Volunteers for Outdoor Washington (VOW) Blog

VOW Happenings April 7th

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:38:00 +0000

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

Day in the Park 2007: A Big Success!

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:34:00 +0000

A big thanks goes out to all the volunteers who came out to Seahurst park in Burien this past weekend. Over 80 eager volunteers showed up to help VOW, Earthshare, and the city of Burien's department of Parks and Recreation make Seahurst park beautiful. VOW work was focused on the trail section of the park and we cleaned out about 10 culverts, including 3 major backups, on the first mile of a hiking trail. We also set logs on a 3 foot turnpike and put down gravel on over 200 feet of the trail. Down near the shoreline five hundred square feet of invasives, such as knotweed and alders was removed. Even though it was a little cold and muddy, once we all started working it was quite pleasant and the rain didn't begin until we had just begun driving away.

Free food was enjoyed by all and at the end of the day everyone went home with a free metal water bottle. Check out pictures and a video of the day on the city of Burien's website.

VOW meetup group

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:56:00 +0000

Interested in meeting a different breed of VOW volunteers? Join the new meetup.com VOW group:

Click here to check out
The Volunteers for Outdoor Washington!

Our next event is this Saturday at Gold Creek Pond. See you then!

Handy Trail Links

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:55:00 +0000

Interested in trail work but don't know the first thing about it? Check out these links:

Washington Trails Association has a great website for all things trail work related. Check out their training materials. Learn all about the importance of the right clothing, hydration, and safety in their handy list of links.

If you're looking for a bit more advanced materials the American Trails Website is loaded with great information about trail work. Be sure to check out their article on trail stewardship.

And if you're interested in helping VOW out at the office there are a number of handy places to learn about publicizing for VOW. Check out the American Hiking Society's page on the development and publicity of trail volunteer management.

Of course the best way to learn about trail work is to join a work party!

-Sean

National Trails Day: Thank You!

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 18:53:00 +0000

National Trails Day was a great success for VOW! This year almost 100 volunteers that joined us as we worked at two sites.

On the Ira Spring Trail we had a large group that included a number of students from the mountaineers basic wilderness course. We helped maintain over 3 miles of trail by clearing out a number of water drains and removing a number of berms. Afterwards we enjoyed a tasty barbecue organized by the Mountaineers and two lucky volunteers received $100 gift certificates from Merrell.

Ed and Crystal Remove a Stump from the Trail.
For More Photos from the Ira Spring Trail click here.

On the Iron Goat two separate groups went out of the scenic trailhead and the martin creek trailhead. Substantial progress was made in brushing, raking and clearing debris from the trail. Additionally, new steps were installed on the windy point crossover. Afterwards a tasty barbecue was prepared for everyone by VOW's own Richard Botts.

Thank you to all our volunteers for making the day a great success!

To support the work that VOW does to organize events like NTD join as a member, and to sign to volunteer for future work parties visit our calendar.

Opening of the IGT Interpretive Site

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:40:00 +0000

The new interpretive site at the Iron Goat Trail has just opened for the 2007 Season! Come out and enjoy the wonderful new kiosks, caboose, and parking area. Also enjoy the fact that when you park at the interpretive site you can hike the trail without having to purchase a forest service pass. Of course if you volunteer with VOW you will receive a free forest service pass and what better way to visit the trail than to give your time.

Newly Installed Great Northern Caboose at the Site

There was a ribbon cutting at the site last October that featured a number of notables including Kathy Lambert and Doug McDonald, WSDOT Secretary. See pictures from the event here.

-Sean

National Trails Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Wed, 09 May 2007 16:24:00 +0000

June 2nd: Give back to our nation's trails!

Hosted by the American Hiking Society, National Trails Day (NTD) is a nationwide effort to celebrate and give back to out nation's trails. Activities range from scouting, to guided hikes, and to construction and repair.

As I've mentioned before on this blog this winter there has been a great deal of flooding damage done to our state's trails. We have only just begun to assess the full extent of the work needed but, as you can see from this picture, our trails are in desperate need of repair.

Cascade Tunnel view of walkway that volunteers predict was picked
up and carried "down stream" from flooding of the tunnel.

Two Sites

For NTD we have two sites this year: The Iron Goat Trail and the Ira Spring Trail. As always for VOW work parties no experience is required and we will provide free snacks and water.

Free Food

At both sites we will be having a barbeque afterwards (bring your own lunch) and there will sure to be lots of free donated goodies you can take home for your efforts.

Sign Up!

For more information on the event and to see what other events are going on visit www.americanhiking.org and to volunteer sign up on VOW's event calendar. See you on the trail!

-Sean Bulthaup

Volunteer Participation

noreply@blogger.com (KimC) — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 18:15:00 +0000

Greetings from the President! I wanted to let you know about a few ways you can participate indoors for Volunteers for Outdoor Washington. Instead of Google or some other search engine, use GoodSearch.com and designate VOW in the "who do you goodsearch for?" box. Every search gets a penny for VOW! That's all there is to it. If we all do this one little thing (and pass the word along to your friends and family), those pennies will add up to some really nice donations to the cause.

If you shop online, use iGive.com. Joining is free, and a percentage of all of your shopping purchases goes to VOW when you designate our organization as your recipient. Many dozens of the most popular online shopping outlets participate through iGive.com -- isn't that cool? And wouldn't you like to shop at companies who give so much to charity? It's a win-win!

Other organizations that VOW has registered with in the past (I'm not sure if we're still onboard with these, but I'll check) are MyCause.com, GuideStar.org, and GuideStar's Network for Good. Check them out -- if you have a chance before I do, let me know if we're there or not, and if we are, start participating!

Did you know that you can now pay your membership or make contributions to VOW online? It's arranged through PayPal. If you need to know what that's all about, just call the office, 206-517-3019.

When you can't get out on the trail to help, we offer plenty of indoor ways you can contribute! If you want to get off the computer and out of the house, consider calling the VOW office and asking about volunteering in the office. We can always use your help! Other non-trail volunteer opportunities abound as well. We have lots of committee work to do! Publicity, outreach, special events, training, recruitment, and service projects are just a few of the committees, or teams, as we like to call them, that would love to have a few extra hands and minds full of ideas and energy participating to meet this years' goals and objectives.

You can help! When lots of you are helping, you each only need to do one little thing for everything to get done. "Many hand make light work"! Our theme for 2007 is TEAMWORK. Join the team -- join the cause!
Kim

I-90 Corridor Work Parties

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:26:00 +0000

My first work party in the I-90 corridor took place at the Gold Creek Pond Trail this past fall.

As you can see it was a beautiful day on this beautiful trail. We arrived around 9 AM and after a short safety talk by crew leader Harold Buresh it was time to get to work. Our focus for the day was cutting back invasives like napweed, clearing vegetation from a picnic table, and thinning trees along the trail corridor. The latter is of particular importance on this trail because it is barrier free meaning that it is wheelchair accessible.

A few weeks later I again joined Harold at the Tinkham Discovery Trail. We spent the first few hours installing a new sign for the trail.

Our focus for the rest of the day was "winterizing" the trail, or preparing it for the flooding and snow that comes during the winter months. So, we spent our time examining and repairing spots on the trail where water, the trail crew's enemy, can collect and cause damage to the trail. It is a constant battle for groups like VOW to construct and maintain trail in Washington State during the spring and summer months only to see the winter months undo much of the work that has been done.

This has been especially true this year with the flooding that happened in November.

So come out to our I-90 corridor projects at Tinkham Discovery Trail, Gold Creek Pond Trail, and the Ira Spring Trail. This weekend, April 21st, we will be having our first work party at Tinkham. Check out our calendar for more dates and information.

-Sean Bulthaup

Iron Goat Trail: 2007 Season

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:55:00 +0000

With spring comes melting snow in the high country and the beginning of the 2007 Iron Goat Trail season!

For those new to VOW, the Iron Goat Trail is located up on Stevens Pass is a rich part of VOW's history.

Where trains once thundered, volunteers are now constructing a historic recreational trail. The Iron Goat Trail goes eight miles through lovely forests of ferns, alders and evergreens from Martin Creek to the Wellington townsite and trailhead. The trail from Wellington to Windy Point Tunnel is barrier-free and there is another one-mile barrier-free segment near Martin Creek.

This past season work was completed on the Iron Goat Trail Interpretive Site. It features restrooms, parking, interpretive kiosks, and a restored Great Northern caboose. Below is a picture from our October 14th Ribbon Cutting.

Ultimately it is our volunteers who have built the Iron Goat Trail. For over 20 years and thousands of hours volunteers have constructed and maintained over 10 miles of trail much of which is ADA accessible.

Of course with the snow comes new trail damage and this year is no exception. Our volunteers are needed more than ever to make our trail beautiful. The photo below was taken a few months ago about 1/2 mile from the scenic trailhead.

So join the effort! Sign up to volunteer on our events calendar here and, if you haven't already, join as a member of VOW or renew your membership. For more information on the Iron Goat Trail visit www.irongoat.org.

-Sean Bulthaup

Spring 2007 Trail Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:23:00 +0000

The Spring 2007 VOW newsletter has just been published!

View it online here. It features, among other things, pictures of the Iron Goat Trail Interpretive Site, Volunteer thank yous, and a list of upcoming VOW events.

Check it Out!

Iron Goat Trail Season Opener

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:57:00 +0000

You Are Invited

IRON GOAT TRAIL SEASON OPENER
Wednesday April 18, 2007 6:30—9:00 p.m.
The Mountaineers Building, 300 Third West, Seattle

Sign the 2007 Release Form and pick up the 2007 Iron Goat Trail Organization Chart and Work Party Schedule

Make the sandwich of your choice at the Sandwich Smorgasboard and enjoy meeting other volunteers.

At the Meeting hear about:
WSDOT plans for opening the new Iron Goat Interpretive Site.

See special power point presentations:
Construction of the Windy Point Hiker Trail
Maintenance plans to handle the tremendous amount of Winter Storm Damage
Volunteer work needed on the 1951 Great Northern Caboose

Help distribute the 2007 Iron Goat Brochures

Be sure to Sign Up On-Line : www.Trailvolunteers.org or Sign Up by phone: 206-517-3019
Indicate the type of sandwich you would prefer to make for yourself at the Sandwich Smorgasboard:

Beef, Ham, Tuna, Turkey, or Vegetarian

MARTIN CREEK TRAILHEAD DISCOVERY HIKE
See where we will be extending the Iron Goat Trail in 2008 & 2009
Saturday April 14, 2007 10:00 a.m.

Jim Mattson , Great Northern Railway Historian will show you the abutment and footings of the 165’ high trestle and the abutment of the upper trestle over Martin Creek as well as the switchback route used before the Horseshoe Tunnel was completed. It is important to go on this trip as soon after snow melt as possible so you can see where you put your own feet. Vegetation grows rapidly and obscures your view of the footings. You are fortunate to have a knowledgeable guide to tell the story about these fascinating remains of railroad structures.

Bring lunch, beverage and extra clothing in pack. Wear boots and appropriate clothing for the weather.

Be sure to sign up with Sheridan and Richard Botts 425-227-0431 to arrange time to meet and transportation from Bothell Park and Ride.

Interlaken Park

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:46:00 +0000

In case you are new to Volunteers for Outdoor Washington, the main focus of our group is maintaining and constructing trail. While our volunteers are often found working up in the I-90 corridor and on the Iron Goat Trail we also devote a fair amount of our time (especially in the winter months) to urban trail projects in Seattle.

From 2004-2006 VOW worked at Golden Gardens park, completing over 58 work parties and many miles of trail restoration.

This year we have partnered with the City of Seattle: Department of Parks and Recreation to help restore trails at Interlaken Park.

Interlaken Park is one of our original "Olmsted" (An early landscape architectural firm responsible for many prominent park designs through out our country, such as Central park N.Y) designed parks in Seattle. It is a hidden gem that is made up of 51.6 acres of forest habitat.

Since November 2006 at Interlaken we have had 13 work parties and 172 volunteer days for a total of 1010 work hours. As you can see from a few of these pictures our work so far has ranged from re-grading the trail so that it is more durable to heavy rains, removing harmful invasives such as Ivy and Holly, and planting new natives such as Ferns and Hemlocks.

Volunteer work parties will continue at Interlaken until the end of June. Join us Saturdays from 9:30 to 2:30. To sign up visit our events calendar. See you on the trail!

-Sean Bulthaup

VOW Blog Launches

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 14:52:00 +0000

Welcome to the new Volunteers for Outdoor Washington (VOW) blog. I'm Sean Bulthaup, AmeriCorps VISTA member with VOW.

VOW trains our volunteers to be stewards of the environment. We partner with land managers to build trails, restore habitat, and preserve Washington State's rich heritage.

With this blog we hope to provide a quick update on news concerning VOW work parties, events, and current events in trail work.

While the focus will be VOW activities I will occasionally mention other issues going on in the outdoors.

In the next few days I will be highlighting a few of VOW's ongoing projects. Contact me at sean@trailvolunteers.org with suggestions, reactions, and issues with the blog.

And please send me your stories! I love to hear and post stories of work on the trail. Pictures are great too!

Invasives and You

noreply@blogger.com (Sean Bulthaup) — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:47:00 +0000

Two years ago the Seattle PI posted a great article about the urban deforestation effect of invasives like Ivy and Blackberry.

See it here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/247350_urbanforest07.html

Join us at Interlaken as we fight for our urban forests.