Wow! We've had some nasty rainy days!   Hardy Seattleites have shown up to help restore our beautiful Natural Area for the first work parties of this year.  New kinnikinnick, western hemlock, western red cedar and ocean spray native plants have been planted.  We've gotten a start on the first peeping weeds.  Two different eagles have been sighted - wow!.  A red tail hawk has been hanging out in the south end of Lewis Park and a raccoon was spotted sleeping way up in a tree.  All signs of a healthy forest habitat.  Let's hear it for our baby urban forest! 

Giddens School
Thirty some 2nd and 3rd grader from our local Giddens School returned to Lewis Park on March 19th to plant native plants in the same area where they pulled ivy in the fall. After learning about western hemlock (our State Tree) and Ocean Spray, the students were off to dig holes and plant.  Luckily, the rain took a break, but it was a bit chilly.  No worries, hot chocolate warmed everyone up.before the students, teachers and parents   Thank You Giddens School!

Welcome to 2012 !!

The sun is out and this Sunday looks to be one of those beautiful Seattle winter days.  Perfect for our first volunteer work party of the year.  Yes, those pesky weeds and invasives are poking their heads out of the soil.  It's a great time  grab them while the ground is nice and soft.  The work goes so very quickly and we get a head start on giving our beautiful native plants a chance to get all the sun and rain they reach for. 

We'll be meeting at the Triangle (yes, the Triangle again) which is on the corner of Sturgus Ave S. and S. Charles.  Look for the welcome table.  Wear mud boots and dress in layers.  We may start out chilly, but, I think we'll warm up quickly.. especially when Lenny brings out the hot coffee and chocolate.

Cheers!
Dee. 

_ 2011 saw another successful year of restoration in Lewis Park Natural Area.   We saw many exciting happenings this year, all made possible by great volunteers.  All of the level and accessible areas are in initial restoration with ongoing maintenance.  There are areas where more native plants are needed.  All areas still require close maintenance (watering and frequent weeding) for several more years.  This year volunteers continued to maintain the North and Central areas.  Many new plants were installed at the Triangle along Sturgus Ave.  New clearing and plantings happened along the North Slope, Central North and Central areas. (See map)

 

The May Celebration organized jointly with Beacon B.I.K.E.S. was a fun way to conclude our Department of Neighborhoods Small and Simple grant and celebrate Beacon Hill’s great destination-based Greenway projects.

Thanks to all the great volunteers who are making this beautiful Natural Area a great place for our N. Beacon Hill neighborhood.


 

Opportunity Funds

 

Contractor crews worked hard through November on the steep slope areas of the South and Central ravine areas.    A huge pile of garbage was collected.  Ivy was pulled, invasive laurel and holly were treated and many, many compost piles created.  Erosion control was installed along the alley and on the steep slopes and hundreds of native plants were installed.  The clearing unveiled a beautiful topography.   New vistas have opened for Lewis Park.


 

Working for a healthy forest and a strong community
October 9th, 2011  |  Published in Trees and the City

By Kate Burke and Branden Fitzpatrick

Volunteers are making the forest a healthier environment in locations across Seattle. But what motivates volunteers to get their hands dirty to remove invasive species or plant native trees? Weston Brinkley and a team of researchers surveyed hundreds of volunteers this summer to get at why people care about putting their time and energy toward healthier forests, wetlands, or native prairies. It turns out that the benefits of volunteerism extend beyond the environment.

We'll see you again in November!

If you have any questions, please contact Lewis Park at lewisparkseattle@gmail.com.

Sincerely,
Friends of Lewis Park

Hi All,

Just checked the Opp Fund link on Parks website.  They've linked the Lewis Park website to the info.  Here is the link:

http://seattle.gov/parks/levy/opportunity.htm

We had a good work party today with 5 volunteers from the Mercer Island youth volunteer group,  a couple of students, and 4 returning "Friends".  We are continuing to work on the Triangle, battling bindweed in the rose bushes (ouch!),  keeping tabs on the horsetail, and weeding and mulching problem areas.  A volunteer, Adam, has cleaned up the weeds along the alley and built a really cool rock edge along the Triangle area.  Mulch has been ordered to fill in the area.  The Natural Area Crew of the Parks Dept.  repaired some pipe breaks and filled the water tanks for our summer season and volunteers began  the first watering of the season.  Thanks to neighbor Marvin for donating his water last week and Mike for  doing emergency watering of the new plantings.  Parks has moved the water tank up on Golf Dr. a little bit south and installed new pipe so we can water the new spring 2011 plants.

Jay and Christine have been hard at work on our online presence.  We are now on Facebook and Twitter with cool pictures and Friends and Tweets and all that kind of stuff.  Lenny has been doing his tireless patrol of graffiti and trash along with maintaining the far South area dubbed as "Lenny's garden".  Seattle Parks Foundation came out and provided tree tags honoring Deb Casault and the Beacon Hill Urban Forestry group for their donation of trees to Lewis Park.  Thank You All!

Green Seattle Partnership is moving to automate all the sign ups and reporting that the Forest Stewards  are required to do.  The new system is in test mode and we're working out the bugs.  The new system will cut down a lot on all the manual paperwork the volunteer Forest Stewards are asked to do in reporting restoration activity, so,  some work up front, but, a really cool system when it gets all in place.

Finally, I'm slowly, but surely, doing the DON paperwork to close out our Small and Simple grant of 2010.  You will all get a copy of the final report.   But, with the closing of this grant, that will also mean we will need to start looking at fundraising opportunities in the future in order to raise money to buy native plants.  Any ideas?

I'll keep you posted on info as it happens with the Opportunity Fund work.

Ok, Hope you are all having a fantastic Seattle Summer!

On Saturday, May 21, 2011, the Beacon Bikes and Pedestrians community group and Friends of Lewis Park will host a joint Community Celebration with a bike parade and BBQ.

The bicycle parade will leave Jefferson Park at noon, follow the path of the proposed 17th /18th Ave S. Bike Boulevard, pausing to revel in and highlight elements of the proposed neighborhood greenway. It will arrive at Lewis Park Natural Area around 1pm, where we will celebrate four years of restoration work with free food, fun and tours of Lewis Park.

Friends of Lewis Park received a Dept. of Neighborhoods Small and Simple grant to support the Lewis Park Natural Area restoration. Friends of Lewis Park is also celebrating the approval of the Opportunity Fund monies which will enable restoration of the steep slope areas of Lewis Park Natural Area. Beacon Bikes and Pedestrians received a Dept. of Neighborhoods Small and Simple grant to hire a consultant, Alta, to design a destination-focused, child-friendly, bicycle and pedestrian circulation path on N. Beacon Hill.

Please join the N. Beacon Hill community to celebrate our exciting vision of connecting our Seattle parks with safe, enjoyable green paths.

See you there!

Friends of Lewis Park
Beacon Bikes and Pedestrians

First day of spring in Lewis Park.