Help Tacoma get green

Second annual Green Tacoma Day hopes to draw 500 volunteers to local park site

The Tacoma Weekly -September 24, 2009

GREEN DAY. Volunteers with the Green Tacoma Partnership help restore Julia’s Gulch, which was the focus of the first Green Tacoma Day last year. This year, volunteers can choose from work parties and educational opportunities at sites throughout Tacoma for the second Green Tacoma Day Sept. 26.

For the second year, the Green Tacoma Partnership is giving Tacomans a chance to help make their city a little greener.

At the second annual Green Tacoma Day, participants will be joining thousands of Americans across the country in celebration of National Public Lands Day.

From 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 26, volunteers can take part in a variety of restoration and educational opportunities regarding public lands around the city.

“We want to get people outside in Tacoma and see the parks and spaces in their backyard that they might not know about,” Chris Gilliand, project manager for the Green Tacoma Partnership, said. “We want to promote different sites throughout the city.”

Gilliand works with the Cascade Land Conservancy, a member of the partnership that includes the city of Tacoma, Metro Parks and various organizations, such as the Tahoma Audubon Society and Citizens for a Healthy Bay. Green Tacoma partners work on restoration and clean up of natural sites and public lands throughout the year.

Gilliand hopes that the Green Tacoma event will entice those not already involved in the partnership to come out for the day, and hopefully, become regular volunteers with the partnership.

The first Green Tacoma Day was held at Julia’s Gulch in North Tacoma and a little more than 100 people attended. This year’s event is held at scattered sites throughout the city, each with an educational component or restoration opportunity for visitors and volunteers. Local park gurus will lead tours and help guide visitors through work efforts. Organizers hope to lure 500 people out for this year’s event.

Gilliand affirmed that while creating long-term volunteers is the over-arching desire for the event, simply creating awareness for the neighbors of the city’s natural areas is key in the partnership’s mission.

“If you live close to something like Puget Creek, you may go for a hike, take dog for a walk, but you might not know that the area needs help and we may lose that park,” he said. Educating the community on the importance of protecting and restoring certain areas is a goal for the day.

Volunteers can learn about how to help make their favorite public places healthier and more beautiful, and partake in walking, biking and birding tours to revel in the natural beauty of T-town’s parks, gulches and shorelines.

Restoration events include the removal of invasive species, such as blackberry and ivy, at Julia’s Gulch, Oak Tree Park, Point Defiance Park, Puget Creek Restoration Society and Tacoma Nature Center.

There will be garbage removal efforts at Swan Creek, trail maintenance and interpretive sign work at Tacoma Community College’s nature area and flower planting and litter pick up at Wapato Park.

Blueberry Park will be open for informational tours and berry picking and First Creek Neighbors will lead informational tours around the creek. Meadow Park Golf Course will host a $5 pancake breakfast from 9–11 a.m. and offer prairie demonstration planting throughout the day. Watch birds at Titlow Beach at 9 a.m. or go on a nature walk at 11 a.m. Check out University of Puget Sound’s Live Green House, which demonstrates what the Tacoma area can do together, like using solar panels, rain barrels and recycling, to promote sustainability. 

“Try to come out, see and learn more about what’s in your neighborhood,” Gilliand said. “There’s a lot more to a lot of these places that some of these partners can show you and teach you about.”

For a complete list of activities and how to RSVP, please visit http://www.greentacoma.org.