holyoutlaw

Another fun day in a park, playing in the mud with a great group. We worked several times last summer with the Stewardship Squad, which is why I went back to work with them as a volunteer.

The day was gray and cool, but far from cold, and it didn’t rain. It was just cool enough that we warmed up quickly in our layers, but not so cold that we chilled when we took a break.

White Center Heights Park is located in — wait for it — White Center Heights. I was there last summer with a group from City Year, during the teacher’s strike. It’s a small park, with a pond and a seasonal stream. It’s at the intersection of SW 102nd St. and 8th Ave. SW. It’s hidden from those streets by a small riparian strip of trees, which screens some of the traffic noise and makes it a hidden gem, as they say. It has a small pond, which had some buffleheads and megansers in addition to the standard mallards. Stewardship Squad had been there previously to do some planting, and they were back for more.

A few years ago, Starbucks put some money into it. The results are a nice shelter, a p-patch, a great bridge over the pond, and signs in English, Thai, and Spanish. Since then, though, it’s been a little neglected, and it’s only recently that King County was able to get volunteers in to clean up the weeds and invasives and put some fresh plants in.

Lina brought shovels of many different sizes, even a trowel for the very smallest child.

This little stream only flows during the winter. Planting its borders will help maintain the bank.

After finishing up by the stream, we moved to a more-wooded section for the afternoon’s work. We planted 50 shrubs here, for more than 60 plants altogether.

We had a scavenger hunt for the walk to the second planting area. One of the adventurers found this little case of insect eggs.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

The “Outdoor Academy” at Tahoma Senior High School is a year-long, integrated program designed to teach stewardship in alignment with language arts, health and fitness, and AP environmental science. 85 students participate in this program annually, and King County Parks provides opportunities for several field trips in line with the academic goals of the program.

Today (Tuesday, 11/10/15) they came to Log Cabin Reach, a natural area along Issaquah Creek. This was once a farm, and is being returned to forest. Issaquah Creek provides cold water to the Cedar River, important for salmon. The task for the day was planting, more than 400 trees and shrubs. The weather was very cooperative — sunny while we worked, then it cooled down and clouded over almost as soon as we were done. About 75 students were able to join us today.

Tina Miller (left, on truck) and Tracy Krause (right, on truck) call the students to order and get the day rolling.

Tina Miller (on truck) gives the tool safety lecture to the students.

Everyone gets a shovel!

After everyone got a shovel, we had a short walk to the work site. There were 400 plants laid out in a field that had been mowed and treated for blackberry. The students made short work of the plants, quickly getting them into the ground.

Students and plants.

Working students

A large group of working students.

Sign of a successful planting work party!

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

I’ve just finished a seasonal job with King County Parks; the job title was “Parks Specialist I.” Generally, seasonals work in a specific resource or management area all summer long. However, I was hired by the volunteer program to help in their restoration projects. The work was about half with volunteers groups, ranging in size from two or three up to forty and more, and in age from middle-schoolers up to retirees. The other half of the time was after-care of projects: weeding, watering, and monitoring; or clearing and preparing areas for fall planting. This work took me and my coworker literally all over King County.

There are several reasons why this is about the best job I could have had at this time. As I said above, we worked with a wide variety of volunteers, of different ages and races. We worked with different organizations, including Mountains to Sound Greenway, Friends of the Cedar River Watershed, Student Conservation Association, AmeriCorps and others. It also gave me direct field experience in a wide variety of different types of restoration projects. We worked in old pastures, floodplains, old farms, urban parks, regional trails, and second-growth forest, and from mountain sides to lowland bogs.

Here is a complete (I hope) list of the parks I worked in between April and October. The pictures below were taken during volunteer events.

Furthest:

• North: Sammammish River Trail in Bothell.
• South: Bass Lake Complex NA, south of Black Diamond.
• East: Tanner Landing, east of North Bend.
  
  

  Taken during a Mountains to Sound coordinated event at Tanner Landing.

• West: Maury Island Marine Park, Vashon Island.

Urban parks and trails:

• Renton Park
  
  

  The folks who worked on Renton Park one day. In the front are two of my coworkers, Lina and Kirstie.

• Five Mile Lake Park
• Sammammish River Trail, Redmond
• Sammammish River Trail, Bothell
• Northshore Athletic Fields
  
  

  Derby Creek is a cold-water tributary to the Sammammish river, making it very important for salmon. Daylighting and restoring it would improve salmon habitat for miles. Stakeholders include King County (numerous departments), Snoqualmie tribe, WA state departments, and others. Striding up the bank in the center of the picture is my boss, Tina.

Watershed Parks:

Snoqualmie River:
• Tanner Landing
• Three Forks Natural Area [NA] (Scott Property)
• Chinook Bend
  
  

  Anna, volunteer coordinator for Mountains to Sound, explains the lands they’re protecting, and the role the Snoqualmie River plays in that preservation.

 
Cedar River:

• Dorre Donn Reach NA
• Belmondo Reach
• Cedar Grove
• Cavanaugh Pond
  
  

  A Boeing volunteer at Cavanaugh pond holds up a blackberry root.

 
Green River:

• Green River NA
• Whitney Bridge Park
• Flaming Geyser NA
• Metzler
• Bass Lake Complex Natural Area

 
Bear Creek:

• Upper, Middle, and Lower Bear Creek Natural Areas
  
  

  The President of the Water Tenders explains the importance of Bear Creek to salmon habitat (another cold water tributary to a larger river).

 
Issaquah Creek:

• Log Cabin Reach NA
  
  

  A group of middle schoolers from the Tahoma School District being planting a field at Log Cabin, a natural area on Issaquah Creek.

 
Wetlands:

• Carnation Marsh
• Log Cabin
• Queen’s Bog (Klahanie Park)
  
  

  Queen’s Bog is the oldest bog in King County, and is in about the best shape. It’s being degraded by rainwater runoff from the nearby sprawl housing projects. This picture shows part of the acre that burned this summer when a recreational fire got out of hand.

 
Working forests:

• Taylor Mountain Forest
• Danville-Georgetown Open Space
• McGarvey Park Open Space
  
  

  A group of students celebrate cutting several dozen suckers from a Big Leaf Maple stump.

 
Miscellaneous Parks:

• Soaring Eagle Regional Park
• Duthie Hill Park (where the volunteer program office was located)

All in all, it was about the best summer I’ve ever had. The working conditions — particularly during the height of the heat waves and drought — were sometimes grueling, but the work was always worthwhile. We worked in some of the most remote and beautiful areas of King County. Our “lunchrooms” were along nearby rivers and creeks. Almost all the time we felt like we weren’t working at all. I often daydreamed of writing blog posts about it while it was happening, but alas, I was often too tired to do much more than just read when I got home.

Now it’s on to the next adventure.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.