2024 Marymoor Park Recap and Goals
Written by Alice Xing, Marymoor Coordinator
In 2024, the monthly Marymoor habitat restoration workparty had 237 volunteers. We planted 131 native shrubs and trees, including bigleaf maples, Garry oaks, Oregon grapes, Nootka roses, and Western red cedars. We spread almost 70 cubic yards of mulch and removed over 50 cubic yards of invasive species like common hawthorn, Himalayan blackberry, and reed canary grass. This work to increase biodiversity provides food and habitat for native and migratory birds – Marymoor park is a big park with protected environment as well as an important piece of the Pacific flyway.
We meet at Lot G in Marymoor park at 9am by the red Eastside Audubon kiosk. I get people signed in, with parking passes if they need them, and give an introduction to who we are and what we’re doing that day. We then pass out tools and gloves as needed and get to work – we might be planting native species, or mulching previous plantings, or cutting and uprooting invasive species. It can be strenuous work, but we each work at our own pace and take breaks as needed. We start cleaning up and putting tools away at 11:30 or 11:45 so that we can be done at noon. Recently, we’ve started sharing feedback and reflections as a group before dispersing.
Mushroom at Marymoor Park
Being at the workparty is a lot of fun – we get distracted by the birds, scenery, and wildlife, in a good way! Sometimes we discuss whether the bird silhouetted in the tree over there is a robin or a cedar waxwing. We’ve seen cute furry neighbors like a coyote in the park and the occasional field mouse in our shed, and of course the dogs passing by in the dog park and on leash on the trails. In the fall, we see interesting mushrooms.
Volunteers at Marymoor Park planting Oregon Grape and Nootka Roses, December 2024
It’s fun to play outside in the dirt!
Some of our goals for 2025 include:
Savannah Sparrow by Alice Xing
Maintaining our work from the previous 18 years – keeping Scotch Broom under control, mulching to protect our recent, less-established plantings, laying down cardboard and mulch to control invasive Reed Canary Grass, and doing other maintenance.
Getting the invasive common Hawthorn saplings and trees under control in our meadow. We need to protect the meadow, which is an important habitat for ground nesting birds like the Savannah sparrow during April-September.
Updating and replacing our old, sun-bleached signs around the Audubon bird loop. This includes the signs marking the main trail as well as interpretive signs for the surrounding environment.
Developing a more detailed suitable-plant list for habitat restoration, to guide our future plantings.
Setting up a Chronolog site, such that passerby can contribute photos for a sort of timelapse of our newly planted Bigleaf Maple grove.
Expanding our shed storage and re-organize our current supplies.
Lastly, we hope to expand our leadership team! Please let me (Alice, at alicewxing@outlook dot com) or another leader know if you would like to get more deeply involved.