“Many native people, such as the Tlingit people, believe that each generation is responsible for the seven generations that come after them.”

With these words Lisa Baty, a member of the Native American Tlingit community, University of Washington graduate and Issaquah resident, welcomed school children from a number of Sammamish schools to the Sammamish Watershed Festival on Wednesday.

Held this year for the first time at Beaver Lake Park, the festival aims to increase awareness of how we interact with the watersheds in which we live, and educate all people on ways to lessen their impact on the environment.

“It is important to remember that no matter where you live, you are in a watershed,” said event organizer Janet Sailer. “And what we do makes a difference in that watershed. We can do good things for the environment by not using pesticides, switching to organic fertilizers – this helps to reduce what we call non-point pollution.”

Non-point pollution refers to the individual contributions of small lots to a bigger pollution problem.

The Sammamish Watershed actually stretches all the way from Everett, in the north, to Hobart, in the south. Its two biggest bodies of water are Lake Sammamish and the Sammamish River.

The festival continued Thursday and Friday, and included a number of activities for students to help them better understand their role in having a positive affect on the Sammamish Watershed. For more information go to www.sammplat.wa.org/watershedfest.