Dear Friend,
It’s true! The City of Bothell has authorized the final purchase of North Creek Forest! By mid-January, all 64 acres will be permanently protected as a forestland park that benefits both wildlife and people. Your generosity and unwavering support made this possible. Thank you! Six years ago when we embarked on this undertaking, Friends of North Creek Forest made a promise to the City of Bothell to continue partnering after the entire forest was saved. And while the purchase of the final parcel is a tremendous achievement, the work is not done. In fact, in many ways, the most exciting part lies ahead! Endorsements from hundreds of individuals and groups helped this effort grow from a neighborhood project into a community movement. That grassroots movement is what saved this forest. Your generosity helps follow through on not only the commitment to long-term stewardship of North Creek Forest, but also to make it accessible. Your gift today supports planning for a trail network that will protect the forest’s habitat value and important storm water benefits, while also soliciting and incorporating community input and needs. Friends of North Creek Forest’s work has always been about more than saving trees and land. It has also been about ensuring access for everyone to be inspired by the forest and learn the lessons it can teach us. Our Education Program:
Your tax-deductible donation brings these experiences to students of all ages and backgrounds and generates passion and ideas that contribute to the larger conversation about protecting our changing climate and world. Together we will make good on the promise to protect and learn from this forest. Through its ability to teach, heal, and inspire, North Creek Forest serves as a launching pad for learning how to take better care of ourselves, each other, and our world. Sincerely, Emily Sprong Executive Director
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Forest Research Expo
November 19 1pm-3pm Upper Restoration Sites (note - location has changed) All are welcome and refreshments will be provided at this open house style forest exploration event. The Upper Restoration Sites (#4, #5) are at the corner of NE 204th Pl and 108th Ave NE (you can use our office address: 20218 108th Ave NE, Bothell WA 98011 for navigation). Our annual Fall planting and stewardship event will take place on Saturday, November 19th from 10:00am - 2:00pm, at the upper restoration sites. First time and returning volunteers are absolutely welcome to join in and help make North Creek Forest healthier!
All of the native plants we will be planting are generously donated by Bartlett Tree Experts, who also donated plants at the Spring event earlier this year! The new trees and shrubs will help stabilize slopes and also fill in empty areas within the restoration sites. For part of stewardship, there are patches of Himalayan blackberry and English ivy, both invasive weeds, that we will remove to provide more growing room for existing native plants. Identification lessons will be taught by our experienced forest volunteers. We will also spread mulch, provided by Northwest Arboriculture, to reduce erosion and increase soil nutrients as the other part of stewardship. All of your hard work will be rewarded at the event's end with a homemade chili and cornbread feed prepared by the Friends of North Creek Forest's board members! It will be a delicious end to a rewarding day. And after you fill up on chili - head down to the Forest Research Expo at the Lower Restoration Sites. If you are interested in volunteering, please complete this form to sign up as it links directly to our volunteer database, and will automatically include you on this event's emails. Thanks again, and we hope to see you on November 19th!
Alexa's Cafe in downtown Bothell is opening up for the evening on Thursday, 11/17 for a special benefit night for Friends of North Creek Forest. Stop by for drinks, dinner, or just dessert and 20% of your bill will help support us! Great food and fantastic company for a terrific cause! We hope to see you there - all ages welcome!
Since Alexa's isn't typically open during the evening, your RSVP will help them plan for the event. Please take a moment to RSVP below. We are excited to once again have students from the Soundview School visit monthly to help take care of North Creek Forest. This month, the entire 8th grade came out to explore the forest and help keep invasive blackberry and bindweed at bay. Education Committee member, Emily Sunblade took students on an un-nature hike to hone their observation skills and explore deeper into the forest. Thank you Soundview! We always appreciate your hard work and enthusiasm!
By Cathy Ferbrache, FNCF Board Member On a gorgeous September afternoon over 60 people gathered in the backyard of Jeanie and Tom Robinson to celebrate what their support helped to accomplish in North Creek Forest and to learn more about the work ahead. There was time for socializing and enjoying homemade appetizers and Northwest wines before going on tours of the forest, led by Dr. Warren Gold and some of his UW Restoration Ecology Network students (UW-REN). Prior to the tours participants studied bark samples prepared by Carolyn Freese so that, once in the forest, they could ID western redcedar, Douglas-fir, maple, dogwood and alder. Armed with their knowledge of each tree’s particular bark, the first stop was a mature part of the Forest with lots of evergreen trees, shade, and little understory. Tourists divided into small groups and each group measured the circumference of two trees. Using an online scientific model called the National Tree Benefit Calculator, student leaders calculated the pounds of carbon captured by their trees (in one group a maple tree captured 585 lbs. and a slightly smaller Douglas-fir took in 347 lbs. of carbon per year). An average mid-size car emits 11,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide every year. It would take about 20 Big Leaf Maples or 31 Douglas-firs of this size to offset one average gas-powered car’s annual carbon emissions. Dr. Gold described this as an example of “ecological economics” which puts human values (often in dollar terms that people can relate to most easily) on the ecosystem services that trees provide. Among many things, trees stabilize slopes, retain water runoff, provide wildlife habitat, restore human connection with the earth, and sequester carbon. A second tour stop was an area where, from one to two years earlier, UW-REN students did extensive restoration. Here there was more light and heat and more understory growth of Nootka Rose, Salmonberry, and conifers just starting to take root and grow. Though the vegetation in the restored area captures only a fraction of carbon compared to the big trees in the more mature part of the forest, this careful restoration assures the future of the forest and the ecological services that it provides. After returning to the Robinson’s backyard, Dr. Gold debriefed participants and noted that, in the face of habitat and species extinctions, people gathering to support and learn more about this forest gives him hope for the future. Bothell’s Mayor Andy Rheaume spoke about the huge local interest from the community to preserve open spaces like North Creek Forest. His hope is that this consciousness about the value of trees will shape nature-friendly development as the local population soars.
We are happy to report that to date, the fundraiser has raised more than $10,500! Your generosity was met with over $9,500 in matching funds, for a grand total of more than $20,000! Additional contributions, of any amount, are still welcome, and we have $500 to go to max out the matching funds. Donations of $250 or more, or any Forest Keeper recurring contribution will be matched at its total annual amount (e.g. a contribution of just $10/month will receive a match of $120). Gifts must be made (or pledged) by the end of September. We only need a few more donations to meet our goal! Thank you for your generosity and your support of this important work in North Creek Forest.
Update: We are now just $124 short of our goal for matchable funds! Just one more recurring contribution of $11/month will exceed our goal and maximize the match! July was a busy month for North Creek Forest! We had 2 visits each from the Woodinville Montessori School and YMCA Quest summer camps' youths, as well as hosting two of our regular forest restoration events.
The deal should close in mid-October.
We enjoyed welcoming both the Northshore YMCA's Teen Quest Program and Woodinville Montessori's summer campers into North Creek Forest this summer. Not only did the campers get the chance to explore the forest, learn how to navigate with compasses, and spot things that were out of place on an un-nature hike, they also helped weed, prune and mulch, all of which helps our restoration sites stay healthy. The new plantings are looking fantastic because of your hard work! Would you like to help with the restoration? We have two more public work parties this month! Click over to our Volunteer Page for more info and to sign up! Hello all, my name is Alice Tsoodle and I am just joining the Friends of North Creek Forest team as the Education Manager. Having just graduated from UW Seattle with a Master’s Degree in Education, I am excited to continuing growing in the same place that I started my outdoor education journey. Years ago, in 2012, I transferred to UW Bothell, from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and eventually graduated with a degree in environmental studies. I was directed to sign up for one of Dr. Amy Lambert’s classes and she promptly led us all into the North Creek Forest. It was here that I fell in love with the land and waters of this place and decided to pursue a career that would allow me to be outside as much as possible. I had a class with Robert Turner at UWB which required I spend some time planning a lesson and actually teaching it to real kids! I never imagined myself as a teacher, but with children of my own and coming from a family full of teachers, it came to me naturally. |
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