A Sign for the Times

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Pictured: Greg Meis, the Skagit Wildlife Area Manager posting the new sign on the Leque island trailhead.

Pictured: Greg Meis, the Skagit Wildlife Area Manager posting the new sign on the Leque island trailhead.

If you've walked the Leque Island Trail recently, you might have noticed something a little different. You see, Leque Island has a problem—an abundance of abandoned dog poop. Hikers and their poop-filled pups were leaving calling cards (read: dog poop) along the trail. So much so that when surveyed by Sound Salmon Solutions in 2021, along with four other park areas in Snohomish County, this trail won the category of “Most Dog Poop Left Behind.”

This poses a problem not only for fellow hikers who need to avoid these landmines, but for our waterways and shellfish farmers because high amounts of fecal bacteria in water can make people and animals sick.

Leque Island is within the estuary between Port Susan and South Skagit Bay, home to shellfish beds, some of which are commercially harvested. Many acres of the Port Susan Bay shellfish beds are currently unsafe for harvesting due to the continued elevated levels of fecal bacteria pollution. Shellfish beds in South Skagit Bay are also at risk.

Tackling the abandoned dog poop problem called for thinking outside the box and answering the question: How do you encourage hikers to pick up after their pups? Parallel conversations were taking place at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sound Salmon Solutions, Snohomish County, and Snohomish Conservation District that culminated in a large group of people connecting to solve the issue.

When evaluating different solutions to the problem, it was decided that a new sign was a feasible option, but it needed to be different. Different how? It needed to stand out and draw attention to the issue. Snohomish Conservation District Lead Designer Emma Kilgore came up with just the ticket: a new eye-catching sign asking trail-goers to pack out their dog’s poop.

We hope this sign creates positive change and brings awareness that it’s more than just a courtesy for future hikers, it’s for our shellfish farmers, too.

We’d like to thank our partners who brought the issue to light and discussed potential solutions, including ways to make a sign more noticeable and effective:

Snohomish County

  • Elisa Dawson, Snohomish County MRC

  • Danielle Driscoll, former Snohomish County Shellfish Program Manager, now Stillaguamish Watershed Salmon Recovery Co-Lead Entity Coordinator

  • Valerie Normand, Snohomish County Surface Water Management

Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

  • Loren Brokaw, Assistant Regional Wildlife Program Manager, formerly Restoration Projects Coordinator

  • Lindsey Desmul, Restoration Projects Coordinator, formerly Habitat Biologist

  • Belinda Rotton, former Skagit Wildlife Area Manager

  • Greg Meis, current Skagit Wildlife Area Manager

Skagit County Public Works

  • Karen DuBose, Pollution Identification and Correction Coordinator

Sound Salmon Solutions

  • Lisa Syravong, (now with City of Everett)

Sound Water Stewards

We’d also like to thank our funder the Washington State Department of Health, and Skagit County Public Works for graphics from their Poop Smart Campaign.

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Assistance Agreement PC-01J18001 to the Washington State Department of Health. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.