Community Action Training School (CATS) 2026
Registration Now Open!
Are you ready to make real changes in your watershed? Do you feel more knowledge on key environmental issues would allow you to focus your passions on salmon, orca, or ecosystem protection and restoration?
The Community Action Training School is the place for you! This course seeks to empower community members to be effective at making the change they want to see in the world. The FREE program provides a robust series of classes on important scientific issues including watershed health, clean water, native plants, salmon habitat/population restoration, and more. The program administrators support attendees in designing and implementing stewardship action projects in their communities.
Sound Salmon Solutions is running CATS specifically for residents of Watershed Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 7 which includes the Snoqualmie/Skykomish/Snohomish Watersheds.
Mid Sound Fisheries is running a CATS program for residents in WRIA 8 which includes the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watersheds. If you are in WRIA 8, check out their page here.
If you are unsure of which WRIA you live in, you can look up your watershed area here.
*A watershed is a regional landscape of waterways where snowmelt, precipitation, streams, and rivers make their journey to a single body of water, typically the ocean.
2026 CATS Schedule
CATS 2026 will be offered as a fall/winter program for 2026 to better align with the spawning season and volunteer opportunities.
Virtual Sessions that will take place from 6:00 - 8:00 pm via Zoom are scheduled for:
October 6, 2026
October 20, 2026
November 3, 2026
November 17, 2026
December 1, 2026
December 15, 2026
January 5, 2026
January 19, 2026
The dates for the 4 in-person field experiences are to be determined, but will take place on Saturdays.
Stewardship Action Project (SAP)
As a CATS student, you will gain information necessary to create meaningful change as a community leader in your watershed. Students receive the mentoring necessary to create and implement their projects, which in turn will engage other community members in watershed stewardship. For example, projects may include elements of community education and engagement, habitat restoration, water quality monitoring projects, advocacy efforts, and more. These projects can be self-driven or in collaboration with other organizations, community members, or program participants.
This project is a required component of participation in CATS.
Example SAP project completed by a previous participant where they built a rain garden at their home to improve water quality of stormwater runoff.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Registration for our 2026 program will be opening in August 2026. Please email Brittany[at]soundsalmonsolutions.org if you would like to be notified when registration opens. If you have discovered this program after the application due date, please email us (contact information at bottom of page) to inquire if we still have space. The program is free, although we do ask for a commitment of attendance for at least 80% of the sessions, and completion of a minimum of 50 hours of work towards your Stewardship Action Project. Anyone 16 years old (with parents permission) or older living in WRIA 7 are encouraged to apply!
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The evening classes will be held via Zoom. The in person field experiences will be on Saturday’s at various partners within the region. Exact locations are TBD.
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We’re lining up experts in their fields to speak at the lessons. You’ll hear from local educators, activists, lawyers, and people who’ve worked in the restoration field for decades. We’ll have community members (like you) who have been in the trenches, fighting to restore the ecosystems in their backyard. We’ll have scientists who are experts in their field cover a variety topics (for example, how rain flowing off the road contributes to a water quality crisis affecting orcas). Most of all, we’ll work to put together all the tangible actions you and your neighbors can champion in your own communities.
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Giving back takes support! We mentor you through the development of your community project idea, and help you make it a reality. Past projects included: creating a Student Salmon Stewards programs at an Edmonds high school, developing a “virtual field trip” of a Puget Sound dive excursion delivered to a local classroom, conducting a survey of foraging fish at a local beach, and revegetating several local parks and public spaces.
The projects can be done as individuals, as groups with other participants, and/or in partnership with local organizations. Our staff will be available to help you in various ways such as helping you make connections with people in your field of interest, assisting with the design of the project, coming up with ideas for funding, or connecting you with local organizations in need of support.
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Thanks to the generous funding from WRIA 7’s Snoqualmie Watershed Forum and the King County Flood Control District, we are able to offer CATS as a free course. All we ask in return is that you volunteer 50 hours towards your Stewardship Action Project and remain active in making your communities a better place — for people, for wildlife, and for salmon.
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Still have questions? Great! Give us a call or shoot us an email.
Sound Salmon Solutions (425) 200-4180
Brittany at brittany[at]soundsalmonsolutions[dot]org
Ready to sign up? PLease use this form to register:
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Still have questions? Give us a call or shoot us an email.
Sound Salmon Solutions (425)252-6686
Brittany at brittany[at]soundsalmonsolutions[dot]org
Megan at megan[at]soundsalmonsolutions[dot]org