![]() It takes a community to plant a 40' tree. WITH SPRING QUARTER SOON ENDING UW-REN's 2012 field work is almost over. This is your chance to meet the team on site and help complete the finishing touches on a big project. Saturday, May 12 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM Work site map HERE Snacks and beverage provided Tools and gloves provided Job satisfaction provided This is community work at it's best and you will be helping UW seniors complete the largest Capstone project between Bothell and Tacoma. ![]() Some volunteers really jump into the work. Richard has worked up a thirst and an appetite. SPECIAL INVITE TO BOTHELL CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS By noon everything should be in full swing. With such short notice we know most of you probably can't be on site for three hours, though it will be great if you can. But we do hope you can drop in to see what these amazing students are doing to restore this section of North Creek Forest. Maybe around noon? ![]() Meet the 2031 - 2032 UW-REN Captain for North Creek Forest! THE FIRST TEAM This is the first year for FNCF and UW-REN work in North Creek Forest. It won't be the last. It is abundantly clear that a restoration site around the corner from the UWB/CCC campus is as valuable to the campus as the campus is valuable to our community. It is highly probable that the young man to the left will have a chance to someday design, implement and evaluate his own restoration project along with his team of UW seniors. Thanks to all who have participated so far this year. Community involvement helps the forest and the students. Friends of North Creek Forest
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![]() Please join us for and easy two hours of restoration work. Saturday, April 28th, 11 AM - 1 PM All tools and gloves are provided. For directions and a map to the site go HERE. Beverages and snacks, good fellowship, light work...it's fun. Update on conservation activities
![]() Or maybe the forest changed them? When you do restoration work it's funny how you can come back 10 years later and remember exactly which trees/shrubs you planted. Today Cascadia students got their turn for a memory. The quiz is 10 years from today:) We are swamped with endorsements and have not had time to put them on our web site yet (soon). But we wanted to get this post out to thank all who have added support for the forest this last week. Repeat this process until you have a forest... End of the afternoon team photo... thanks for the forest!
![]() April 6, 2012 - Friends of North Creek Forest and UW-REN students had an opportunity to address Professor Amy Lambert's Ecology class last Friday morning. That was followed by the largest tree planting day yet. We had a total of 52 students, faculty and Friends on site. Trees, and shrubs "flew" into the ground. The cars just kept on coming and we were blessed with perfect weather for outdoor work... mild. There were so many people we didn't have enough tools so we arranged forest tours and rotated the planting. Amy and students, You guys are awesome! ![]() In case anyone doubted the potential for education and civic involvement... here's the answer. What a team! ![]() Do these people look like they are having a good time? The next opportunity for adding "your" trees to the forest is: ![]() Friday (tomorrow) See Directions HERE April 13th 11:30 - 12:45 Cascade CC Professor Sadie Rosenthal is bringing her class in for some hands on restoration. Like last week, they will team up with UW-REN students and receive instruction on correct methods. REFLECTION One year ago we were introducing the concept of the forest as a living laboratory, an education environment for students. Now it is in a reality. This happened because YOU spread the word. Please keep it up. We still have 23 acres to conserve. ![]() YOU CAN... 1. Forward these news alerts to friends by e-mail; 2. Like Friends of North Creek Forest on Facebook; 3. Sign our Endorsement Page HERE; 4. Volunteer for restoration HERE Thank you for all of your support, Friends of North Creek Forest ![]() Plucking blackberry roots and planting native vegetation has it's rewards. When you are doing it in great company it's even better. Under the guidance of seniors from the UW Restoration Ecology Network we got a jump on planting what will end up being several hundred trees and shrubs. The morning started with blackberries. The area being restored is by far the largest of all of the UW-REN sites between Bothell and Tacoma. As tenacious as the blackberries can be, with canes up to 30' long, they don't stand a chance against the determination of this team. Newcomers to the site wonder at the magnitude of this project but it doesn't take long to see what some joyful labor can accomplish. ![]() One of the features of the restoration design is to increase forest cover along a sunny margin. This will rob blackberries of the light they need while native plants take over. Another design goal is to increase the density of trees and shrubs favored by birds and other wildlife. Berries and seeds maturing at different times of the year will bring an increase nesting birds. At no time did we just dig a hole and stick a plant in it. Instead each plant has it's roots fanned out over a cone of soil and is then carefully covered first in soil then with leaves to retard evaporation. ![]() Snowberry and huckleberry will be growing all over this forested slope along with salal and oregon grape. Indian Plumb is already found in abundance. ![]() We gathered for the planting of two 10' alders and prepare for our days end pizza to be delivered. It took a bit of talking to convince the pizza shop that this was a legitimate place to bring the pizza. Thank you for the great day everyone! Friends of North Creek Forest
![]() Do you like talking with people? STUDENTS from UW Bothell and Cascadia CC are serious about North Creek Forest. Today is the last day of finals. Tomorrow at 9:00 AM they will be loading up on coffee, fliers and maps. By 9:30 they will "swarm" Bothell neighborhoods to raise citizens awareness about BOTHELL'S last great forest. There appears to be new kind of optimism among student these days. It's hard to tell if it is the quality of their education, the ubiquity of information, the speed of communication or a clarifying of values. For whatever reason, students are engaging forest conservation and stewardship like a team invited to the championships. They are out in the forest mapping and surveying plant communities, digging out blackberries, planting trees and shrubs and doing all of this in all kinds of weather. The most common days you see them are Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. And now this.... a community outreach, not proposed by Friends of North Creek Forest, but by the students themselves. None of these undertakings are small. Would you like to help out a bit? Saturday March 17 (tomorrow) 9:00 AM 20212 108th Ave NE Coffee and bagels, short orientation, 3 hours of house calls, pizza and stories. Please tell us if you are coming so we have enough of everything. RSVP HERE Thanks, Friends of North Creek Forest ![]() Click on IMAGE for directions to the work party. North Creek Forest is going to take some loving care to remain an urban refuge for a diverse array of wildlife. It's edges are constantly challenged by invasive plants. If left alone these plants move deeper into the forest and begin to harm sensitive areas. Seeds from these unwanted plants can be delivered by a passing car, a bird or often by a neighbor who unwittingly introduces something "guaranteed to be easy to grow".... THE REMEDY Join UW-REN and some Friends for a 3 hour work party tomorrow March 10th. Invasive plant removal will continue and planting of natives may get underway. Click on the IMAGE to the left and find out the location. Hope to see you tomorrow. SPECIAL THANKS TO PIPERS CREEK NURSERY for donating 18 Sword Ferns and about 10 trees to help UW students restore North Creek Forest. You can click on their banner above to visit their web site.
OTHER NEWS The City of Bothell is applying for a King County Conservation Futures Grant. This is the beginning of Phase 2 forest acquisition to save the rest of the forest. Friends of North Creek Forest and the group Help Our Woods are doing what we can to assist in the process. AND The City Council has now designated our new forest North Creek Forest. Thanks everyone. The name fits the ecology. Future generations won't even know the story but we appreciate the efforts and our ecosystem is better for it! Friends of North Creek Forest ![]() UW-REN Students and Volunteers in recent NCF workday IT'S TIME to get the ground ready and we need your help. Tree planting is coming soon. The University of Washington's UW-REN program has been working to restore a section of North Creek Forest. This is a multidisciplinary Capstone project for seniors. Restoring even a small part of the forest takes many hands. Please help these students do this work. Their formal restoration plan requires a faith that when volunteers are called upon they will show up. Your hands make a difference. Many hand make a miracle. ![]() CCC Students Adan Hess,Madalyn Fisher and Caitlin Ihler on recent forest survey. PLEASE USE OUR CONTACT FORM. You will find it by clicking on "Contact" in the menu bar above. Let us know which day/days you can help. These are short and fun work days. We will reply with details about the location. SATURDAY MARCH 3RD 10:AM - 1:00 PM SATURDAY MARCH 10TH 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Be a Forest Volunteer Join us! Friends of North Creek Forest ![]() Photo by Ron Johanson: Father and son, edge of North Creek Forest, November 2011. SUNDAY FEB 12 It's 3:30 PM. The spaghetti sauce is on. Adam, Caitlin, and Maddy, our new Cascadia CC interns are just in after a day of surveying the forest with Friends VP Dr. David Bain. They are now crowded around a laptop setting up our new Friends Facebook page. Now UW's Dr. Warren Gold and colleague Colleen Devine emerge from the forest and stop in to say hi. Everyone is armed with GPS units and have fir needles in their hair. Everyone is grinning. No one had to say it. The forest is on it's way to becoming a significant educational asset. We opened an email from Cathy Garrand, our Education Committee chair. She shared emails from three Northshore School District teachers offering insights to help us understand how we can best serve them. Something more to smile about. ![]() UW-REN and 20 Japanese students restoring the forest. EARLIER: SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH To celebrated Dr. King's Birthday the University of Washington Restoration Ecology Network (UW-REN) students hosted a restoration event in NCF. It started out with about 7 students, a couple of Friends and a bunch of tools. Before too long another 20 students showed up. These were not just any students. These were 20 students from Japan who are enrolled in an intensive "immersion" program. They are here for a year to study our culture. They want to know more about restoration work in the USA. So North Creek Forest is not only becoming a center for local learning. It is also becoming a place for students from other countries to learn about restoration. At our request the UW-REN students included a videography student who is recording this years project. We are considering adding a Japanese sound translation for students in Japan who want to see UW-REN in action. PENDING... The UW is awaiting final approval from the city to do biological mapping in the 35 acres recently purchased. This will provide a base line measurement and will be immensely useful for future studies and work. Thank you for following our conservation story. Friends of North Creek Forest |
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