5/17: Restoration Projects and Trail Maintenance during Day in the Greenway, followed by a celebration for volunteers with a picnic at Lake Sammamish State Park.

Volunteers from the Issaquah REI store, the Sierra Club and Bank of America were joined by many individuals to work on projects at Cybil Madeline Park in Issaquah, Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island, Squak Mountain and the Swamp Trail at Tiger Mountain.

Jennie, Luke, Gordon, and Oliver spent Saturday morning with a group from Interfaith Youth Initiative removing invasive species from an area on the historic Tollgate farm property.  With over 30 volunteers we were able to get quite a bit accomplished!  We removed blackberry, tansy ragwort, and butterfly bush in an about a 4,000 square foot area, while clearing around lots of newly-planted native trees and shrubs.  Thanks to everyone who helped out!

5/3: Trail Maintenance @ Tiger Mountain (Issaquah)

Margaret and Skyler led a successful trail work party on the Swamp trail last Saturday, with a great group of volunteers coming out to help re-route this popular interpretive trail.  They constructed 20 feet of turnpike, 8 feet of new retaining wall, and excavated 75 feet of new trail  Here's an excerpt from one of the volunteer's feedback forms:

We should pay you to volunteer!

We help construct new sections of trail, added a turnpike, rebuilt a rock wall, and fitted a culvert.

A very fun experience and plenty of exercise to top if off!

Yup.  I learned to tell the difference between organic and mineral soil and that you shouldn't take away more than a 1/4 of a tree's roots.

I'm looking forward to future Mountains to Sound projects!

Find out more about who might be leading your next event here.  We hope to see you on the trail or at a restoration site soon!