Blog & Stories
Insights, updates, and stories from the Sustainability in Prisons Project—highlighting conservation programs, education, research, and community impact.
Checking in with the Checkerspots
by Keegan Curry, SPP Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Coordinator Each year, the Sustainability in Prisons Project’s (SPP) Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Program rears thousands of endangered caterpillars for reintroduction to the wild.…
Read More
Aquaponics training at Cedar Creek
Text and photos by Keegan Curry, SPP Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Coordinator Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC) has partnered with Symbiotic Cycles, LLC to expand the aquaponics system in the prison’s…
Read More
Collaboration is Key
By Amanda Mintz, SPP Wetland Ecological Conservation (EVM) Program Coordinator All photos by Ricky Osborne. The Emergent Vegetated Mats (EVM) program at Stafford Creek Corrections Center emerged from a partnership among many…
Read More
Cracking Kinnikinnick
by Carl Elliott, SPP Ecological Conservation Nursery Manager Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is tough to grow from seeds. Kinnikinnick seeds have compound dormancy: before germination can occur, the seed coats must be…
Read More
Technicians from Cedar Creek participate in turtle release
By Jessica Brown, SPP Turtle Program Coordinator with Biological Science Technicians at CCCC, Darin Armstrong and Noel Priestman. Photos by Jessica Brown Early in April, nine western pond turtles left their…
Read More
A New Wildlife Ecological Conservation Program! Sheep Husbandry at WA State Penitentiary
by SPP Co-Director Kelli Bush Historically, bighorn sheep were widespread in western North America. By the turn of the 20th century, populations had dwindled to near extinction, and recovery efforts…
Read More
