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Connect Art and Nature with the Nature Consortium |
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How many times have you crossed the bridge into West Seattle and noticed a large, green swath of vegetation on the hillside along the west bank of the Duwamish River? It looks pretty nice in contrast to the heavy industry in the area, doesn’t it? You are enjoying part of the nearly 500 acres of the West Duwamish Greenbelt. The Greenbelt is the largest contiguous forest within the Seattle city limits and the Nature Consortium is dedicated to its long-term stewardship.
The Nature Consortium has been working for the past 13 years to connect people, arts, and nature – especially in the Greenbelt. Last year, the Mountaineers Foundation approved grant monies that the Consortium used to support their upwards of 20 work parties each month. Our grant bought over $4000 worth of native plants and trees that were infused into newly cleared land in the Greenbelt. When I received the grant request I was immediately intrigued by the addition of live music to their work parties. Oh yes-music to work by! Nature Consortium performing artists come out to play in the woods to help the volunteers view the forest in an artistic and creative way.
Connecting art and nature is a passion for Executive Director Nancy Whitlock. Nancy served as guide for Mountaineers Foundation board trustees Nancy Neyenhouse and Dave LeBlanc on a beautiful February afternoon. As we walked along the gravel trail, the Director’s enthusiasm was electric. Having been logged in a previous life, the Greenbelt inherited lots and lots of invasive species of plants, developing blackberry patches that were taller than the armies of volunteers donating their time to invasive removal. As we walked through those areas, the transformation to an open, recently planted conifer forest was amazing.
Not only does the Nature Consortium plan several volunteer opportunities weekly, but the organization brings art into the community in a variety of ways. It is the driving force behind the Arts in Nature Festival held each August. This annual event features crafts, music, and dance – with fire dancing in last year’s festival. The Consortium also conducts a year-round arts education program providing free after-school and summer classes for low-income and subsidized public housing communities in King County.
The Consortium office is located in the Youngstown Cultural Center, a renovated school building that houses non-profits, retail space, and live-in artists -- a perfect combination for the Nature Consortium.
For more information about the Consortium, its work parties, the Arts in Nature Festival, or The Youth Art Program stop by their website at http://www.naturec.org/. |
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Thank You for Your Support |
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A special "thank you" to the many of you who support the Mountaineers Foundation through your generous donations and countless volunteer hours. With your help, we have been able continue our stewardship of the Rhododendron Preserve and provide grants to many worthwhile conservation and environmental education projects.
 In 2011, a key focus of our outreach efforts will be to raise the funds necessary to exercise an option to purchase land from the Ueland Tree Farm, adjacent to the Preserve. Some of this land is currently part of the 100 acre conservation easement granted to the Foundation in 2009.
Another important project in 2011 is to complete the remediation efforts on Hidden Ranch, which will require many volunteer hours as well as financial support. You can read about the progress on our blog.
As always, we will continue to provide grants to worthwhile convervation and environmental projects of the Mountaineers Club and other community groups. The first grant round of 2011 will close for applications on February 1.
If you have not yet had a chance to contribute, please take a moment to donate now. Thank you for your support. |
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Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition |
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by Nancy Neyenhouse, Community Grants Committee Chair
What images come to mind when Leavenworth, WA is mentioned? Bavarian village? Christmas lights? Wine tasting? After my extremely informative visit with Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition Director, Annie Schmidt, I will always conjure up images of bushwhacking up a hillside in the Chumstick watershed and learning the ins and outs of stand examination and forest fuels reduction! In 2009, the Mountaineers
Director Annie Schmidt, Nancy Neyenhouse, Volunteer Steve Raymond
It was a mere 97 degrees as I met Director Annie Schmidt in the parking lot of the fire station on the outskirts of Leavenworth. I had in tow my daughter, Jill, and friend, Jan. We all piled into Annie’s 4-wheel drive vehicle and headed up the road, into the hills. The 4-wheel drive was a good thing because we kept going up, up, and up. Finally, when the paved road ran out and the dirt road began, we stopped and met up with uber-volunteer, Steve Raymond. Steve drives a wood/gas hybrid jeep (that’s a whole new story!) and appropriately, is also the chair of the Coalition’s Woody Biomass Utilization Committee. And we still continued UP the road!
As we drove, Annie stopped the car and pointed out different stands and what makes one stand of trees
Various tools purchased through Mountaineers Foundation grant
We stopped near a steep hillside, rubbed lavender oil, which we were told is a natural insect repellant, all over ourselves and headed up through the brush. Plots have been determined throughout the project area and we were to collect data on this particular one. Through Foundation support, the Coalition was able to purchase necessary data-collection equipment and those items were put to good us this day. Did you know that with a diameter tape one can measure the circumference of a tree and the diameter is automatically calculated? The snazzy GPS the Foundation purchased allowed pin point accuracy in finding the plot, and, more importantly, the car when we were finished! I proudly, and with great effort, used the increment bore to determine one of the plot trees to be a very healthy, 46-years old. Jill tramped 75 feel up slope, and using another instrument, determined my tree to be 78 feet tall. As this data, plus more, is collected throughout the project area, the forest service is able to calculate stand type and health, which trees to take down and which to leave.
The Coalition has begun a new program, Private Land Cost-Share which brings private landowners together with fire professionals to develop a plan for conducting fuels reduction activities on their land. Land owners submit an application that is reviewed and ranked by Coalition partners. Ranking includes strategic location in the watershed, fire equipment access, water availability, and more. Once an application is approved,
Counting rings in bore sampling to determine age of tree
The Chumstick Wildfire Stewardship Coalition is a collaborative partnership involving many organizations, including local landowners and residents, local fire district members, industry representatives, County Commissioners, as well as the United States Forest Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, Conservation Northwest. Their mission is to protect lives, property and infrastructure in the Chumstick watershed from wildfire. The Coalition works closely with public entities, to ensure that complementary fuels reduction work occurs on private and public lands in the area. For more information, please visit their website at ChumstickCoalition.org. |
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Rhododendron Preserve Property Acquisition |
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 The Foundation has purchased a critical buffer property on the Preserve made possible by the generous donation from James Lea. The property is approx 1/3 of an acre very close to the driveway entrance to the property on the Seabeck highway. The property contains a 1400 sq ft, 2 br house is excellent condition and a separate 2-car garage with a partially finished mother-in-law apartment above. The property is a critical acquisition as it places ownership of the top of a gully just to the North and East of the Forest Theater. The Rhododendron Preserve committee will develop a plan for use of the property shortly.
The property was listed for sale in March 2010 at an asking price of $234, 000. The price was dropped twice. Our offer of $175,000 was the only offer extended to the buyers and was accepted. The sale closed on August 23, 2010.
Our very great thanks goes out to James Lea for his generosity that made this property purchase possible for the Rhododendron Preserve. Thanks Jim!
Help us further protect this precious resource with a donation to our Rhododendron Preserve Fund.
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Weaverling Spit Ivy Eradication |
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by Nancy Neyenhouse, Community Grants Committee Chair
I left Seattle as a few clouds covered our almost forgotten blue sky. Once I hit the convergent zone around Everett, it was rain the rest of the way to Anacortes.
Area of Weaverling Spit before English ivy removal
After English ivy removal
The Mountaineers Foundation’s 2008 and 2009 grants were awarded to support the removal of ivy from the Weaverling Spit, the only remaining unarmored shoreline left in Fidalgo Bay and an important cultural site for the Samish Indian Nation. When the project began, ivy fully covered two acres of the six acre spit with a thick mat, choking out native understory plants and climbing up and threatening 200-year old Douglas Firs. Small cabins built over the years were totally engulfed by the ivy. A hard working corrections crew removed a whopping 27 tons of ivy over 12 work days during those two years.
Foxglove returning to the understory
Please visit the Natural Resources tab at samishtribe.nsn.us for more information about this and other successful projects both in progress and completed by the Samish Indian Nation. |
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100 acres of protected land added to Rhododendron Preserve |
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The Mountaineers Foundation is pleased to announce the acceptance of a gift of a conservation easement from Ueland Tree Farm, LLC protecting approximately 100 acres of critical watershed near Chico and Lost Creeks in perpetuity. The conservation areas are in the northern portion of the Ueland Tree Farm property in central Kitsap County and borders the Mountaineers Foundation Rhododendron Preserve. The easements include critical portions of the Lost Creek and Chico Creek watersheds. This generous gift ensures that riparian zones adjacent to these watercourses in the Rhododendron Preserve, near the Mountaineers Forest Theater, are preserved in perpetuity and is another step toward ensuring the long term health of these important salmon-bearing stream systems. The agreement also includes an option for the Foundation to purchase 68 acres of Ueland’s property as an addition to the Preserve.
 “We first approached Craig Ueland about purchasing this acreage when Ueland Tree Farm acquired the property as part of its larger purchase of over 1,700 acres in 2004,” says James Gordon, President of the Mountaineers Foundation. “The protection afforded these areas demonstrates Ueland Tree Farm’s commitment to environmentally responsible management of their property. We have continually had a positive relationship with Craig Ueland and his associates, and we hope to continue it in the future. I believe there is still more opportunity for mutual benefit as we work with our neighbor in conserving the natural beauty of the Preserve.”
“The Chico Creek basin is a special place, one that deserves to be protected for future generations,” added Craig Ueland, Managing Member of Ueland Tree Farm, LLC. “As a major landowner in the watershed, we take our stewardship responsibilities seriously and are honored to join with the Mountaineers Foundation to preserve this property.”
The fundraising effort to exercise the purchase option for the 68 acres will begin immediately.
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