The skies were gray over the Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park, but about a dozen members of the east Jefferson County chapter of Admiralty Audubon came out on a Sunday morning to take out the trash and Scotch broom, as they’ve done for years.

Larry Kilmer has taken part in cleanups at Kah Tai, Fort Worden and the Olympic Discovery Trail in the five years he’s lived locally.

“I just don’t like Scotch broom,” Kilmer said. “I don’t like it taking over the environment. And it does, if you don’t take care of it.”

Roz Riley also has lived in the area five years and has cleaned up at Fort Worden for four years and at Kah Tai for two.

“I’m a gardener and an environmentalist,” Riley said. “I like working outside, especially for a good cause. And physical activity helps get your frustrations out.”

Rosemary Sikes, volunteer coordinator for the local Admiralty Audubon chapter, said its Jan. 20 event is one of the monthly cleanups it has had at Kah Tai since the late 1990s.

“Back then, the Port of Port Townsend was interested in turning this into something other than a park,” Sikes said. “They reasoned that, by not maintaining the park, the city had violated its lease.”

In response, volunteers came together to pull “mountains” of Scotch broom and garbage out of the park and have continued monthly, except for the three months of summer.

“The people showed they were willing to be part of maintaining this park,” Sikes said.

Sikes said last weekend’s cleanup drew three new members to Admiralty Audubon, and their extra hands come in handy, since the group tackles the 20-acre park about one-third at a time. They can handle 6 to 7 acres each month, rotating between the west, central and east ends of the park.

“We couldn’t take care of all of this at once, so we alternate,” Sikes said. “I live about 15 minutes’ walk from here, so I already come here almost every day. I enjoy birdwatching, and there’s always ducks in the pond. So by the time we come here to clean up, we’ve walked through enough times to know where we need to go, to concentrate our cleanups for the month.”

Rick Jahnke, president of the local Audubon chapter, said it’s a luxury for Port Townsend to have a nature park in the center of town.

Kah Tai is one of the top 10 stopping points for endangered migratory birds in the state of Washington, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.

“We’ve planted more than 2,000 native plants here,” Jahnke said. “They say you can’t fight climate change at the local level, but by helping the health of the bird population you can help reduce the other stressors on the environment in turn.”