Duwamish Alive: the restoration doesn't stop here
First off, we’d like to give a HUGE thank you to all the volunteers that came out with us for Duwamish Alive last Saturday. The work you’ve done is important, and together we have made a huge impact on the Duwamish watershed.
Saving our watershed
Decades of industrial pollution, urban runoff, and sewage overflow have made the Duwamish River one of the most polluted rivers in the country. As citizens of the river’s watershed, we’ve banded together as a community to do our part to make the river clean again. Last Saturday, hundreds of volunteers gathered at 14 different sites throughout the watershed for a day of cleanup and restoration we call Duwamish Alive. Each site was hosted by a different environmental group, local business, or community advocate.
The work party
Twice a year, we team up with our friends at EarthCorps to host the Duwamish Alive work parties at Pigeon Point Park. We started setup at 8:30 in the morning, and by 9:45 the volunteers started pouring in. In all, we had a 
total of 95 volunteers, including student groups from Seattle University. By 10:15 everyone was ready to go, and we started the day removing Himalayan blackberry.
What started out as cold and dreary morning soon turned into a lively work party. We were honored to have Buphalo, our former Restoration Director, join us for the day and assist volunteers with their work and help identify plants. Buphalo recently left Nature Consortium to start his own business, and now he’s running a successful native plant nursery in Burien!
After a few hours of pulling blackberry, we got on to the fun part – planting! In just an hour and a half we got over 370 plants in the ground. The sounds of our shovels hitting the soil were accompanied by saxophonist Brian Kent, clarinetist Ben Smith, and trumpeter Jim Knodle. Check out all the Duwamish Alive photos on our Facebook page.
Partnership
Cleaning up the Duwamish is a big task, and we can’t do it alone. We’re part 
of a team called the Duwamish Alive Coalition, a group of nonprofits, government agencies, and businesses all working together to make the Duwamish watershed a better place to live for people and wildlife. While our volunteers work in the watershed, the federal government is working to clean up the contaminated sediments at the bottom of the river.
This is our watershed, and we all must work together to do our part to take care of it. Even though the work party is over, there are still many ways you can make a difference year-round.
Here’s what you can do
- Research the issues. Awareness is the first step to engagement.
- Help reduce stormwater pollution. Stormwater runoff from our cities is still a major source of pollution. Here are a few things you can do to help reduce your impact.
- Volunteer your time to help restore habitat in the Duwamish watershed. Nature Consortium hosts work parties three days a week year-round on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays 10am-2pm.
- Donate to our cause. The money we raise helps us buy tools and plants, support our staff and volunteers, and keeps our restoration project running. We can’t do this without you!