 This year's restoration site is almost complete, thanks to our hard working UW-REN team, and many volunteers! On Earth Day weekend, we teamed up with Whale Scout, Cascadia College, UW-Bothell, our neighbors, and the general public to continue our work to remove invasive species and enhance the native habitat at the edge of North Creek Forest.
After a break, we switched gears to work on habitat enhancement projects, which included birdhouse assembly, mushroom colonization, bee house building and tree planting! Thanks to your hard work this restoration site will support an amazing array of native plants and wildlife, and even include oyster mushrooms right along the trail for human foragers to enjoy. Thank you to our dedicated volunteers who spent such a lovely spring Saturday working to provide a healthy forest for our community! We are blessed to have so many hard working volunteers, of all ages!
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We appreciate your help in restoring damaged areas of your newest parkland and saving the money it would have cost to pay for a King County dumpster.
Thanks to all for your work to restore North Creek Forest!  Working as a team to put mulch into wheelbarrows! Thank you to the Church members, UW Bothell students, high school Honor Society students, and community members who came together on the last Saturday in February to restore a part of North Creek Forest! At the end of the day, 32 volunteers helped spread 15 cubic feet of mulch, dug up 5 cubic feet of Himalayan blackberry and English ivy, and removed an existing 4 cubic feet of rubbish from this year’s restoration site. Re-mulching the access trail and a large patch of mud helped provide access to the edge of this year’s restoration site, which will enable future volunteers to plant native trees, shrubs, and grasses in those hard to reach locations. The restoration site is coming along well, and the Forest is looking healthier by the day thanks to all the volunteers and donors who make the restoration projects possible! Interested in joining us? Come on out on Saturday, March 12th from 10:00am -2:00pm. We will be partnering with Bartlett Tree Service’s Trees for Tomorrow program to plant some native plants that day! Also, please consider joining us for our Earth Day event on Saturday, April 23rd from 10:00am – 2:00pm. As always, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Greg, at [email protected] to sign up!  Putting mulch into bins to take down to the restoration site. Thanks to large groups of volunteers who came out on two recent Saturdays to help clean up and restore North Creek Forest, our newest restoration site is starting to take shape. Volunteers started by spreading mulch on muddy paths to allow easy and safe access to this year’s restoration site.
If our first work party is any indication - we have another strong team and we look forward to seeing the restoration progress through the winter and spring. Read on for more info and many more photos.
Even in the driving rain our volunteers won't be deterred. In early December, we closed out our fall work with a morning of weed clearing and planting, capped off with a chili celebration! Thanks to our friends at Northwest Arboriculture we were able to clear a year's worth of debris from the site. We loaded a whole container, which they kindly hauled away and disposed of for us. Although the weather outside was frightful, our hard core crew was delightful, and we were all impressed with how much we accomplished! Thanks to everyone whose contributions made for such a fun and productive day!  We were so excited to host a group of UW-Bothell Alumni recently for their Lend-A-Paw service day. It is wonderful to work with so many returning volunteers who helped out when they were students, including many former UW-REN team members. Of course, it's also always great to make new friends, and we enjoyed introducing the Forest and our restoration sites to the first timers! Any time the sun is shining in November usually makes for a great day, and this glorious day was no exception! We weeded among the native plantings, cleared a large Himalayan Blackberry patch, spread an enormous pile of mulch, and planted many new plants. Everyone was thrilled with how much work we got done!  Thanks Husky Alums - we hope to see you all back in the Forest soon!
(many more photos after the break)
We were thrilled to have members of local NGO Amrita-Seattle attend our work party on October 10th! Amrita-Seattle does great work in both Seattle and West Bengal centered around health, education, and clean water. Their motto is “Live to Serve” – and they certainly live up to that!
 John Pearson showed up on a frigid rainy day in January 2013. He needed little explanation. Our mission was clear to him and he wanted to help. He took on the work like he was born to it. He was our example when kids said they were "too tired". We would suggest they, "Go help the old guy", and by the end of the day would learn something about working steadily and enjoying the progress. John never missed an event until last June. John did not answer a couple of emails and, with the pace of our work, we didn't follow up, thinking we would see him sooner or later. We have now learned John got a bad diagnosis in the late fall. He reached out to neighbors for some help. He boarded his dog that he had rescued last spring, while he was in treatment. His dog has now been adopted by a neighbor. John passed away a few days after Christmas.  John on the far right with the UW-REN 2013-14 Team, the Parkinson Family, Carolyn Freese and Bothell HS Honor Student and Earth Club member, Natalie Gonzales (now Cascadia College). From a friend and neighbor... John Pearson was a unique, environmentally conscientious steward of the earth. He was the first person I ever met to install solar panels to his home, he was notable for being seen walking up and down the sidewalks in his Bothell neighborhood, gripping a ginormous "pooper-scooper" to pick-up other people's doggie poop. He shared with me that in his earlier years, he worked as a journalist. He also worked for the Northshore School District as a substitute teacher. Prior to retirement, he happily worked for a hardware store. He kept himself busy volunteering for various things, including serving years on our neighborhood board. He also served as a dog foster for a local shelter. My neighbors and I are still awaiting more details about if there will be a funeral or a memorial, but please let us know if there are any memories you would like to share about John and we will be sure to pass them along to his family. Thanks, Joanie Lambert  John Pearson, far left with Sarah Witte (Volunteer Coordinator) Jesse Howe, (Bothell HS Earth Club President and the National Wildlife Federation prestigious 2013 Conservation Achievement Award)________, Dr David Bain, FNCF Vice President, Linda Cung, (2013 UW-REN Team member and volunteer extraordinaire) Carolyn Freese, (FNCF Treasurer) and Jeff Secrist, VP of the Summit at North Creek Homeowners Association.
 Whale Scout Executive Director, Whitney Neugebauer, knows how to get close to her work. Whale Scout knows where and how to track and report on changes in our endangered killer whale population. They are often the first to report a new birth (rare) and a new death (too often). Recently Whale Scout founder and director, Whitney Neugebauer interviewed killer whale biologist and FNCF Vice President Dr. David Bain and FNCF director Jim Freese. Here's a report from Whitney and, at about 20 minutes, you may begin to answer the question, "Why do killer whales start in the treetops?" Join us when Whale Scout returns for their 3rd restoration event on: January 31 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Map Here A rumor has it that, weather permitting, we might actually see a big (really big) Killer Whale! Also Evergreen Karate and Jui Jitsu! Should be fun... Another Eagle Scout Project Underway  Ihlal's team prepares the ground for installation. Ihlal Mustafa designed, built and installed a neighborhood message board above our latest restoration project. This is Ihlal's Eagle Scout project. He is assisted by his father, grandfather and other Boy Scout Troop 420 members. Thanks Ihlal... this is going to be a wonderful addition for the community.
This work is supported by: Generous citizens and volunteers Scout Troop 420 The University of Washington Restoration Ecology Network The Peach Foundation The Rose Foundation Puget Sound Mitigation Fund a grantmaking fund created by: Puget Soundkeeper Alliance Thank you for your continued interest and support! FNCF |
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