HyleBlog - Friends of the Hylebos

Teri Lenfest: One of our Greatest Natural Resources

Sometimes in life, you just get lucky and people walk into your life, into your organization and give tremendous things. The Friends is fortunate to have many people who fit that bill, one in particular is Teri Lenfest, West Hylebos guide emeritus, foe of ivy and blackberry everywhere, and blogger extraordinaire.

If you  haven't checked her postings on Blog from the Bog, do yourself a favor and get over there right now. Teri has captured a little bit of Spring in the West Hylebos and unleashed it on the World Wide Web - I love the baby robins! Thanks, Teri, for reminding me to get out to the West Hylebos this weekend and enjoy the wonder of nature!

New Posts over at the Blog from the Bog

Teri Lenfest is doing an incredible job at the Blog from the Bog, posting her observations, thoughts and photos of goings on in the West Hylebos Wetland. Teri has a tendency to jump in with both feet, so that'll explain the four substantive posts published yesterday. It's well worthwhile jumping over there to read what Teri has to say.

Her comments on the pros and cons of increased access to the park with the new boardwalk point up a challenging trade-off in making delicate natural like the West Hylebos accessible to a broader public.

What do you think? I'll try to post some thoughts on this topic as well in the next day or so.

In the meantime, thanks for all you're doing, Teri, to keep the Blog from the Bog interesting and accessible!

Sitting Down with the Public Official of the Year

I had the pleasure of starting the day with a meeting (at Marlene's Market - great Americano!) with Federal Way City Councilwoman Jeanne Burbidge. In addition to being an incredible community advocate and activist, and a generally all-around great person, Jeanne was recently named the Municipal League's Public Official of the Year.

This is a great recognition for a hard-working person who has served the Federal Way community in a number of ways over the last forty years, and ably represented the citizens of Federal Way as a city councilmember for the past 18 years.

In addition, it's also worth noting that Jeanne and her husband Jim have been longtime and strong supporters of the west Hylebos Wetlands and Hylebos Creek. Jim recently finished a five-year term on our board of directors.

Also, I am catching up with my newspaper articles. I see the Mirror noted the Hylebos conservation efforts as one of the top 20 achievements of Federal Way's 20-year history. Very nice, indeed. While the conservation work spans an entire watershed, there is definitely a strong link between the citizens of Federal Way, as well as the 20-year-old city, which has done quite a bit to help protect and restore Hylebos Creek, and steward the West Hylebos Wetlands.

Hylebos Movie Premiered!

Last Saturday, the Friends and our friends at the Historical Society of Federal Way co-hosted the premiere showing of the documentary: THe Hylebos: Discovering A hidden Jewel by Federal Way resident Mary Longhurst. Andy Hobbs, AKA Face Fungus, wrote an article about the Premiere in yesterday's Mirrror.

The event attracted about 40 people (which I have to say is a pretty darn good turnout for a sunny saturday afternoon!) and aside from a few technical glitches, came off really well. Big thanks to Dianna Noble-Gulliford and Maureen Hathaway of the Historical Society who worked very hard to make the event a success!

It's An Abbreviated Week

The holidays are such a fun time. Amidst all the celebration and time with friends and families, the list of things to do - grants to write, reports to submit, invoices to send, etc. - grows, while the number of days shrinks. So, if you see me running around like a squirrel in a nut factory, that's probably why.

Anyways, today I had a meeting with Mary Longhurst, and Diana Noble-Gulliford and Maureen hathaway from the Historical society. We're putting together plans to co-host a premiere of Mary's Hylebos documentary. Stay tuned. We should have the date set within the next week.

Seattle Times Feature

The West Hylebos Wetlands received feature treatment from the Times and writer Cathy McDonald. The article shines a light on both the natural beauty and this historical cabins (and mentions the porous pavement that the city of Federal Way used!) and serves as a timely reminder that winter is a wonderful time to see the park.

More Mammals!

Seth Bynum has a great photo of an otter at Marlake recently at the FW News!

Hylebos Picnic at Federal Way News

Seth Bynum did a really nice job of capturing the Hylebos Annual Picnic. Pick up the hard copy for lots of photos. Also, you can check out our flickrstream below. These are all Seth's photos (isn't he great?!).

New Blog From the Bog Post

It's been awhile since I've blogged on the Blog from the Bog, but I was at the park Friday for a time and took a few pictures. Check 'em out.

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.