Blog From The Bog

Rainy Day Adventure - Hylebos at Flood

The bridge on the Brooklake Spur, water flows under the entire span.  

The Salmon are Back!

Longtime Hylebos volunteer Adele Freeland reported that the salmon are back at Brooklake!  She heard salmon splashing on a recent morning walk. 

And it’s not just salmon who are enjoying this amazing habitat.  Other wildlife spotted this week include Buffleheads, a Northern Shoveler, Blue Heron, Pileated Woodpeckers, a King Fisher, Hooded Merganser, Gadwall, Mallards, a river otter, muskrats, and more! 

Let us know if you spot any wildlife on your next walk through West Hylebos Wetlands. 

 

Volunteers out at West Hylebos Wetlands!

This past Saturday, EarthCorps led 56 volunteers at in restoration at the Hylebos Wetlands. All together we planted 9 conifer trees and 98 shrubs, filling in some of the open areas in the planting sites.  Volunteers also did a maintenance sweep through these areas, removing Scotch broom, Himalayan blackberry, cutleaf blackberry and Canada thistle.

Special thanks to volunteers from Todd Beamer High School’s Key Club and the Federal Way Youth Ecology Group, associated with KAPA.

Stay tuned for volunteer event dates for 2013!

Get dirty in the Bog!

EarthCorps is hosting a volunteer event at the West Hylebos Wetlands on Saturday, November 10th.  EarthCorps staff will lead community volunteers in planting native trees like Grand firs and native shrubs like beautiful Mock Orange and Flowering Red Currant.  Volunteers will also be removing some of the invasive plants that are threatening the health of the wetlands and it's ability to provide ecosystem benefits to the City of Federal Way and the Hylebos watershed.  Many cities are taking action in mitigating the effects of climate change and storm damage by focusing on environmental restoration.  A healthy urban forest or wetland can play a huge role of absorbing and filtering excess rainwater to reduce flooding, erosion and subsequent property damage.  A recent article in Outside magazine describes how restoring damaged ecosystems can help a city weather storms more effectively:

http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/outdoor-adventure/politics/urban-forests-make-cities-more-resilient-to-a-changing-climate.html?176601581  

This event is part of EarthCorps' Climate Action Month.  During this month, the focus is on educating the community about the role that our urban forests, wetlands and shorelines play in mitigating the effects of climate change along with advocating volunteers using mass transit, biking or walking to get to events.  To learn more and sign up for events, please visit:   http://www.earthcorps.org/pages.php?articleId=783