Thanks to the efforts of 28 dedicated volunteers on Orca Recovery Day, our nursery’s bulrush population is looking better than ever! The positive impact of this work goes far beyond the hundreds of new plants that were propagated for KCD’s nursery.
Highschool freshman Siena is a dedicated Scout with Boy Scout Troop 499, passionate about making a difference in his community. An avid environmentalist, Siena chose to focus his Eagle scout project on restoring natural habitat for the betterment of people, plants, and orcas alike. Working alongside KCD’s restoration experts, Siena’s project aims to restore and maintain critical marine shoreline habitat at Seahurst Park in Burien.
This Orca Recovery Day, utilizing the KCD nursery’s volunteer exchange program, Siena and his Troop tended to an important community resource while securing a stunning variety of native plants free of charge. The plethora of native plants acquired from Troop 499’s volunteer work will be planted at Seahurst Park as part of Siena’s restoration project.
For his project, Siena will shade out the pesky reed canary grass that is currently taking over the site by planting sustainable native species like salmonberry and shore pine. The native plants implemented by Siena’s project will make the site an attractive facet of Seahurst Park’s landscape while also restoring the shoreline habitat’s natural biodiversity, providing benefits to local ecology such as food and habitat for wildlife, climate mitigation, and improved water quality.
A special thanks to all who participated in Orca Recovery Day. Whether its sawing apart bulrush roots or planning a restoration project, Siena and Boy Scout Troop 499 have shown that when it comes to helping local ecology you can count on an Eagle scout.
Chloe Steffes, 2023-2024 AmeriCorps Education Specialist