Volunteer for Salmon!

Photo showing happy volunteers planting trees at Whitney Bridge Park on the Middle Green in October 2002Stewardship volunteer opportunities need you. Sign up now!

Become a Beach Naturalist This Summer
Care about beaches and the Puget Sound nearshore? Good with people?

Sign up to be a volunteer naturalist with the Seattle Aquarium's Beach Naturalist program. Naturalists receive training from marine and interpretative experts on four weekday evenings (April 13 and 27, May 11 and 25) and three weekend days (April 17, May 1 and 15). Once trained, volunteers spend three summer weekend days educating visitors about beach ecology and beach etiquette at local area beaches. 

Register by April 7 to save your spot! E-mail beachnaturalist@seattle.gov or call 206-245-0143 to register or for more information.

Seattle Parks Volunteer Projects
In addition to the volunteer projects below, the City of Seattle Parks Department offers many opportunities to steward urban forests across the city.

Weekday Volunteer Opportunities in the West Duwamish Greenbelt
Most weekdays, the Nature Consortium hosts volunteer projects to restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt in West Seattle. In addition, there are work parties every Saturday. Visit the Nature Consortium volunteer page for details.

Resources for New Stewards in King and Snohomish Counties
Other resources for new volunteer stewards (Adobe Acrobat 177 KB).

One-Time and Monthly Volunteer Opportunities Across Southern King County

Date and Time Name Location Information and sign up (sponsors vary)
Saturday, March 20
9 a.m. -
11 a.m.

Walker Preserve Ivy Removal
Over the last three years, volunteers have removed English ivy from all the trees in the Preserve and from a ever larger part of the forest floor. See photos of the most recent work last November. Join us as we keep the momentum up. Pulling ivy is easiest when the ground is damp in the spring!

Download the flier with map and details (Adobe Acrobat).

 Normandy Park

Dennis Clark, Miller/Walker Creek Stewardship Program,
206-296-1909

Saturday, March 20
10 a.m. -
2 p.m.

FULL - NO FURTHER SIGN UPs ACCEPTED

 Turning Basin Estuary Restoration on the Duwamish
Join People For Puget Sound on the shores of the Duwamish River. Turning Basin #3 is a wetland that used to contain Kenco Marine Company where boats moored. Now it is a tidally influenced wetland providing shelter and food for wildlife such as ospreys, great blue herons, bald eagles and juvenile salmon. We'll be working together to remove pesky invasive weeds like blackberry and scotch broom that threaten to overtake native plants.		 Duwamish in Tukwila

Dhira Brown, People For Puget Sound,
206-382-7007 Ext. 182

FULL - NO FURTHER SIGN UPs ACCEPTED
Saturday, March 20
10 a.m. -
2 p.m. 		Brandon Street Natural Area on Longfellow Creek
Battle the ivy and blackberries to help the stream ecosystem work for fish, birds, and wildlife. Work at this site at SW Brandon Street and 26th Avenue SW occurs every third Saturday of the month. Call or e-mail to confirm and sign up.		 West Seattle

Jay Mirro,
206-935-6532
Friday, March 26
9 a.m. -
1 p.m. 		Seeds, Roots & Shoots
Work in the nursery to raise native plants that will be used to restore aquatic and upland habitats all across King County.		 Renton

Adam Jackson, King Conservation District,
425-282-1908

Sunday, March 28
2 - 7 p.m. 		Rock the Green Clean Fundraiser
Enjoy good food and music while supporting efforts to preserve and clean up the Middle Green River. Download the event flier (Adobe Acrobat).		 Enumclaw

Lisa Parsons, Middle Green River Coalition
Saturday, April 3
10 a.m. -
2 p.m.

North Wind's Weir Restoration Goose Exclusion Fence Construction
Geese like nothing better than the tender marsh plants we are planting at the North Wind's Weir estuary restoration project, constructed in 2009. To foil these aquatic grazers, we will construct a fence around the areas we will plant with the marsh plants on April 17.

You will get muddy so wear clothing and footwear appropriate to the task.

Although fence construction is not rocket science, this project will be most enjoyable for people comfortable working with simple tools including pliers, wire cutters, and fence post drivers.

Adults and teenagers 16 and older only for this event, please.

 Duwamish in Tukwila

Dennis Clark, WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Team,
206-296-1909
Saturday, April 10
9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch		 Stewards of the Cove
Work with the Stewards of the Cove to protect and restore Miller and Walker Creeks where they enter Puget Sound. Work varies but can include invasive plant removal, planting native trees and shrubs, and constructing instream structures to improve fish habitat.		 Normandy Park

Gary Gaebler, Normandy Park Community Club
Saturday, April 17
10 a.m. -
2 p.m.

North Wind's Weir Restoration Planting
Plant wetland plants at the North Wind's Weir estuary restoration project constructed in 2009. Also help complete construction of a goose-exclusion fence to protect the young plants. For those who don't want to get muddy, you can help spread mulch around our newly-planted trees.

This is a Duwamish Alive! event.

 Duwamish in Tukwila

Dhira Brown, People For Puget Sound,
206-382-7007 Ext. 182
Saturday, April 17
10 a.m. -
2 p.m. 		Duwamish Alive! at Multiple Locations on the Duwamish
Plant trees and shrubs and control invasive plants at multiple locations along the Duwamish River, the estuary to the Green River. This is the premier Puget Sound restoration project for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day!		 Seattle and Tukwila

Dhira Brown, People For Puget Sound,
206-382-7007 Ext. 182
Saturday, May 1
9 a.m. -
11 a.m.

Walker Wetland Blackberry Removal
Last March, we began working to control invasive Himalayan blackberry around the fringes of the Walker Wetland, which was purchased for preservation by the the City of Burien in 2005. We will continue controlling invasives to ensure the long-term health of the wetland, which serves as a sponge releasing clean, cool water into Walker Creek.

 Burien

Dennis Clark, Miller/Walker Creek Stewardship Program,
206-296-1909

Saturday, May 1
10 a.m. -
2 p.m.

 

 Maury Island Marine Park Restoration
Join People For Puget Sound and Sound Stewards at Maury Island Marine Park. This former gravel mine has the potential to be pristine shoreline habitat with your help. We'll be working together to remove pesky invasive weeds like blackberry and scotch broom.		 Maury Island (part of Vashon/Maury Island)

Dhira Brown, People For Puget Sound,
206-382-7007 Ext. 182
Saturday, May 8
9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch		 Stewards of the Cove
Work with the Stewards of the Cove to protect and restore Miller and Walker Creeks where they enter Puget Sound. Work varies but can include invasive plant removal, planting native trees and shrubs, and constructing instream structures to improve fish habitat.		 Normandy Park

Gary Gaebler, Normandy Park Community Club
Saturday, May 8
9 a.m. -
1 p.m. 		Roxhill Bog at the Headwaters of Longfellow Creek
Unique opportunity for knowledgeable plant stewards! Help further the incredible amount of work done to restore a rare bog at the headwaters of Longfellow Creek. Five years of work and 250,000 plants are gradually transforming grass back into a bog ecosystem. Work at this site at SW Barton Street and 29th Avenue SW occurs every second Saturday of the month. Call or e-mail to confirm and sign up.		 West Seattle

Scott Blackstock,
206-938-2144

Saturday, May 15
9 a.m. -
11 a.m.

Miller Creek Restoration at S. 144th St.
Since 2007, volunteers have been restoring a 300 foot stretch of Miller Creek west of Des Moines Memorial Drive, most recently on a rainy weekend last October. Hundreds of trees and shrubs have been planted and thousands of invasive plants removed. Join us as we do some light weeding and put down mulch to help the plants thrive during the summer.

 Burien

Dennis Clark, Miller/Walker Creek Stewardship Program,
206-296-1909
Saturday, June 12
9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch		 Stewards of the Cove
Work with the Stewards of the Cove to protect and restore Miller and Walker Creeks where they enter Puget Sound. Work varies but can include invasive plant removal, planting native trees and shrubs, and constructing instream structures to improve fish habitat.		 Normandy Park

Gary Gaebler, Normandy Park Community Club
Saturday, June 19
10 a.m. -
2 p.m.		 North Wind's Weir Restoration Stewardship
At this event, we'll do any final restoration work at North Wind's Weir estuary restoration project not completed in 2009 and earlier this year. Work is likely to consist of light weeding (there are almost no weeds on site now).		 Duwamish in Tukwila

Dhira Brown, People For Puget Sound,
206-382-7007 Ext. 182
Saturday, July 10
9 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch		 Stewards of the Cove
Work with the Stewards of the Cove to protect and restore Miller and Walker Creeks where they enter Puget Sound. Work varies but can include invasive plant removal, planting native trees and shrubs, and constructing instream structures to improve fish habitat.		 Normandy Park

Gary Gaebler, Normandy Park Community Club
Wednesday, July 14
4:30 p.m. -
6 p.m.

Happy Hour Weeding" at Miller Creek Restoration at S. 144th St.
In the middle of the summer, it's hard to get volunteers to give up a lovely Saturday morning. Fortunately, our weeding tasks at the S. 144th St. restoration project on Miller Creek are modest and easily handled with "happy hour weeding." Don't believe it? See the "happy hour weeding" blog posting from July 2009. Weeding will reduce competition between the native trees/shrubs and the unwanted invasive plants during the most stressful time of year.

 Burien

Dennis Clark, Miller/Walker Creek Stewardship Program,
206-296-1909