State of the Forest, YMCA Graduation and Fall Events

Saving the three parcels in green will enable our vision for an intact wildlife corridor, research forest and recreation area.

Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program grant application to the panel.

What will it take to save the rest of the forest?

Money and labor.   First the money...
We need to raise well over $1M.  The only source for that much money: grants, voters or the legislature. We are involved in all three.

In the last three weeks FNCF and Bothell staff have been in Olympia twice to offer presentations to judges, once for $1M and once for $500,000.  FNCF volunteers have worked hundreds of hours to create the best applications/presentations possible.  We will know the results soon.

(Voters and the Legislature will be covered in the next article.)

---

Labor...    (remaining photos by Darryl Bush)
Bothell cannot take ownership of North Creek Forest without a community willing to shoulder much of the "care and feeding" of this new park land.  We have developed a model that offers short classes in exchange for community service in the forest. Over the last 10 months we have done more than 3000 hours of volunteer work with hundreds of volunteers.

Safety before each event. "Why we don't walk around with our loppers open."  Volunteers pay attention to this part.

The YMCA Summer camp (above) brought an average of 30 kids into the forest each week this summer. They did a ton of restoration work and learned something new about the forest each time.  (Like us on Facebook for a lot more pictures: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-North-Creek-Forest/200452686657291)

Hydrology:
FNCF Volunteer Theresa Marshall (left) and Volunteer Katy Tiernen (teaching and gesturing) go over some basic principles of hydrology, the science of movement of water in relation to land. Here they are comparing compacted soil, soil never compacted and stream sediment.

Theresa has a year with us as an Amphibian Research Intern and Volunteer. Katy began teaching with us recently and has attended many restoration events.
(Our teachers are actually called docents... skilled volunteer guides. Some are also certified teachers)

---

About 1.5 acres of invasive species have been removed, erosion controlled, hundreds of yards of mulch spread and thousands of native plants, trees and shrubs planted, weeded and watered.

Last YMCA Team for the summer.

Rangers Carolyn Freese and Jeanie Robinson show YMCA kids how much work they did this summer.  These events totaled more that 600 hours of work.

Every YMCA Summer Camper received a Gratitude Certificate. You guys are great!

Fall Events

Soundview International Baccalaureate School is back, this time for 9 events.

Whale Scout and  Evergreen Karate and Jiu-Jitsu return this fall. The public is invited. (See Events Schedule to the right)

University of Washington Restoration Ecology Network returns mid winter with a whole new project.

We will host a Boy Scout Eagle Project and many other events for the public.



Funding

We have been awarded several grants to help us carry out this mission. These include:

Stewardship:
We are grateful for grants from the Tulalip Tribes and the Rose Foundation, Puget Sound Mitigation Fund, a grantmaking fund created by the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance.

Education:
Our education programs are expanding in quality and quantity thanks to a generous grant from the Peach Foundation.

YOU:
Half of the funds we need to serve our mission come from you... a member of our community.
September is our fundraising month. Please help us by sending a donation.  See this page on the top right for ways to do this.
Thank You!
FNCF