Day of Caring Brings Hundreds of Volunteers to the Woods
About 200 Microsoft employees will volunteer with Nature Consortium on September 21 to help restore Seattle’s largest remaining forest. The event is part of United Way’s Day of Caring, the largest single-day volunteer effort in King County. Nature Consortium’s forest restoration program has been rated the #1 place to volunteer in Seattle two years in a row by visitors to the United Way of King County’s website.
The volunteer event will be held in Seattle’s largest forest, the West Duwamish Greenbelt. Located in West Seattle, the forest spans over 500 acres with about 180 acres owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation. As forests all around the city are declining, environmental groups like Nature Consortium have rallied to preserve and restore Seattle’s green spaces to protect the city’s “emerald” legacy.
Like many urban forests, the West Duwamish Greenbelt has suffered the effects of logging, invasive species, urbanization, and loss of biodiversity. Volunteers with Nature Consortium will get their hands dirty removing invasive blackberry, ivy, and other noxious weeds in preparation for this year’s planting season which kicks off October 20. Throughout fall and winter, volunteers will replant the forest with native trees and shrubs to help bring biodiversity back to the forest.
Friday’s work party will be held in an area of the greenbelt known as the ‘Soundway’ site, 32 acres of land originally slated for development by the City of Seattle. Community members including Nature Consortium banded together in 2004 to save the property from development and preserve it as urban green space.
“This greenbelt is a huge asset to the community, and we’ve made a dramatic impact over the years in our restoration efforts,” says Executive Director Nancy Whitlock. A West Seattle resident, Whitlock lives across the street from the Soundway site and was instrumental in advocating its preservation.
In the spirit of Nature Consortium’s mission to “connect people, arts, and nature,” the organization hires local musicians to perform in the woods during the volunteer event. The September 21 event will feature four different musicians, including Ben Smith.
For more information about Nature Consortium or to sign up for a future volunteer event, visit their website at www.naturec.org.