By Chris Ramos, Inmate at Cedar Creek Corrections Center

Hello my name is Christopher G. Ramos and I am currently one of the fortunate inmates who have been given the grand opportunity to participate in the Worm Farm Project. I can honestly say I don’t truly believe that the label “Worm Farm” expresses all the great things that we do. In this job there is composting, gardening, landscaping, and a host of different types of recycling.

The author with tomato plants in one of the hoop houses at Cedar Creek Creek Corrections Center. Photo by SPP staff.

This job has put me into a position to learn new and very exciting things. It allows me the privilege to see my hard work, which in turn results in a self-sense of accomplishment and helps build one’s self confidence. Growing up I never knew how hard and how much time, effort, and energy was spent in starting and maintaining a garden. I mean, I would watch my grandmother put in countless hours into building and maintain a healthy garden, but I never truly understood the art of gardening.

Inmates and SPP intern Erica Turnbull discuss crops growing at Cedar Creek Corrections Center. Photo by SPP staff.

By utilizing this opportunity to participate in this program I have gained so much knowledge and wisdom in these fields. I feel as though the information I’ve accumulated from this experience is one of my most cherished possessions. And this is why: gardening is all about rebirth. You see, you plant a seed in the proper soil with the correct amount of nutrients and in the correct timing of year and up grows this beautiful plant full of life. This same concept I believe applies to my life situation. I have been reborn into a better individual. By no means am I saying that my incarceration is rebirth. More so, my positive and productive choices that I have made have been my rebirth process.

Sincerely,

Chris Ramos

By Erica Turnbull, SPP Summer Intern

This July 2013 marked the fourth annual Regional Reentry Conference, organized by the Community Partnership for Transition Services of Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties in conjunction with New Connections, and Race and Pedagogy Initiative of the University of Puget Sound (UPS).

SPP’s summer intern, Erica Turnbull, from Western Washington University, and SPP’s Roots of Success Environmental Education Coordinator, Rachel Stendahl, from The Evergreen State College, attended the two day conference held on the UPS campus in Tacoma, WA.

SPP Summer Intern Erica Turnbull and SPP Roots of Success Environmental Education Coordinator Rachel Stendahl. Photo by Brittany Gallagher.

King County Superior Court Judge, Mary Yu, gave the opening speech highlighting the importance of reentry for ex-offenders, their families, and the community as a whole. Upon release, ex-offenders are often barred from financial aid, public housing, education, and employment; these barriers encourage reoffense and supports the cycle of incarceration. This conference brought awareness to these issues and helped people and organizations network to form a more comprehensive safety net for newly released ex-offenders.

Over the two day event Erica and Rachel dispersed along with the 300 attendees, sitting in on nine out of twenty-five sessions. Participation in this conference was a great opportunity to network with reentry centers, counselors, work releases, child support and human resource specialists, judges, and attorneys.

Lower incarceration rates mean lower cost for the state and tax payers
According to Honorable Yu, recent interest in reentry programs appears to be a side-effect of a diminishing budget. Money is tight and building new prisons is an expensive, quick fix to a deep rooted issue. More emphasis has been put on programs that develop skills, resilience, and positive and productive behavior in order to provide ex-offenders with the resources and life skills necessary to keep them from returning to prison.

Prevention over incapacitation
Concluding the conference was a discussion panel about the importance of integrating reentry programs into incarceration facilities and the community. Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney, Mark Lindquist, believes that “tough on crime” should mean better crime prevention programs and better reentry services; prevention over incapacitation. Additionally, community involvement and acceptance of ex-offenders is necessary for success. Panelists stated that offenders have served their time, and should not have to serve an additional sentence through lack of opportunities or labeling. In order to start changing community perception, recent releases should not be called ex-offenders or felons but people in transition.

Reentry is about putting the “we” back into “welcome back”!
From the connections made, and information learned, SPP is compiling a list or reentry resources to offer people in transition as they prepare for community reentry. SPP is also preparing certificates of successful participation and completion of various SPP programs. These resources should provide personal and professional support. Reentry is a collaborative effort among policy makers, community, family, and people in transition.

By GRA Dennis Aubrey, SPP Taylor’s Checkerspot Program Coordinator

Our second season rearing Taylor’s checkerspots at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women has just concluded, and again the hard work has paid off. Over 2,800 caterpillars are dormant in their diapause period, waiting to be moved to the cold diapause area for winter, eventually to be woken up and released onto south Puget lowland prairies next March.

Adult Taylor’s checkerspots are fed honey water with Q-tips every day. Video still by Rosemarie Padovano.

This season began with a similar release, when our 3,000 caterpillars from 2012 found new homes at Glacial Heritage Preserve, south of Littlerock, WA. The remaining 150 in our care were raised to adults and bred to produce this year’s cohort. Breeding introductions were made according to the genetic pairings designated for us by our partners at the Oregon Zoo, and additional wild females were captured to lay eggs in captivity by our partners at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Oviposition study
Additionally, inmates participated in an oviposition preference research project with an Evergreen graduate student, helping to determine which of two native host plants was more preferred for egg laying. Taylor’s checkerspot females choose the host plant for their offspring very carefully, and insight into which ones are most preferred can inform management decisions for restoration in the future.

Newly hatched caterpillars are fed fresh plantain leaves and are also given mashed leaf pulp that we call “plantain pesto”. This helps them gain nutrients more easily until their mouthparts become strong enough to slice through the leaves. Video still by Rosemarie Padovano.

Surprising genetic anomaly
Interestingly, at the end of the rearing season, the Oregon Zoo had a small number of caterpillars that refused to go to sleep! Taylor’s checkerspot caterpillars typically go into diapause in early July and don’t wake up until the end of February when they emerge to become adult butterflies. These eight individuals at the Oregon Zoo skipped diapause entirely and went directly into adulthood, a behavior more common in migratory butterflies. Because these few individuals may represent a beneficial genetic anomaly, they were moved to the facility at Mission Creek and given extra special care. Just four possible genetic pairings were identified for breeding, and the inmate technicians were able to successfully pair one of the sets, producing 150 eggs which have now hatched into healthy hungry caterpillars. These are currently being reared in the greenhouse and it will be interesting to learn in the next few weeks if they follow their parents and go directly into adulthood, or if they return to more typical patterns and go into diapause as quickly as they can.

Donate to support SPP
To support SPP’s work with endangered species, please donate funds or materials to our programs. Donation funds are used to recognize the excellent contributions made by inmates and to provide them with educational resources.

SPP Book Now Available at Evergreen Bookstore and Online!

The Sustainability in Prisons Project Overview book is now available for sale at the Greener Store on Evergreen’s Olympia campus AND online!

Published in August 2012, the book is an overview of SPP, and gives readers an understanding of our organizational structure and the history of SPP-Washington.  New and potential SPP partners across the country and the world will have the chance to read in detail about our conservation and education programs, successful efforts to reduce waste, evaluation programs, and media coverage of the Project.  Essential reading for anyone interested in developing an SPP, increasing sustainable practices in prisons, and improving communities!

Click here to buy the book from the Greener Store.