Over 80 volunteers help with restoration efforts in four city parks during joint Green Shoreline Day and Arbor Day event

North City Park was ready for volunteers
Photo by Andy Watson

On Saturday, November 13, 2021 over 80 volunteers came together at Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, North City Park, Twin Ponds Park, and Paramount Open Space to celebrate Green Shoreline Day and Arbor Day. Volunteers amended soils, removed invasive plants, and planted native ones, all to help improve the health of our park ecosystems and urban forest.

It was our 3rd annual Green Shoreline Day, which is our biggest planting day of the year, and our ninth Arbor Day celebration since becoming a Tree City USA community in 2013. The event, sponsored by the Green Shoreline Partnership, provided volunteers an opportunity to give back to their parks and neighbors by helping to build a healthy habitat and a healthy community.

“The Green Shoreline Partnership is a vital effort to improve the health of Shoreline’s urban forest and is a great benefit to our region’s environment and communities, notes City of Shoreline Park Maintenance Superintendent Kirk Peterson. “Volunteers and involved citizens are the backbone of this environmental improvement effort, and is one of our community’s greatest assets.” 

Soundview School and Shoreline Rotary volunteers at North City Park.
Photo by Andy Watson

Managing urban forests during a pandemic

Healthy urban forests, parks, and green spaces offer critical mental, physical, and environmental health benefits like clean air and improved water quality. These spaces need management to remain healthy and strong.

“Green City Days and tree planting are a great way to get outside, dig-in, and come together as a community to support the many benefits our forested parks and urban trees provide—from CO2 reduction to reducing urban heat zones and as a natural habitat for wildlife,” said Joanna Nelson de Flores, Forterra Restoration and Stewardship Managing Director.

After a six-month hold in 2020, volunteer events returned last fall and have been steadily coming back as regular features of weekend activity throughout our park system. Volunteers need to follow a series of COVID-19 safety protocols, including wearing a mask, maintaining distance, and making use of provided personal protection equipment.

Soundview School families had a lot of fun at North City Park
Photo by Andy Watson

Do you want to help with restoration efforts in our urban forests?

If you would like to volunteer for a future restoration event, visit the Green Shoreline Partnership calendar page and sign-up! All are welcome to attend upcoming restoration work parties and no experience is necessary!

ABOUT GREEN CITY PARTNERSHIPS

Green City Partnerships began in 2004 when the City of Seattle and Forterra joined in a commitment to restore and maintain the city’s 2,500 acres of forested parkland over the next 20 years.

The program harnesses the power of communities to create a culture of volunteerism and stewardship to protect local forested parks and maintain a healthy tree canopy. Each partnership brings together local nonprofits, community groups, city agencies, neighborhood leaders, and local businesses to support healthy forested parks.

The Green City Partnerships combined log over 115,000 volunteer hours and more than 1,000 stewardship events each year. In its success, the program has expanded across the region to 14 cities and one county.

ABOUT FORTERRA

Forterra is a Washington-based nonprofit that enhances, supports, and stewards the region’s most precious resources — its communities and its ecosystems. Forterra conserves and stewards land, develops innovative policies, and supports sustainable rural and urban development. In its 30-year history, Forterra has helped conserve more than 250,000 acres. Its work stretches from the farmlands and river canyons of Yakima to the estuaries and forests of Washington’s coastline, reaching more than 100 counties, cities, and towns. Visit forterra.org.

ABOUT ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION and TREE CITY USA

The Arbor Day Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. Today, the Arbor Day Foundation has more than one million members and has planted more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world. The Foundation's stated corporate mission is "to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees."

Started in 1976, Tree City USA is one of the Arbor Day Foundation’s oldest programs. Our founders had a vision for a greener, healthier America, and hoped this initiative would inspire change on a nationwide level. The first Tree City USA cohort was comprised of 42 communities in 16 states. Today, the program includes more than 3,600 communities from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.

--City of Shoreline