Photo credit: Joy Chan

On a cloudy Saturday morning during Earth Week, LSRC board members Peter Averill and Joy Chan joined about two dozen other volunteers at Bellevue's Wilburton Hill Park for a work party to remove invasive species from the park. This particular work party was popular (likely due to Earth Week), and only the earliest registrants were able to secure a spot, which limited the number of LSRC members who were able to attend.

Wilburton Hill Park at just over 100 acres is Bellevue's largest upland park. Bordering the Bellevue Botanical Garden and connected to Kelsey Creek Park via the Lake to Lake Trail, the park is popular amongst recreationalists. With its wider smooth trails, rolling terrain, and abundant forest canopy, it is also a favorite amongst LSRC runners, with several Sunday field trip runs held at the park over the years.

However, there was no running this April 19. Departing from the main parking lot, Bellevue Parks employees led the group about 1/3 mile through the park, until reaching an area with flagging on the left. Going past the flagging and off trail about 50 feet, the group of volunteers quickly saw the extent of their project - an infestation of English ivy (Hedera helix) had overgrown the forest floor, choking out other ground species and snaking its vines up some of the trees. The task was simple - pull out as much ivy as one could without removing the native plants.

The work was challenging but rewarding. Volunteers spread out into different sections, with some tackling removal of ivy from trees in pairs or triplets and the remainder pulling vines up and out from the ground. Oftentimes, it took multiple tugs to unravel the mess of vines and more yanks to dislodge the roots; fortunately, English ivy has no thorns, so the only risk was falling over backwards should one pull too hard. What started as a cool day seemed to quickly warm up with the energy needed to continuously pull, and after two hours, the group had made good progress, culminating in many pairs of sweaty hands and three rafts of broken ivy piled nearly five feet high. 

Bellevue Parks concluded the work party with the planting of a sequoia tree. Although not native to Western Washington, the Park employee explained that sequoias are especially hardy, and planting them throughout the park should help preserve the natural habitat should climate change eventually wreck havoc on our native species. The volunteers gathered around as a hole was dug and the sequoia was placed into its new home, arms already stretched upwards towards its new forest family. Soon the forest will start caring for its newest child, much as Mother Earth has taken care of us for millennia.

Earth Week is short, but our duty towards our planet is forever. Environmental protection and sustainability takes many forms, and we hope you were able to take action - however small or big - in whatever way suited you best.

Photo Credit: Joy Chan