For the second consecutive year, Port Townsend is welcoming a Puget SoundCorps group to work on restoration in two of the city's urban forests.
Along with city staff and volunteers, the crew is …
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A Puget SoundCorps work crew at the top of Terrace Steps is on a break from taking down ivy from the park trees above Haller Fountain in 2015. Pictured (from left) are Port Townsend local Gabby Andrews, crew leader John Longsworth, Bonnie Reed, Selene Convy, Lauren Kemper and Jessey Watters. Submitted photo
For the second consecutive year, Port Townsend is welcoming a Puget SoundCorps group to work on restoration in two of the city's urban forests.
Along with city staff and volunteers, the crew is removing invasive species from Bishop Park and Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park throughout February as a part of the Urban Forestry Restoration Project.
The project is managed by the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Urban and Community Forestry Program. Its goal is to enhance the health of urban forests to improve air and water quality while also increasing those forests' capacity to manage storm water.
In Port Townsend, the crew plans to remove English ivy and English holly from Bishop Park along Sims Way; and spurge laurel, English ivy, English holly and Scotch broom from Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park.
These invasive, nonnative plants prevent forested areas from benefiting the community and wildlife by challenging native plant species for resources and, in some cases, killing trees.
"Port Townsend's urban forests are negatively impacted by invasive species that compete for sunlight, nutrients, water and space,” said Jason Cecil, an arborist and member of the city's Parks, Recreation and Trees Advisory Board.
“Invasive species lack natural biological controls to prevent their spread. Suppression of exotic and invasive species should be a priority in any urban forestry management plan. The restoration efforts of the Puget SoundCorps team in two of our urban forests, Bishop Park and Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park, provide a necessary step toward achieving this goal," Cecil said in a press release.
Volunteers develop monitoring and maintenance succession plans for three years following the Puget SoundCorps efforts.
To volunteer, contact Alex Wisniewski, Port Townsend Parks and Facilities manager, at 379-5081 or
awisniewski@cityofpt.us.
For more information about the Urban Forestry Restoration Project, visit
dnr.wa.gov/ufrp.
DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Puget SoundCorps is part of the broader Washington Conservation Corps program administered by the Washington State Department of Ecology. Puget SoundCorps crews of young adults and veterans work on projects that help restore and protect water quality in Puget Sound. The Washington Conservation Corps is supported through grant funding and education awards provided by AmeriCorps.
