Wow, community! We had another big year in 2022. Thank you for your continued commitment to Seattle’s forests. Here’s the run down of what we accomplished together this last year.
In 2022, partner organization and professional crews, volunteers, students, Seattle Parks and Recreation staff, and other Seattlelites joined in restoration, education, and celebration of our urban forests. Thousands of people had a hand in caring for the land. We came together to provide 32,959 volunteer hours, programming with 123 paid participants, along with technical restoration by 12 crews. We worked at 119 parks across Seattle to steward over 200 acres.
Making the Partnership Magic Happen
Our partners bring their organization’s mission, community connections, and resources to the collective work of the Green Seattle Partnership. Here are a few powerful examples of the work underway in 2022 in Seattle’s forests:
- ECOSS showed us all the value of community stewardship with their work at Seward Park this year. Learn more about what they planted at Seward Park and how they build inclusive opportunities.
- Na’ah Illahee Fund initiated the GSP Indigenous Council to guide restorations at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, where community events and 17 paid roles continued to build a healthy home for plant relatives.
- Partner in Employment provided paid job training roles for 40 youth and young adults, providing field experience at 3 Seattle parks to learn about ecological restoration, urban forestry, and park management.
- Dirt Corps continued to bring community together to care for Westcrest park with the fun new addition of themed events (mushrooms!). They also provided training program participants with paid opportunities to practice what they are learning out in the field at several park sites.
- The Heron’s Nest joined GSP officially as a partner in 2022, bringing important restoration action to West Duwamish Greenbelt surrounding the Duwamish Longhouse.
- EarthCorps hosted volunteer events for community groups, corporations, and school groups at 4 parks in 2022.
- Sea Potential helped us build connections between our forest work and our regional waters, providing 5 beach walks for GSP participants and youth programs.
- Seward Park Audubon Center continued restoration efforts for the birds, their human friends, and all the other forest critters in Clark’s Meadow at Seward Park. As part of Seattle Forest Week, they brought us together with Valerie Segrest from the Muckleshoot Tribe to hear stories about western red cedar.
- Forterra helped Seattle Parks and Recreation support 187 active Forest Stewards working across the park system to lead restoration events in their communities.
- Delridge Neighborhood Development Association’s Nature Consortium program hosted a whopping 82 events, making a huge impact on the Longfellow Creek Basin. They also supported an Environmental Justice job training cohort with 10 youth.
- Student Conservation Association helped GSP and Seattle Trails move forward trail corridor restoration at Colman Park, providing paid opportunities for 10 high school youth.
- Tilth Alliance at Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetland supported 3 cohorts of their Youth Steward program building a valuable bridge between food production and ecological repair.
- Cascadia Consulting Group brought their planning prowess to the partnership, hosting 3 webinars and 5 field workshops on topics ranging from pollinators and winter plant identification to climate change anxiety. They also helped coordinate the incredible work of 2 GSP Youth Ambassadors, building their leadership skills and providing space for youth voice across our work.
This partnership work culminated in the second annual Seattle Forest Week, a celebration of all things trees, hosted together with Trees for Seattle. Thank you to all of you who came out at the end of the week to kick of the planting season on Green Seattle Day.
Crew Power
Twelve professional crews were active in 74 parks last year. GSP welcomed 7 new crews, including five WMBE firms. Projects focused on climate resiliency, restoring riparian areas and shorelines, taking care of fruit trees in the natural areas, enhancing trailheads, responding to landslides, and controlling noxious weeds.
Thanks to partnership, the crew signature can be found in the bigger forested natural areas, and also on new sites too steep or too wet for volunteers or other crews to manage. Projects highlights include restoration in the uplands of Taylor Creek, visible from Lakeridge Park and Lakeridge Playfield; wetland protection in Longfellow Creek Greenspace in South Delridge; maintenance on the Daybreak Star Ponds; trail maintenance at Licton Springs Park; community collaboration in the Mapes Creek daylighting of Be’er Sheva Park; and renovation of encampment impacted parks like Fremont Canal.
On the National Stage
Green Seattle Partnership staff welcomed urban forest practitioners from around the country in November during two events–the Forest in Cities Network Annual Meeting and the Partners in Community Forestry Conference.
The Forest in Cities Network includes natural area practitioners from 17 cities across the country working on collective advocacy, research, and restoration practice. You can learn more about the work of this group in the GSP webinar Forests in Cities: A National Perspective of the Management and Care of Urban Natural Areas. The 2-day workshop included case studies from new cities, report outs on recent research on urban cooling, and site tours at Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center and Discovery Park.
Partners in Community Forestry is the largest gathering of urban forestry practitioners and policy makers. With 700+ people in attendance, GSP cheered on a Shameka Gagnier and Shanoa Pinkham during their keynote address that shared the Yahowt Indigenous Food Program work at Daybreak Star. That afternoon, conference participants loaded buses to check out urban forestry projects around Seattle, including GSP work at Kubota Gardens Natural Area, West Duwamish Greenbelt, Seward Park, and Carkeek Park.
Thank you!
Whether you came out for Green Seattle Day, joined us online for a webinar, participated with your high school environmental club for a restoration project, or joined with a friend in another way, we are incredibly grateful that you chose to spend time with us outside in Seattle’s parks this last year. We look forward to seeing you again in 2023!
