VOW Happenings April 7th

Hello All,

This week's City of Seattle's Trails Program work party!

Saturday April 11th West Duwamish Greenbelt
TRAILS RESTORATION WORK PARTY
Project This is one of our biggest stretch of forest in the entire city. A great opportunity for people who want to be in a real urban forest.

Bring water, please!- Tools & gloves will be provided..

Sponsor Trails Program & GREEN SEATTLE PARTNERSHIP
Time 10a.m.- 2:30 p.m. Open Join Us
Meet at Small parking area on, Highland park Way just west of W. Marginal Way SW. look for the trails project sign.
Contact Jacobo Jimenez (206) 684-0598 or jacobo.jimenez@seattle.gov
Website http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/Environment/trails/trailsprogram.htm

Be sure to call or email Jacobo if you can come so he will look for you!


IRON GOAT TRAIL Happenings and Calendar

The new Iron Goat Trail Brochure (actually about the same as the old Iron Goat Trail brochure) is in the VOW office. If you would like a copy or several to give out, contact the office info@trailvolunteers.org.

VOW is working with the town of Skykomish with their Centennial Celebration on June 5 -7. This is the same weekend as the National Trails Day event. VOW will have a booth in the town as well as food sales to raise a little money. A special picnic area has been planned for the free National Trails Day after workparty food and celebration.
Centennial events include a Saturday breakfast ( for donation = cheap!! ) at the Masons hall

(Special Hint-The breakfast starts early enough to eat and have coffee before going to the work party).

A dance social will be on Saturday evening and camping is available at the city ball park for both Friday and Saturday nights.
If you would like to help with the VOW booth and hang out at the town for the music and activities, contact the office Info@trailvolunteers.org .

Annual IGT Equipment Maintenance in Skykomish on April 10 has been rescheduled to Friday April 24.
We will work at the Ranger Station from about 9:00 to 3:00.

NO TOOL WORK PARTY this FRIDAY APRIL 10 Still too much snow in storage area.

IGT Season Opener Wednesday April 22 in the "Cascade Room" at the
Mountaineers headquarters
7700 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115.

Crew Leader refresher May 9.

IGT Maintenance Workparties will start on most Saturdays in May and the Construction Workparties will be every Wednesday through the season.

The First VOW IGT Construction workparty will be Wednesday May 6

The special Email IGT trail update & work party location info list is up and running. Reply to info@trailvolunteers.org if you would like to be included

The IGT 2009 Wildflower hikes are scheduled for May 9th, June 20th, and July 11th.

There will be a special VOW - IGT work party event on National Trails Day June 6, 2009. The event will include a (free) after work party BBQ/Celebration in the town of Skykomish.

The Iron Goat Trail National Trails Day work party/Skykomish celebration has been included as one of the nine national trails day events listed (so far) for Washington state on the American Hiking Society's "find an event" link. http://www.americanhiking.org/NTDSearchResult.aspx?sId=47

The Iron Goat Trail Volunteer Vacation with the American Hiking Society is the week of July 12 through the 17.

VOW has supported and participated in the activities of the American Hiking Society for a long time. VOW provides funds and staff support for usually 1/2 of the expenses of the annual IGT - AHS Volunteer Vacation now for over 10 years!

WEB TOOLS (OR TOYS?)

We had a request recently about where to find training materials from the Forest Service. Below is a "rerun" from a previous newsletter.

Trail construction and maintenance is not much different than home remodeling in that if it is not done correctly, the results will be poor. The Forest Service has recognized this in its own activities as well as providing its standards for volunteers. A number of manuals, specifications, and videos (DVD's) have been created to explain and teach the way trail construction/maintenance should be done. These are available to anyone, for free, by requesting them online at

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrails/trailpub.htm

Just apply online and the mail person will bring them free to you.


Earth Day Celebration is April 18 with a lot of Events!

Join Issaquah REI Store with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance for Earth Day Service Project "SPRING into action in April!" 4/18/2009 9:00 AM
Duthie Hill will soon be a fantastic mountain bike 'play' area! Join Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and the Issaquah REI to participate in some rugged trail and route building. Have fun and contribute to a legacy of Northwest recreation!

Participants should plan to get dirty as they will likely be spending the day bushwhacking and cutting back brush. Please come prepared with a sack lunch, plenty of water, long pants &long sleeves and layer for warmth and weather.

All participants must register online with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance at www.evergreenmtb.org
Location: Duthie Hill Park
Contact: Tami Asars tasars@rei.com or 425-313-1660
Cost: Free
Registration Required? Yes. http://evergreenmtb.org/recreation/calendar.php?event_id=7397

Join REI Flagship Store with People for Puget Sound for the ~ Duwamish Alive! 4/18/2009 10:00 AM
Join 1000 or more volunteers for this awesome series of cleanup and restoration projects in the Duwamish River Watershed!

Twelve sites. 1,000+ Volunteers. Nineteen Organizations. One GREAT day of stewardship. Join REI and the Duwamish Alive coalition at one of the many sites along the Duwamish River this Earth Day Saturday for an epic service project.

REI will be on hand at each site providing snacks, drinks, and goodies for all volunteers. Outstanding volunteer leaders have been recruited from all over the community--they will be on hand to guide you through the process of restoring these incredible open spaces. All you need to bring is weather-appropriate clothing, and a willingness to get dirty! For more information, visit www.pugetsound.org, and click on the "volunteer" link.
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact: www.pugetsound.org
Cost: Free
Registration Required? Yes. www.pugetsound.org

Seattle Trails Program TRAILS RESTORATION WORK PARTY Madrona Woods Ravine

We will be re-treading a new trail after the installation of a beautiful new bridge at the parks main entrance.

Time 10 a.m.- 2:30 Meet at the small parking area across the street at Madrona Beach. Look for the trails project sign

Contact Jacobo Jimenez (206) 684-0598 or jacobo.jimenez@seattle.gov

Friends of Dead Horse Canyon is having another workparty on the Taylor Creek Trail in Seattle’s' Lakeridge Park

Saturday, April 18 from 8:30 to 1:00 through the Green Seattle Partnership.

Contact Jude or Darrell at 206-772-1452 if you would like to attend.

City of Bellevue Earth Day Arbor Day Festival. April 18, 8:30 am – 11am. Come join us for a day of stewardship and celebration as we help beautify Bellevue’s Parks.

The event will feature a wide variety of free family activities, a tree planting ceremony and volunteer restoration projects city-wide!

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Christina Krueger at 425-452-4195. For general information call Laura Hughes at 425-452-7225.

Burien Parks, has an "Ivy Out" day in Shorewood Park 10AM to Noon

Other Happenings,

The Native Plant Society has requested the announcement below in VOW happenings for the upcoming stewardship training. The deadline to apply is April 15!

Our members have reported that this is an excellent course.

Learn About Native Plants This Spring!

The Washington Native Plant Society is now seeking applications for the Native Plant Stewardship Program in East King County. Participating cities in King County include Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland, and Sammamish.

The 10-week training is held on Fridays from April 24 through June 26, 2009, in Bellevue. This training is taught by top professionals on various topics such as native plants, habitat restoration and northwest ecology. In exchange for this free training, stewards will commit to 100 hours of volunteer service implementing the skills learned in these classes. Each Native Plant Steward team will be formed to work on designated habitat restoration projects in one of our partner communities.

For more information regarding the Native Plant Stewardship Program and to download the application form: http://www.wnps.org/npsp/king/program.html

Application deadline is April 15, 2009.

For questions about the Native Plant Stewardship Program please contact Dangelei Fox at npsp@wnps.org or call (206) 660-3968.


Seattle Urban Nature
Madrona Woods Native Plant Walk: April 26, 2009, 10 am - 12:30 pm
Join Seattle Urban Nature (SUN) for a native plant walk to explore restoration and daylighting projects along the Lake Washington shoreline. We will tour Madrona Woods (also known as Madrona Park), a park where dedicated community members have engaged in restoration activities for the past 10 years. Their recent stream daylighting project has transformed a large section of lawn into a nearshore estuary and has allowed the stream once again to flow into the Lake. We will tour the park and look at the shoreline, riparian and upland restoration efforts. If time permits, we will then carpool to Colman Park where we will look at restoration projects installed and maintained by the Starflower Foundation from 1997-2006. Once there, we will tour the shoreline and upland portions of the park, as well as the frog pond.
Space is limited, so please RSVP to reserve a spot for the walk. Email sarah@seattleurbannature.org, or call the SUN office at 206-522-0334.

The Seattle Mountaineers is having a grand opening building dedication during Magnusson Park's Springfest on April 25, 10:00 to 4:00. There will be a gear corral with the latest and greatest from 15 outdoor equipment manufactures, free rock climbing on the climbing (useful skill, particularly after tax season). The dedication by Mayor Greg Nichols and Councilmember Tom Rassmesson will be at 11:30.


The next Mountaineers Foothills Branch Meeting and Program
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Doors open at 6:30 for set-up and socializing.
Branch up-dates at 7:00 pm, program starts at 7:15 pm.

King County Library Systems (KCLS) Service Center (Note: This is not the Issaquah Public Library).
960 Newport Way NW
Issaquah, WA 98027

Author Sarah Kirkconnel will discuss how to simplify your meals, but still eat well in the outdoors. She will cover a style of outdoor cooking called Freezer Bag Cooking and two variants, the insulated mug method and meals that require no cooking at all. Sarah will cover one of her favorite subjects, how to find components for these meals, some local, some not. Finally she will cover the outdoor gear that is needed to prepare and make your life easier when in the outdoors and needing a good meal.

Sarah has been hiking since she was a child, and backpacking since she was in college in the early 1990's. She is a cofounder of a regional hiking group, the Pacific Northwest Hikers. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, car camping and snowshoeing. Her favorite area to hike and backpack is Mt. Rainier NP in Washington State.

Sarah is a Washington State native. She currently lives in the foothills of Mt. Rainier with her husband and son.

The Nature Consortium hosts volunteer work parties in the West Duwamish Greenbelt year round every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 10am - 2pm, and Wednesdays 1:30pm-5:00pm. Our schedule is starting to fill in and soon enough we will be having work parties 7 days a week! Each work party begins with a short informal forest ecology workshop. During the fall/winter months we remove invasive species and maintain our site. During the fall and winter we remove invasive species, mulch, and plant native plants and trees in the West Duwamish Greenbelt (see below for more details). Performing artists "play in the woods" during many of our work parties, and include singers, instrumentalists, and dancers.

Tools, gloves and refreshments will be provided. Long pants and closed-toed shoes are required. Dress appropriately for weather and mud (i.e. synthetic materials and fleeces). We work rain or shine. Bring a full water bottle. We will have water available for refills. Bring a bagged lunch if granola bars will not be enough of a snack. http://www.naturec.org/restoration.htm

Burien Parks has their volunteer schedule for Seahurst, Shorewood, and Eagle Landing parks at http://www.seahurstpark.org/volunteer.html . The next work party is on Wednesday, April 8 for Arbor day.

Vow's office is located in Lake City at 12345 NE 30th Ave Suite I in the same building as the Lake City Chamber of Commerce. The office is usually available for use by our members for small meetings. Also, the larger Lake City Chamber of Commerce conference room is available for free with prior reservations. Those familiar with Lake City will find the office a couple of buildings over from Dick's Drive In at Lake City Way and NE 30th.


Volunteer to help everyone enjoy the outdoors,

Richard Botts
Volunteers for Outdoor Washington
12345 NE 30th Ave Suite I, Seattle, WA 98125