Delridge Wetland Park Project

VOLUNTEERS ENGAGED

CLASSROOM VISITS TO THE WETLAND

NATIVE WETLAND PLANTS INSTALLED

The Delridge Wetland, located on 23rd Ave SW and SW Findlay St, is a project spearheaded by DNDA to protect, restore, preserve and expand the existing wetland to improve water quality in Longfellow Creek, meanwhile developing the space as a public park for all to enjoy. Beside wetland restoration, other plans for the park include the creation of an urban garden, community orchard, as well as developing the space as an outdoor classroom for local students and the community to learn hands-on environmental science and wetland stewardship.

Community Building

Restoring the wetland isn’t just about making our local environment healthier by reducing flooding, improving water quality and enhancing wildlife habitat. In addition to engaging local schools and getting youth involved with environmental stewardship and hands-on science, a key aspect of our mission for the Delridge Wetland Park is to create a welcoming place for you to connect with your community. By installing edible native plants and creating a community food garden, we will increase access to healthy food in the neighborhood. The gathering space will also be ideal for socializing with friends and neighbors, or for simply enjoying the beauty of nature.

Our weekly wetland restoration work parties serve to bring people together under a common cause. Working together to make our neighborhood a healthier place to live can help strengthen our community ties and relationships.

Wetland Workshops

The Delridge Wetland Park project is creating space for increased community use in addition to restoring a unique urban greenspace in the Longfellow Creek watershed. The Wetland Workshop Series of free community events put on by DNDA offered a re-introduction between our communities and the Delridge Wetland Park. The goal for the workshop series was to address community priorities, offer fun and informative environmental education experiences, and support further community connections and resiliency.

Previous Wetland Workshops

Indigenous Resources & Waste Management

In the final Wetland Workshop we learned about resource management from staff from Coast Salish tribes' departments of natural resources, and a specialist on the waste management infrastructure in Western Washington.

We looked at ways tribes differ in their approaches to resource management while reflecting on our own role in these systems and learning more about where our waste goes.

Food Systems & Food Sovereignty

In Food Systems & Food Sovereignty with Yakaiyastai Gorman, an indigenous scholar, mother, and wife we learned more about how to preserve inherent rights for future generations through higher education. This event was held on Saturday, March 6.

In this workshop, Yakaiyastai spoke to overall wellness of food sovereignty and discussed some of the methods and impacts of Traditional Knowledge as it concerns food sovereignty.

Restoration Practices in a Changing Climate

In our final wetland workshop of 2020, we shared a brief overview and history of current restoration practices, and local ecosystems. We discussed the influence of climate change on the science and practice of restoration ecology, and explored ways scientists are addressing the way we think of restoration today.

This event featured Matt Distler from Oxbow Farm & Conservation Center and James Lee from the University of Washington. Matt is an ecologist with interests in forests and wildlife, aquatic and wetland systems, stream ecology, and ecological restoration. James is a master’s candidate at UW’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. He is a former Washington Sea Grant Science Communications Fellow and was a research technician at San Francisco State University’s Estuary & Ocean Science Center, where he worked on salt marsh and eelgrass bed restoration projects.

Community Health Profile

Developed in partnership with the National Park Service, this community health profile examines existing health indicators and needs of residents living in the Delridge corridor, a planning zone along Delridge Way SW. It considers both community health and the built environment. It contains information about the potential impacts of the future Delridge Wetland Park on the health of Delridge residents and makes recommendations for its planning and design, programming, and monitoring and evaluation.

This document is a result of research on existing plans related to health in Delridge, as well as input from a team of local community leaders and organizations that have come together as thinking partners to make decisions on the wetland park. A big thank you to all who contributed their insights to this community health profile!