FRIENDS OF NORTH CREEK FOREST

Stewards to 64 acres of stunning biodiversity.

  • Home
  • About
    • Strategic Plan 2021-2025
    • Employment Opportunities
    • History
    • 10th Anniversary!
    • Gallery and Info
    • Contact Us
    • Directions
  • Programs
    • Community Programs >
      • Forest Bathing
      • Birding
      • Citizen Science
      • Forest Yoga
    • Summer Day Camps 2022
    • Stewardship
    • Education >
      • Forest Field Trips
      • Leadership Training and Internships
      • Learning at home resources
      • #FNCFselfies
    • Research
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Trails Info & Safety tips
  • Support / Donate
    • #GivingTuesday
    • OktoberFOREST with Cairn Brewing
    • Forest Keepers
    • Supporters
    • Wear Your Support

What North Creek Forest Means To Me

12/20/2016

0 Comments

 

By Marin Kaetzel

Picture
My older sister, Amy, and I playing in our backyard in 1979, surrounded by North Creek Forest.
My name is Marin Kaetzel. I’m blessed to live on the edge of North Creek Forest. In fact, this is the second time I’ve lived with this beautiful forest as my “backyard”. I grew up in Bothell and have so many fond memories of exploring what we neighborhood kids simply referred to as “the woods”. Tall evergreens, lush ferns and red huckleberries guided us as we all made our way to and from school on the dirt path connecting our dead end street to Maywood Hills Elementary.

Back then North Creek Forest was much larger than its current 64 acres and was the only thing between our neighborhood and I-405.


The forest always felt like an extension of my home. My family was once “adopted” by a family of raccoons who visited us every night and dined on our cats’ food. My dad found endless joy watching Steller’s jays gather and hide peanuts he’d faithfully throw on the back deck each day. Even when tragedy struck in the loss of the family cat to a coyote, we knew that too was just part of living in harmony with the forest. I’ll never forget when they first started bulldozing our beloved woods...

A ragtag group of kids, myself included, threatened to chain ourselves to trees to stop the destruction; an unsuccessful attempt and our first lesson in politics and protest. As the machines moved in we watched as those great trees—our mighty guides, our protectors—fell one by one. Before we knew it, our path to school was lined with houses and we could see all the way down to “the valley” as we called the land down off Beardslee Blvd. The destruction stopped two houses short of my parents’ house and we all wondered and worried if they’d continue to develop further into our woods.

A few years later, a Proposed Land Use sign went up on another dead end street just down from our house. That was when some of our neighbors said “enough!” and an organized effort to save the forest began. It was around this time that I graduated from Bothell High School and moved to Seattle to attend the University of Washington. For the next 18 years I lived in the city but was always relieved to see the forest remain untouched when I visited my parents. After I was married and our family grew to include three active boys, my husband, Mark, and I decided to move back to Bothell. Much to our delight, the house next door to my childhood home, where my parents still live, was coming up for sale and we were able to purchase it. How wonderful it felt to be back home and to once again look out my back window and see the mighty evergreens and noble cottonwoods of my childhood.

Picture
My youngest son, Jack, enjoying North Creek Forest on one of our many walks.
While I am extremely supportive of the growth and redevelopment of Bothell’s downtown area, I am also saddened by the continued destruction of what little forested areas remain around town and the obvious effect it is having on native wildlife. We’ve seen an influx of coyotes wandering our neighborhood and those surrounding us, as more and more of their habitat falls and houses rise in their place.

As this happens all around us, I cannot be more grateful to the tireless work of Friends of North Creek Forest. As I celebrate the great news of the City of Bothell’s purchase of the final parcel of forest land, I’ve thought a lot about what the forest means to me. Watching my three boys enjoy “the woods” just as I did as a child provides my answer—the forest represents curiosity, exploration, knowledge, freedom and connection to our natural world—things every child deserves to experience. Friends of North Creek Forest has given us all a gift in securing this sacred space for future generations to enjoy.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Acquisition
    City Of Bothell
    Education
    Fundraiser
    Grant
    My North Creek Forest
    Natural History
    Research
    Soundview
    Staff
    Stewardship
    Thanks
    UW Bothell
    UW-Bothell
    UW REN
    Volunteers

    __Archives

    March 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

Mailing address: 

 
Friends of North Creek Forest
      PO Box 2053
      Bothell, WA  98041-2053

​
Tax ID: 27-5439187

20598 - 112th Ave NE,  Bothell  98011
stewardship work site address
​Directions: 
From I-405 
Take Exit 24
West on Beardslee 
​Right on 112 Ave NE
​Park outside gate

​FAQs
Forest Stories BLOG
ABOUT
CONTACT US
​LEADERSHIP
​SUPPORTERS
  • Home
  • About
    • Strategic Plan 2021-2025
    • Employment Opportunities
    • History
    • 10th Anniversary!
    • Gallery and Info
    • Contact Us
    • Directions
  • Programs
    • Community Programs >
      • Forest Bathing
      • Birding
      • Citizen Science
      • Forest Yoga
    • Summer Day Camps 2022
    • Stewardship
    • Education >
      • Forest Field Trips
      • Leadership Training and Internships
      • Learning at home resources
      • #FNCFselfies
    • Research
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Trails Info & Safety tips
  • Support / Donate
    • #GivingTuesday
    • OktoberFOREST with Cairn Brewing
    • Forest Keepers
    • Supporters
    • Wear Your Support