Sammamish youth help make the Greenway greener
July 7, 2010
By Christopher Huber
In a remote section of Lake Sammamish State Park, Matthew Fisher, of Sammamish, wielded a shovel and work gloves June 29. Out of school for the summer, he and other youth from the surrounding area uprooted, once and for all, scores of invasive Himalayan blackberry vines.
They spent the week learning about environmental stewardship and working to preserve areas at the state park and on Squak Mountain, near Issaquah. It’s all part of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust summer camp program.
Matthew Fisher, of Sammamish, holds up a freshly uprooted blackberry vine June 29 at Lake Sammamish State Park. Photo by Christopher Huber
“I know this park clean-up is a good thing to be doing,” Fisher said as he dug. “I like doing community service.”
The weeklong program runs for nine sessions through Sept. 3 and is meant to simply get local youth outside and thinking about their environment, said Christine Scheele, youth event coordinator. Although they spent the majority of their week clearing invasive plants, the group of 12 also learned how to identify various plants and animals. They also get to hang out and play a little bit during the six-hour daily routine.
“Some of them get really into plant identification and bird identification,” Schele said as she worked with the youth to clear blackberry vines.
Fisher had done a volunteer project with the Greenway Trust in 2009, he said.
He decided to do another week session, partly because he got 30 community service hours applied to school requirements, and partly because he gained a new appreciation for the environment.
The projects are a lot of work, he said, but worth the time and effort.
“It’s a nice way to help the native plants grow (here),” Fisher said.
As parents might be the reason some of the youth are there, Scheele said many of them actually signed up of their own volition.
“A lot of it is kid initiated,” Scheele said. “My question was, ‘are they really interested in this?’ They are.”
The purpose of the Lake Sammamish State Park project was to help restore salmon habitat in the Issaquah Creek, said Margaret Ullman, the organization’s volunteer program coordinator.
“Once on site they become really energized,” she said. “We see a good number of them come back again.”
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust was founded in 1991 to help protect land in the 100-mile stretch from Seattle to Cle Elum along Interstate 90, according to the organization’s website.
It works with various government agencies, companies and nonprofit organizations throughout the state to restore or maintain public and private land areas, such as farms, lakes and rivers, historic sites, parks, trails and wildlife habitats.
It also acts as a mediator or catalyst to help major landowners, foresters, business representatives, recreation groups and elected officials, purchase land for environmental stewardship and educational purposes, Ullman said.
“We’re helping them achieve their goals,” she said.
Other than the summer youth camps, the Greenway Trust runs various programs throughout the year that provide youth with opportunities in environmental stewardship and education.
Program coordinators work with community and school clubs, sports teams, faith-based groups and the Boy and Girl Scouts on mid-week and weekend projects like maintaining area trails.
The organization also works with schools to organize field trips to the greenway. Even whole families have volunteered with the Greenway Trust, Ullman said.
Youth involved in the volunteer programs tend to take their newfound knowledge home. They end up teaching their parents how to identify native or invasive plants, for example.
“It becomes a teaching and family bonding experience,” she said.
Visit http://mtsgreenway.org/volunteer/youth to learn more about the organization’s volunteer programs.
Reporter Christopher Huber can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com.
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