In West Seattle today: Working at Duwamish Waterway Park are Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Alki Kayak Tours, Seattle Parks and the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle. Duwamish Alive! is a semi-annual event in West Seattle including South Park, Delridge, Pigeon Point, White Center, plus Georgetown and Tukwila. Removing turf at Herring's House Park on W. Marginal Way to make way for native plants are Shan Hua of Roosevelt HS & Elisa Porter of the Student Conservation Association. Click above photo for more.
UPDATE, SAT. 11:40 a.m.
We are following some work sites mentioned below.
DUWAMISH ALIVE!
HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS WORK TO RESTORE SEATTLE’S ONLY RIVER ON SATURDAY, OCT. 15
Press release:
Environmental forces will join together at the semi-annual Duwamish Alive! river restoration event on Saturday, October 15th. Starting at 10:00am volunteers will roll up their sleeves at multiple sites along Seattle’s industrialized watershed to perform cleanup and restoration work in the ongoing effort to keep Seattle’s only river alive.
Duwamish Alive! brings together over 30 conservation groups, businesses, and government entities, organizing hundreds of volunteers to work at 14 work sites in the river’s lower watershed.
Work sites include a river cleanup by kayak and canoe, shoreline salmon habitat restoration, and native forest revitalization. Families, company groups, clubs, individuals, schools, fraternities and sororities are encouraged to participate, and no experience is necessary.
These volunteer restoration projects complement government efforts to clean up the contaminated sediments at the bottom of the Duwamish River. Improvements in the health of the river will benefit people, wildlife, and threatened salmon on the Green/Duwamish River.
At Codiga Farm in Tukwila, volunteers will plant native trees and shrubs as well as remove invasive plants along the Duwamish River bank. Leading the work at the Codiga Farm Site are People For Puget Sound and Tukwila Parks and Recreation.
“The restoration of the Duwamish depends on community, non-profit, government and corporate partners working together to restore the urbanized environment,” said Dhira Brown, restoration ecologist for People For Puget Sound. According to Brown, the Duwamish River Estuary has less than three percent of its original habitat remaining.
At Duwamish Waterway Park in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, volunteers take to the river in kayaks and small boats to remove marine debris and plastics which are harmful to both water quality and marine life. Also at this site, volunteers will conduct park beautification and pick up trash in the surrounding neighborhood. Working at Duwamish Waterway Park are Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Alki Kayak Tours, Seattle Parks and the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle.
“It is great to see how people from the surrounding communities and from all over Seattle are reconnecting with their river,” said Chris Wilke, Executive Director of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. “This personal connection is a key element in the cleanup and in recovering the river’s natural character”.
Another large project will take place at the West Duwamish Greenbelt site in the Delridge neighborhood, where volunteers working with EarthCorps and Nature Consortium will improve Seattle’s largest urban forest through removal of invasive plants and native tree care.
The workday at all 14 sites begins at 10 AM and concludes at 2 PM. Refreshments, tools, and instructions will be provided. All ages and abilities welcomed. Children under 10 must have 1-to-1 supervision.
To volunteer, visit "www.DuwamishAlive.org, "www.DuwamishAlive.org and RSVP to the contact for the site you choose, or email: "contact@duwamishalive.org, or call (206) 923-0853.
