The forecast called for rain, yet these dedicated volunteers came out to support our stewardship efforts in Fairhaven Park.
Here’s some pictures from our day. We were fueled by Ralf’s Pretzel sandwiches for the day. Thank you Kacy for the donation and delivery!
Our plan was to get a bunch of plants in the abandoned trail area. We sourced our plants from Fourth Corner Nursery, Plantas Nativas and Rae at the city Greenways Volunteer program.
Muddy Trail Crossing – Wetland area
20 Red-osier Dogwood
20 Black twinberry
10 Western Red Cedar
10 Red Alder
20 Salmonberry
Abandoned Trail – Wetland buffer area
10 Western Red Cedar
15 Indian Plum
10 Snowberry
10 Vine maple
2 Hazelnut
5 Red Elderberry
10 Sword ferns
Additional plants included 200 Slough sedge and 10 Douglas Firs
Below, I give a bit of an overview of what we hope to accomplish for the day.
Perry Welch, pictured at left in the yellow pants is our wetland biologist. You can see the 3 fingers I’m holding up to make sure that we get 3 buckets of mulch on each plant.
The Work CREW for the day looks on as Perry gets into the thick of it as he demonstrates the correct way to plant these native species.
A view down the abandoned trail corridor:
Duane, now retired, still donates his time to the community and our cause.
One of our regulars, Jochan, with his classic OR Seattle Sombero, getting the old trail planted. Perry observes in the background.
Ann took on the dirty duty of putting the Slough sedge in the wet muck!
Here’s Bill channeling the water to help it down the drainage swale.
We had a surprise visitor, Harriet with the Walking Friends who are one of our strongest supporters.
Keith looks up from focusing on putting plants in the ground.
Local neighborhood resident and former parks employee, Michael, getting his hands dirty!
Dale and Jen were the hustling bucket brigade for mulch delivery.
Here’s Jen in action. This is the abandoned trail corridor that has been replanted.
The CREW at the end of a tough 2 hour shift- ready to head over to Stones Throw Brewery for refreshments!

As Executive Director of Recreation Northwest, Todd Elsworth promotes outdoor recreation and brings community together to enjoy, preserve and improve the places where we play. His decades of extensive event production, marketing and writing experience propel this passion. You might bump into him and his daughter Violet while they’re biking, hiking, paddling or skiing in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
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