Cotton Hill Park

Cotton Hill Park is a 2.6 acre public park in the Forbes Creek Watershed of Kirkland. The park sits within a single-family residential neighborhood and alongside a rail corridor that may include a regional trail and transit system in the future. This year, the Capstone team continues to build upon previous Capstone efforts and supports an active community stewardship of the park. The student teams' goals are to remove invasive species, create habitat for native wildlife, and facilitate succession to a low elevation coniferous forest-wetland mosaic.

Yesler Swamp

Yesler Swamp is a 6-acre parcel and the former outfall of the now disconnected Yesler Creek. It is located near Lake Washington, at the Union Bay Natural Area, on the University of Washington's Seattle campus. The Capstone team has partnered with Friends of Yesler Swamp to reverse habitat degradation and to improve the quality of habitat for wildlife, including native birds and small mammals. This sloped site includes both wetlands and uplands. Check out the Facebook page created by the student team to learn more about their restoration efforts and to join them for a community volunteer work party.

Yesler Swamp Restoration Page

Richmond Beach Saltwater Park

Ravenna Park

Ravenna Park is a major City of Seattle park located in a residential neighborhood north of the University of Washington. Most of the park is dominated by a steep-walled, narrow ravine created by Ravenna Creek. This restoration project is a portion of a larger ravine restoration effort coordinated by the City of Seattle, the GreenSeattle partnership, and the surrounding community. The Capstone team is replacing invasive plant species with a native plant assemblage that will control erosion and initiate succession to a mature wetland forest community.

Pierce College Oak Woodlands

The Pierce College Lakewood campus is located in the southern portion of the Puget Lowlands, where native prairie and oak woodlands were formerly common. The Capstone team is working on the eastern side of the campus to restore an open slope and meadow from its current degraded state. Building upon a multi-year effort, invasive species are being replaced by native species to foster development of an oak – prairie complex. The capstone team is also exploring educational opportunities to involve students of all ages in the restoration process.

Yesler Creek

The Yesler Creek ravine headwater restoration site is located in the Sandpoint neighborhood of Seattle, adjacent to the Burke-Gilman trail. Two Capstone teams are coordinating restoration activities to build upon previous years' efforts upstream. The teams are removing dominant invasive species, using bioengineering to stabilize steep slopes, testing water quality and installing a variety of wetland and upland native plants. The goal climax ecosystem on this site is mixed forested wetland and riparian corridor. Support is provided by the City of Seattle and by the GreenSeattle partnership.

Yesler Creek Restoration Website