Groups Join Forces to Restore the Tolt River

CARNATION – On Saturday March 22 and 29,volunteers will head out to the Tolt River to pull scotch broom and blackberry in preparation for next fall’s tree planting. The 3.5-acre restoration project site is owned by Girl Scouts Camp River Ranch and Remlinger Farms. The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust was awarded a $25,000 Five Star grant from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with matching funds from Carter Subaru’s Shoreline dealership, to coordinate the restoration work and is looking for volunteers to help get the work done.

 

Camp River Ranch is a 440-acre facility along the Tolt River that provides youth programs for diverse Puget Sound students. Remlinger Farms is a 350-acre working farm adjacent to the camp that provides locally-grown agricultural products to communities in Puget Sound, and offers educational tours for schools and other groups. Both Camp River Ranch and Remlinger Farms are excited to bring community members out to restore the banks of the Tolt.

 

The restoration project area consists of sparse deciduous trees surrounded by invasive plants including blackberry, scotch broom, and reed canary grass. The project includes control of the invasive plants and installation of a minimum of 1,000 conifers. These trees will provide a long-lasting forest and will help to reduce river temperatures by providing year-round shade.

 

The Tolt River is an important resource for the community and region. It is one of two tributaries to the Snoqualmie River that provides critical spawning habitat for Chinook salmon, a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Approximately twenty percent of the Snoqualmie watershed’s Chinook spawn in the Tolt riverbed.

 

In addition to habitat restoration, students from Riverview Learning Center and Snoqualmie Valley Elementary will get an in-class lesson from Greenway educators about water, soil, trees, and wildlife. Following the in-class time, students will go out to the river where they will be able to connect what they learned in class to the landscape.

 

This project is part of the Snoqualmie Strategy, a community initiative launched in fall 2013 by Stewardship Partners and the Greenway Trust focused on bringing together the many interests in the valley, finding opportunities for common ground and collaboration, and completing actions to ensure the long-term sustainability of the farms, forests, wildlife and people in the valley.

 

To learn more about our work in the Snoqualmie Valley, or to sign up for a volunteer event, visit: mtsgreenway.org

 

 

ABOUT THE MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY:

 

The Mountains to Sound Greenway is the 1.5 million-acre landscape connecting Puget Sound and central Washington. The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust leads and inspires action to conserve and enhance the Greenway, ensuring a long-term balance between people and nature. Founded in 1991, the Greenway Trust works to promote public land acquisitions, connect a continuous regional trail system, preserve rural lifestyles, teach people of all ages about forests and wildlife, and mobilize thousands of volunteers to care for the landscape.  The Greenway Trust is leading a bipartisan campaign to have the U.S. Congress designate the Mountains to Sound Greenway as a National Heritage Area, learn more at GreenwayHeritage.org.

 

Contacts:       

Jennifer McKeown, Snoqualmie Program Manager, 206-373-1601, jennifer.mckeown@mtsgreenway.org

Emily Neff, Communications Director, 206-382-5565 x32, emily.neff@mtsgreenway.org

 

For more information:mtsgreenway.org

 

Photos available upon request.

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