Submitted by City of Olympia
A Puget SoundCorps team will work with City staff for the month of January to plant 43 new street trees along Harrison Ave, 18th Ave SE and various downtown locations to increase the City’s community canopy and provide more of the benefits that trees bring to our community.
The Puget SoundCorps team will also work with City Parks staff to help eradicate invasive non-native vegetation and clean up storm damage at select parks. The selected City Parks are Lions Park, Grass Lake and Priest Point Park, Percival Landing and Yauger Park. Invasive non-native plants prevent forested areas from providing our community the full benefits and services of healthy forests by competing for water and nutrients, and in some cases even killing trees. Many undesirable plants that grow in dense thickets also harbor rats and other vermin, creating a public safety hazard as well. Once the unwelcome plants are gone, native vegetation will be planted in its place.
The Urban Forestry Restoration Project, administered by the Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) Urban and Community Forestry Program, is an exciting opportunity to enhance the capacity of urban forests to manage storm water and improve air and water quality by improving the health and functionality of trees and forested sites in urban settings.
For more information about the Urban Forestry Restoration Projects, visit the Project online or contact Micki McNaughton at (360) 902-1637 or micki.mcnaughton@dnr.wa.gov. DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is made possible through a partnership with the USDA Forest Service. Puget SoundCorps is part of the broader Washington Conservation Corps program administered by Washington Dept. of Ecology. SoundCorps crews work on projects that help restore and protect water quality in Puget Sound. The Washington Conservation Corps is supported through grant funding and Education Awards provided by AmeriCorps.
