By Hannah Kett, Cities Program Manager
We dug in the dirt, planted trees, and connected with community this October! Throughout the month, staff at The Nature Conservancy traveled around Puget Sound to share the benefits of trees and plant along with volunteers and our organizational partners.
We supported twelve different community driven events – thanks to the Boeing Company and Cedar Grove for their support of these events and to the volunteers that came out to support the tree canopy!
We are grateful to work with partners throughout Puget Sound that host these events, including: Dirt Corps, Duwamish Alive Coalition, Friends of Hawthorne PTA, Green Shoreline Partnership, King Conservation District, the City of Seattle, Tacoma Tree Foundation, Thurston Conservation District, Whale Scout and World Relief Seattle.
Here is a glimpse at some of the events we participated in this month:
Planting Trees for Green Tacoma Day: Stewart Heights Park and Fawcett Elementary are home to 60 new trees planted by volunteers, Tacoma Tree Foundation, Pierce Conservation District and the City of Tacoma, with funding support from The Nature Conservancy. This was one of 14 sites participating in Green Tacoma Day.
Above photos from Green Tacoma Day tree-planting. © Hannah Letinich
Playground transformation at Hawthorne Elementary – The community of Hawthorne Elementary in the Rainier Valley in Seattle transformed their playground with a rain garden and trees, supported by The Nature Conservancy and others. The work day capped off phase one of the project, with phase two involving even more transformation to allow for nature play by the students at Hawthorne.
Planting at Hawhtorne Elementary School for Orca REcovery Day. Photos © Hannah Kett/TNC
Rain Garden Planting and Work Party at Hillside Paradise Parking Plots: Led by World Relief Seattle, volunteers came together to plant close to 500 plants in rain gardens at the Paradise Parking Plots plus planted cover crop with Cedar Grove compost on the garden beds to get ready for winter! The Nature Conservancy is proud to support this project.
Paradise Parking Plot photos © Kelly Compton, volunteer photographer.
Orca Recovery Day throughout Puget Sound: Healthy restoration areas are important for clean water and healthy Orca. This year, The Nature Conservancy was excited to be a sponsor of this effort, partnering with Conservation District-led events in King County and Thurston County. Conservation Districts and organizations in Washington, Oregon and California hosted over 80 events that day, planting trees and engaging volunteers to keep our natural areas healthy!
Top two photos at Longfellow Creek, with King Conservation District, © Hannah Letinich. Third photo courtesy of Thurston Conservation District.
Thank you to everyone who got out in October and cared for the trees in our cities and towns! There are still opportunities to volunteer – check it out on our Rooted in Puget Sound Volunteer Page.
Interested in caring for our trees in other ways? You can be an advocate for trees in your community and care for the trees in your yard!
