies say they’re working on compiling the information. We’re learning that many agencies lack internal inventories of their databases and need to create them for us….Finally, some agencies have flat-out told us they’re not going to divulge information about the data they collect using taxpayer money. I’ll provide a detailed scorecard later.

All of the information we collect will go into the Open Missouri website, which we hope to start developing within the next month. We’re going to work closely with our friends at the Sunlight Foundation and use code from their National Data Catalog.

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(Read the full post at the Reynolds Journalism Institute blog, here.)