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Green Redmond Partnership

Green Redmond becomes the newest member of the Green City Partnerships

Redmond is the newest city to join the Cascade Land  Conservancy’s (CLC) Green City Partnerships Program, the growing regional movement to recognize the need for a coordinated restoration effort of our forested parkland and greenbelts.

The Redmond City Council voted unanimously in December to approve a contract between Redmond and the Cascade Land Conservancy, creating the region’s fourth Green City Partnership.

“We are excited for this opportunity to partner with Cascade Land Conservancy to increase the potential for community building, resource protection, and forest restoration in Redmond,” said Nancy McCormick, Redmond City Council President.

“The Green City program is an important part of The Cascade Agenda,” said Leslie Batten, CLC Green Cities Director.  “We must make our forested parklands as ecologically viable as possible because they help to make our cities and towns great places to live, work and play.”

As a first step, the CLC will establish a baseline of forest condition in approximately 1,200 acres of forested areas within City parks. In depth analysis and restoration efforts will then be initiated on areas rated with a high priority due to their natural quality and high public use.

“Redmond is fortunate to have so many acres of natural areas within parks. Our goal is to share an active role with the citizens of Redmond in the long-term restoration and ongoing stewardship of these areas,” said Teresa Kluver, Redmond Parks Operations Supervisor.

The Green City program marshals volunteers, municipalities and stewardship expertise to eradicate invasive plants and begin a restoration program toward returning areas to native trees and shrubs. The Green City program is modeled after the Green Seattle Partnership between the CLC and the City of Seattle which addresses a serious problem facing Seattle and other cities in our region -- forest canopy loss, threat of invasive species and the potential diminution of the green places that make cities livable.

“The Cascade Agenda is about conservation and great communities,” said Batten. “You can do that at the working-forest level or you can do that at the neighborhood level.  We’re at the neighborhood level.”

Batten said the Green City Partnerships build stewardship programs that involve and engage the community, educate decision makers about the problem and formulate the plans that will over time resolve the problem.  The main elements of a Green City Partnership include:

• Restoration is prioritized based on a forest assessment model developed by the Cascade Land Conservancy.
• Community members become stewards of their local forested park lands and are supported by the City and CLC.
• Decision makers are engaged and actively support restoration and stewardship. 
• A program to educate the community volunteers is established to train volunteers (Forest Steward Program).
• Best practices are shared among community groups so there is less “reinventing the wheel” by each group.
• The Cascade Land Conservancy becomes a kind of central clearing house for community groups; helping them coordinate events, develop restoration plans, work with the press, while providing tools, scheduling help and grant writing expertise along with other facets of an effective program.
  

Redmond joins Seattle, Kirkland and Tacoma in Green City programs partnered with the Cascade Land Conservancy.

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