Beginning Saturday, December 12th EOS Alliance is hosting monthly work parties at the Maple School Natural Area! Starting in January the work parties will be the third Saturday of every month; and for those of you who think 'work' and 'party' don't go together, you obviously haven't worked with this AmeriCorps team yet!Work parties may include invasive plant removal, site prep work, and plantings. Our goal is to continue our habitat restoration work in this natural area, completing the process by 2013. This project is part of the Green Seattle Partnership, an important initiative to restore parks and natural areas across Seattle. And now for a history lesson...About 100 years ago the Seattle region was logged for timber. Conifers were cut down and removed, decimating seed banks and allowing quick-growing deciduous trees to grow in their place. Deciduous trees such as Big Leaf Maples and Red Alders are native to the Seattle area, but forests in this region should be dominated by conifers. Expanses of these deciduous trees led to forests with short lifespans and additional light in the winter months for hungry invasives. Seattle's forests have gotten to the point where within twenty years, 70% of Seattle's forests may become ecological dead zones full of invasive plants, dead or dying trees, and without appropriate wildlife habitat.We can be part of the solution to this problem. The Green Seattle Partnership aims to restore 2,500 acres by the year 2025. EOS Alliance is a member of this partnership at the Maple School Natural Area. Please join us as we fight to save our city's forests and create a better living environment for SeattleFor more information, visit our website at eosalliance.org or come to our first work party on Saturday, December 12th from 10am to 2pm at the Maple School Natural Area (20th Ave S & S Lucile St at the top of the stairs).
Click here to read more