It is Duwamish Alive!
An Annual Spring Restoration Event
Earth Day, Saturday April 22, 2017
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Where? Multiple locations on the Green-Duwamish river
Planting trees along the Duwamish River at Herrings House Park
Meanwhile Upstream
The sound of water tumbles over boulders or bubbles up quietly from the ground surrounded by forest and bird song. A wild place of sandstone cliffs and moving water the twelve mile long Green River Gorge cools a river that has been tamed above and below its secluded walls. As the river flows through the twelve mile gorge the water is cooled by underground springs and an near old growth forests and narrow cliff walls. The river then meanders through the Green River Valley reclaiming some of it's ancient braided channels as land along in the river valley is returned to the river and restored.
As it Flows Downstream
Its hard to believe that just a few miles downstream of the wild Green River Gorge, the Green—Duwamish River is ghost of it's former self. Warehouses, parking lots, and industrial machines lay where forests and flood plain used to reside. It is corralled into a narrow path and polluted with urban run off as it flows through the cities of Auburn, Kent, Tukwila, and finally into Seattle where it flows into Puget Sound. Salmon are dying before they ever reach their spawning grounds upstream.
Re-Greening the Green
But even there shade and habitat are returning. Communities all along our river are working to reclaim their river. The effort, called "Regreening the Green" is bringing together diverse communities focused on one effort, to restore their river. It is too early to tell whether the efforts will pay off but without them the salmon will continue to die and the water will run polluted from the mountains to the sound.
Hope
But hope like spring renews our efforts and optimism. Duwamish Alive, is an annual spring event. This Saturday, Earth Day, communities along the Green—Duwamish will be gathering along the river and tributaries to clean up trash, turn over dirt, and replant forests and shorelines. There are events all along the Green-Duwamish so if you want to learn more about the river in your backyard and help restore this once magnificent waterway join us for a day of community and giving back.
Mission Accomplished!