Volunteers sacrifice a Saturday to help forest grow for the future

West Seattle resident Larrie Matthews planted her shovel in the West Duwamish Greenbelt Saturday to help offset human carbon use and improve her neighborhood.

"I think the quality of life in West Seattle is enhanced by this," she said.

If Matthews, 47, had not volunteered Saturday, she would have been at home, paying bills and cleaning with her husband.

"We'll continue to come out," she said.

About a dozen volunteers arrived at a Nature Consortium-sponsored work party to do the same. They donned wool caps and thick fleece to ward off the brisk morning air.

They spent hours pulling the roots of invasive species and planting trees in a slice of the 500-acre greenbelt, which is Seattle's largest forest.

The Duwamish River and industrial areas are located on the eastern side of the forest. Homes and apartments sit to its west. The West Seattle Bridge resides to the north.

"It's a buffer zone. It mitigates sound and pollution," said Mark Tomkiewicz, the group's restoration project director.

"Forests clean our air and water. ... If you take away all the clean water, we're dead."

Saturday's work effort was held behind Cooper Elementary School on Southwest Genesee Street.

Tomkiewicz, who goes by the nickname "buphalo," -- pronounced buffalo, but spelled creatively -- said he tries to make the events accessible to city residents. He notes that the forest can be reached by public bus.

The gray morning brought a chill to volunteers, who started by digging up Himalayan blackberry roots and tossing them on blue tarps. City trucks would later haul the debris away.

This type of berry can overrun native plants, Tomkiewicz said. If that happens, the forest would lack plant diversity.

"Native animals depend on native species," he said. "Diversity strengthens the ecosystem."

Josh Mahar, a 23-year-old Seattle resident, learned about the group from the Internet and has volunteered since January.

"I think the Duwamish area is one of the most neglected natural environments in Seattle," he said. "It's important to help areas where we live."

Lake Forest Park resident Brad Keefe, 40, brought his wife and two children to plant trees Saturday. They are trying to offset carbon emissions on behalf of Americans who will be flying to a medicinal plant conference in Brazil in May.

Conference supporters are trying to plant 3,200 trees worldwide before it starts.

Keefe, dressed in yellow rain pants and rubber boots, said he likes how the Nature Consortium provides a place to plant trees and provides long-term care for them.

"It's like plugging into something that's working well," he said.

As the volunteers cleared roots, Tomkiewicz maneuvered around branches to stick about 50 small orange flags in the forest soil.

Afternoon volunteers would replace the flags with Grand Fir and Shore Pine trees.

For Tomkiewicz, 32, Saturday's work party continued a stream of regular restoration efforts in the forest. This year, he hopes to have over 125 outings in the greenbelt.

His group has been working in the forest for about six years but only started in this specific area in January.

The University of Washington once owned this land, he said, but the school's plans to build an arboretum on it never materialized.

Before that, he believes the U.S. government used the area as a missile base.

In other greenbelt areas, he said, volunteers have found cement foundations with large hooks. Tomkiewicz thinks they once anchored large weather balloons to stop airplanes from attacking Boeing Field.

Tomkiewicz hopes others will join them. If volunteers want to spend their birthdays clearing invasive species, he will help them celebrate.

"I'll even buy the cake," he said.

UPCOMING EVENTS: