Volunteers at a forest restoration “work party’ (Nature Consortium)
Volunteers at a forest restoration “work party’ (Nature Consortium)…one “work party” at a time. The all-volunteer work parties are organized by Nature Consortium, a Seattle based non-profit that also sponsors a Youth Arts Program and an Arts in Nature Festival. Work parties are held year round, usually over a two-day period each week. The restoration project’s efforts concentrate on planting native species (such as native conifers, it’s main ecological goal), eradication of invasive species, site maintenance and environmental education.
More descriptively known as the West Duwamish Greenbelt, it is Seattle’s largest remaining, contiguous forest area. The urban greenbelt comprises over 180 acres of park land and 300 acres of privately owned land, and includes the extended forest along the eastern slopes of West Seattle.
The urban forest is home to gray foxes, red-legged frogs, several species of hawk, and bald eagles.
The name ‘Duwamish’ refers to one of the original, indigenous tribes (also called the ‘Duwamps’) that flourished in this area before Western settlers arrived in the early 1800′s. The tribe’s leader, Chief Sealth, befriended the settlers and the new-born city was named Seattle in his honor.
Support for the Urban Forest Restoration comes from King County Water Works Grant, Seattle Dept. of Parks & Recreation, Green Seattle Partnership,
Peck Family Foundation, Lucky Seven Foundation, D.V. & Ida McEachern Charitable Trust, Cedar Grove Composting, and Applied Organics.
For more information, visit the Nature Consortium website.
photo credit: (volunteers helping to restore the W. Duwamish Greenbelt) from the Nature Consortium website
About Michael Ricciardi
I hope I’m being cynical when I say that this looks like cheap labour for the logging firms – not that I could see much in the way of planting going-on !
Very wise chief to befriend the settlers. Maybe they were more befriendable, then, than they are these days. Nothing to do with “standard of living”, naturally. Permaculturists must be allowed to defend their patch, therefore so must superman with the chaufer limo. and the automatic security gates.
Don’t ask me, I’ve just been warned – by my “neighbour” – not to take a few barrows of good rotten horse and sheep dung and straw compost from a heap, nearby on common ground, because it “belongs to his (nextdoor) neighbour”. Just as he leaved for a little break till Saturday, that was. So, while the “neighbour” is away …” Get some Compost !!
I’m currently a student at the University of Washington, but I did go to high school on Capitol Hill in Seattle.
Invasive ivy is a HUGE problem. Along Interlaken Boulevard, for example, trees and native shrubs are choked – it might as well be an ivy forest. Every year back in high school, we had a day of service where we went out and took out some ivy. We always joked about it because areas we cleared would sooner or later be taken over again several years later.