Local nonprofit celebrates National Public Lands Day with hike, forest restoration
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: Sept 20, 2011
SEATTLE – Eco-art nonprofit Nature Consortium will celebrate National Public Lands Day this weekend with a guided hike and forest restoration event in Seattle’s largest forest, the West Duwamish Greenbelt. The hike will take place on Friday 9/23, and the restoration event the following day on Saturday 9/24.
Hikers will learn about the history of the forest as told by Nature Consortium Executive Director Nancy Whitlock, who has lived next to the forest since 1991 and began organizing volunteer cleanup and restoration events shortly thereafter.
“I feel lucky to have such a resource right here in my back yard,” says Whitlock. “National Public Lands Day is the perfect opportunity to call attention to our urban parks and forests, especially this greenbelt which is so often overlooked.”
Extending over 500 acres in West Seattle, the West Duwamish Greenbelt is the largest contiguous forest in Seattle. The hike will tour an area of the greenbelt known as the ‘Soundway’ site, 20 acres of land originally slated for development by the City of Seattle. Whitlock, Nature Consortium, and other community members banded together in 2004 to lobby to save the property from development and preserve it as urban green space.
The greenbelt serves as a natural buffer between West Seattle neighborhoods and the air and noise pollution of the Duwamish industrial area. The 500 acres of soil help with storm water retention and filter runoff before it reaches the Duwamish, thereby providing a source of clean water to the otherwise polluted river.
Nature Consortium is committed to restoring the greenbelt to a native evergreen forest and has been working in the area since 2003. Volunteers will remove Himalayan blackberry, Scot’s broom, and other invasive plants that often plague our urban forests. 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.
To register for the hike, email Nancy Whitlock at nancy@naturec.org. Volunteers looking to participate in National Public Lands Day on Saturday 9/24 can sign up for a forest restoration work party on Nature Consortium’s website.
About Nature Consortium:
West Seattle-based Nature Consortium is a nonprofit working to connect people, arts, and nature. They are committed to creating community by inspiring a love for the arts and a connection to the environment. Programs include free eco-themed art classes for youth, a volunteer forest restoration project, and the Arts in Nature Festival. For more information or to volunteer, donate, or attend an art class, visit www.naturec.org.
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