Union Bay Natural Area

Get Your Hands Dirty: UBNA Work Party November 7

The Union Bay Natural Area at the UW Botanic Gardens will have its second restoration work party of the autumn quarter at 9AM.

We had over 80 people at the last event, with individuals coming from the Laurelhurst community, ESRM 100, the UW student guild of the Society for Ecological Restoration, ESRM 478, ESRM 362 and an amalgamation of SFR faculty, alumni and grad students. We always hope to improve the depth of our participation and the sense of community within SFR each time we work to improve our backyard novel ecosystem. *If you're in class with a restoration or environmental volunteer requirement this quarter, then this event will fulfill that requirement.*

The UBNA work party group will stage at the kiosk adjacent to Merrill Hall (west side, off Wahkiakum Lane) at 8:45am. We'll run a short work party from 9am to 11am, working on the 2007 ecological restoration plots and the SFR Alumni's Centennial Grove. If you're not sure what the UBNA is or what goes on there, please have a look here for more information. To ensure a great day, please bring a water bottle and some work gloves and dress for the weather.

Any questions can be directed to Nate Hough-Snee: nwhs@u.washington.edu

Learning from a Landfill

Congratulations to UW graduate students Justin Howell and Nate Hough-Snee for their article, "Learning from a Landfill," which appears in SERNews (23:2), the newsletter for the Society of Ecological Restoration International. Read the full article here!

Union Bay Natural Area and Shoreline Management Guidelines

UW Botanic Gardens is accepting public comments on its April 2009 draft of the Union Bay Natural Area and Shoreline Management Guidelines. This update to the 1996 management plan includes a number of guidelines and specific recommended management actions to achieve the long-term goals for the area. The new draft also assesses the conditions of different sub-areas, including sections of the Loop Trail and the Unmanaged Wildlife Area along Lake Washington. Recommendations include adding native plants, maximizing habitat diversity, and increasing and coordinating teaching and research in the Union Bay Natural Area.

The public comment period has closed.

Full text of Draft Guidelines (2.53MB)

Individual sections of the guidelines area also available for downloading.

Hazardous poplar removal

Due to safety issues, UW Botanic Gardens has removed two hazardous Black poplar trees (Populus trichocarpa) on the south east side of the UBNA loop trail. One tree presented a potential pedestrian hazard due to amount of beaver damage; it leaned over the trail. The second had significant beaver damage and was removed to control its fall.

The stumps of both trees were shaped to mimic beaver herbivory.

The Union Bay Natural Area is a public wildlife area, natural restoration laboratory, and an important habitat next to Lake Washington. At 74 acres, with 4 miles of shoreline, it is the second largest natural system left on the lake. More than 30 years of restoration have turned this former landfill into a diverse system of meadows, woods, and wetlands. Considered one of the best bird-watching sites in the city of Seattle, over 200 species of birds have been sighted here.

The Union Bay Natural Area is managed by UW Botanic Gardens to maintain and enhance plants, wildlife and landscape values while serving as an outdoor laboratory for research, teaching and public service. Questions about UBNA should be directed to ubna@u.washington.edu or 206-543-8616.

Read all about it: Dispatches from a Blue Tube Forest

Kern Ewing and Fred Hoyt, UW Botanic Gardens