HyleBlog - Friends of the Hylebos

Fourth of July

Happy Independence Day! I'm taking the unconventional route, celebrating the day and weekend in Mt. Vernon, WA., where Kasey (AKA the Princess of the Hylebos) is participating in a soccer tournament.

Here are a couple of articles of interest...

Lynda Mapes writes about the melting snowpack and its trip to Puget Sound. Water, we take it for granted, but it profoundly influences our lives and society. And it's spectacular as it flows in rivulets, streams and rivers. As I write this, I'm a few hundred freet from the Skagit River, where I'm going to go for a walk in a few minutes...

We're all familiar with the negative impacts of development on agriculture. Here's a different approach; some developers are (surprisingly) incorporating organic agriculture into residential developments.

And finally, for the political junkies like me out there, or for those who just enjoy the spectacle of good, old-fashioned, slow-motion political car crash, who can govern California? Let's go to da beh!

Rivers & Creeks Making Comebacks

Very busy week this week. I'm preparing a presentation for a conference tomorrow and getting documents together for the financial audit that we do each year...So, anyways here are a couple of stories about bringing river systems back to life.

This is right out of our wheelhouse; This is exactly what we're working on: returning damaged systems back to the point that they are a pride of the community.

Seattle Times story on the opening of the Northgate Mall parking lot to restore a bit of Thornton Creek.

Here's a more dramatic story of river ruination and rebirth from Ohio's infamous Cuyahoga River. As the author explains the 1969 Cuyahoga River was small by historical standards - industrial rivers around the country regularly burst into larger fires throughout the period of the 1880s to 1950s.

“In the 1930s, when most people in Cleveland worked in factories, a fire on the river was considered just a nuisance,” he said. “By the ’60s, there was a hunger for symbols of humans’ insensitivity to the environment.”

That's amazing. Can you imagine a community where flaming rivers is just a regular fact of life? The positive side of this is that the work we have to do on the Hylebos, to restore our forests, wetlands and creek is so much easier. I don't believe the Hylebos has ever caught fire!

West Hylebos on Monday

Monday afternoon, after the clouds had burned off, Laurie and I met up with longtime Hylebos supporter David Kaplan for a tour of the new boardwalk and interpretive signage. Though the temps had reached the low 70s, the cool green forest canopy lowered the temps in the park quite a bit, so that the walk was if not cool at least not too hot.

The park is exploding with lush, green vegetation. The park's salmonberries are a tempting orange color, but days away from ripeness yet. (darn it!). The tree canopy was alive with bird song, serenading us throughout our walk. It was too hot, however, for most other creatures. The only wildlife we saw were two juvenile garter snakes, who lit out for the underbrush as soon as we saw them.

I will be in a training workshop all morning Tuesday...possibly daydreaming of being out on the boardwalk, listening to birds.

Gunner of the Month: Samir Nasri

It's that time of the month again, Gunner Time. Looking at the page on my Arsenal FC calendar on the wall, it looks like newcomer Samir Nasri is the man. Though short in stature, the Frenchman is willing to mix it up with the big boys, and is not afraid to take the shot when he sees the goal. With his lightning quick skills on the ball, think of #8 as a Hleb with balls and heart.

You Make It Happen!

Last night I was reading an article in National Geographic about a national forest in Finland and I ran across a passage that made me sit up in my chair and re-read it a couple of times. Since I don't have the magazine in front of me right now, I'll paraphrase the passage. The author wrote that national forests are more than the preservation of species and ecosystems. They are a preservation of the cultural values of a society.

Think of the West Hylebos Wetlands and the 425+ acres we've preserved in the Hylebos Creek Watershed. Yes, those include irreplaceable species and natural systems, but they do also represent fundamental community values.

Those acres represent a belief that the natural world is an important part of community quality of life.

They represent a belief that the children of today should know what a forest feels like to walk through, or what a frog sounds like.

They represent a belief that the children of tomorrow and days beyond should be able to grow up healthy and strong because they have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, among other things.

Our role at the Friends is to be the vessel for these values; your values. You make it happen, though. You provide the volunteer work, planting trees and knocking down invasives. You donate the funds that make habitat preservation and restoration possible.

Thank you for making this a community that values the future!

Hylebos Days Photos

I've been catching up on the website and some of the great photos of our events. Here is a Flickr slideshow I put together from Hylebos Days. Thanks to Seth Bynum for sharing the photos with us!

Blogging Burn Rate

Kudos to Friends board member Matthew Jarvis who has been named to the Puget Sound Business Journal's 2009 40 Under 40. Matthew is President of Jarvis Financial Services and active in a number of community efforts in addition to being Treasurer of the Friends' board...and reminding me that I'm ineligible for the "under 40" tag. Ouch.

News Flash: Blogging is not the exciting, thrill-a-minute, play-to-the-crowds activity you thought it was. In addition to being lonely, blogging is apparently a very Zen activity. Three years after being introduced, however, HyleBlog continues to rave on, thrilling it's 5 readers (I could get it up to 6, if only I could convince my wife to read it!) with witty, insightful commentary...

...OK, well, at least we continue to rave on.

Birds in the 'Burbs

John Marzluff at the University of Washington (Go Dawgs!) has been doing interesting science with birds (you may be familiar with his work on crows) for some time. Last week, I heard this report on KUOW about the results of his somewhat counterintuitive finding that some suburban habitats are actually good for native bird biodiversity.

...researchers found development brings not necessarily extinction but replacement, with new native species colonizing the suburban environments that used to be forests.

Marzluff has advice for homeowners that sounds like he's been looking at my yard (especially the uncut grass):

"People typically like fancier looking shrubs and they like things to be very neat. Birds like native shrubs and messy things. So be messy! Don't cut all the grass. Let some of it grow up and fall over so a junco can nest under it. The native ferns – and salmonberry especially – is an important species."

I followed up this week with a Thinking Locally on birds & burbs.

Here's some great native plant advice from wildlife biologist Russell Link.

World Oceans Day at MaST Monday

Highline Community College has an extremely cool Marine Science and Technology center at Redondo. If you haven't been, go. If you can do it Monday, here's why that's a great idea:

Highline Community College is proud to join leading educational institutions, conservation organizations, and individuals in dozens of countries around the world to celebrate our shared ocean.  World Oceans Day – held on June 8 of each year – is an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

Join us in the celebration
June 8, 2009    10 a.m. to noon

Highline Community College’s Marine Science and Technology Center, next to Salty’s on Redondo Beach.  

The event features tank tours by Nautilus 6th graders, live video of underwater dives and refreshment

For more information, contact Lisa Skari at (206) 870-3705

...off to talk to the Chamber of Commerce

Say hi if you see me there!