King County provides grants to protect, improve habitat and environmental equity

Water quality will be protected and natural areas restored in communities around Puget Sound, thanks to a series of grants awarded by the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP).

After a record-setting initial round of 35 grant applications, DNRP is funding 20 projects across the County through two programs – “WaterWorks” and “Wild Places in City Spaces.” Grant recipients include community organizations, service clubs and local governments.

This year, DNRP gave special consideration to proposals promoting “environmental equity” by targeting communities where the median household income is below the King County median, and where jobs and volunteering opportunities are provided to benefit at-risk populations.

In light of heightened unemployment rates, King County expanded its definition of “environmental equity” to include the promotion of “green collar” careers in sustainable development and habitat restoration. Green collar jobs, touted as a pathway out of poverty for at risk populations, are jobs that lead the way to a sustainable future in renewable energy, energy conservation, sustainable development and habitat restoration.

Ten of the 20 awardees were granted the new environmental equity points.

“Environmental equity is a concept that seeks to ensure that no group or community is made to bear a disproportionate share of the environmental hazards and pollution simply because it lacks the political clout to do anything about it,” said King County Executive Kurt Triplett.

Grant funding recipients that will help improve environmental equity include the Seattle Conservation Corps, which will train and certify 10 chronically unemployed adults to install a rain garden and green roof at the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden. This Central District park serves special needs children.

Another group, the Friends of Lewis Park, will engage neighbors and at-risk youth in an extensive reforestation project near the Beacon Hill terminus of the Mountains to Sound trail.

“WaterWorks” grants of up to $75,000 are available for on-the-ground community projects that protect or improve watersheds, streams, river, lakes wetlands or tidewater in King County.

“Wild Places in City Spaces” provides grants up to $10,000 to volunteer organizations, community groups and government agencies for projects reforesting urban areas and restoring habitat within the Urban Growth Area of King County and incorporated cities.

More information on King County grants is available online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/grants-and-awards/grant-exchange.aspx.

Grant Recipients

City of Kirkland – WaterWorks: $50,000
The Natural Yard Care Neighborhoods program that lost its funding last year is being continued in a private-public partnership spearheaded by the City of Kirkland. The program’s workshops teach neighbors that “by working with nature in your yard, you can have a great looking landscape that's easier to care for and healthier for families, pets, wildlife and our great Northwest environment.”

City of Tukwila – WaterWorks: $22,200
This grant will fund hands-on training for property owners whose back yards contain wetlands, streams, and/or their buffers. They will learn techniques for protecting natural resources by working on a demonstration stream rehabilitation project at Tukwila City Hall.

Friends of Lewis Park – Wild Places in City Spaces: $10,000
The Friends of Lewis Park group will engage at-risk youth in an extensive reforestation project near Seattle’s Beacon Hill terminus of the Mountains to Sound trail. In its previous, over-grown state, the park harbored significant criminal activity.

Friends of the Burke Gilman Trail – Wild Places in City Spaces: $10,000
Seattle’s beloved multi-user trail is getting an environmental facelift. Habitat enhancement and reforestation will take place along the Burke Gilman Trail from 40th Avenue Northeast to Northeast 65th Street in the University District and Bryant neighborhoods of Seattle, including invasive vegetation removal, native revegetation, community building and education.

Friends of the Cedar River Watershed – WaterWorks: $45,000
Teams of students from a variety of schools will take a leadership role in watershed protection by creating “The Report,” an annual video broadcast featuring student-generated information about the state of local watersheds. Additionally students will get their hands dirty through on-the-ground water quality restoration projects.

Friends of the Hylebos – Wild Places in City Spaces: $10,000
The Friends of the Hylebos group is creating a forest management plan and tackling another phase of restoration to create a “functional habitat corridor that will provide habitat for native salmon and wildlife, and beautiful, protected open space for community quality of life and passive recreation” In Federal Way.

Kent School District – Wild Places in City Spaces: $5,500
The popular Environmental Science classes at Kent-Meridian High School have received funding to continue an overhaul of the campus’ landscape into a series of Pacific Northwest habitat gardens and complete construction of their outdoor classroom. Students will also tackle an ambitious restoration project in the adjacent Campus Park in Kent.

Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation – Wild Places in City Spaces: $9,850
In recognition of the importance of pristine buffer zones for watershed health, the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation will use their funding to remove 830 square feet of impervious asphalt in the buffer of a tributary stream to McAleer Creek, remove invasive vegetation, and replant with native vegetation.

Nature Consortium – WaterWorks: $50,000
Streams and wetlands in the largest remaining contiguous forest in Seattle, the West Duwamish Greenbelt, will be improved by at-risk youth and community members engaged in volunteer restoration activities and environmental education.

NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center – WaterWorks: $28,358
A portion of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center’s parking lot in Seattle’s Montlake area will be removed and replaced with permeable pavement allowing for on-site drainage and filtration, while a natural riparian buffer and stormwater filter will be created using native vegetation.

Othello Park Alliance – Wild Places in City Spaces: $10,000
The Othello Park Alliance, will work with youth from the Vocational Education Service Training program to remove invasive weeds, plant native species, and prevent erosion in Othello Playground in the Rainier Valley.

Puget Sound Restoration Fund – WaterWorks: $50,000
The Puget Sound Restoration Fund, eager to expand our knowledge of how to cost-effectively control aquatic nutrient loads will grow mussels that can filter out nutrients and then turn them into nutrient-rich compost. The study will take place in Vashon Island’s Quartermaster Harbor.

Salish Sea Expeditions – WaterWorks: $10,000
Salish Seas Expeditions specialized in getting middle and high school students engaged in science by taking them out on intensive, research-oriented sailing trips. With WaterWorks funding, students from Dimmit Middle School in Renton have the opportunity to set sail and conduct a three-day research expedition on Puget Sound, followed by longer-term, student-driven research, hands-on activity at a local watershed site and presentations at the Puget Sound Student Science Symposium.

Seattle Conservation Corps – WaterWorks: $75,000
The Seattle Conservation Corps will use its grant funding to train and certify 10 chronically unemployed adults to install a rain garden and green roof at the Seattle Children’s PlayGarden in Colman Playfield, a Central District park serving special needs children.

Seattle Youth Garden Works – Wild Places in City Spaces: $10,000
Seattle Youth Garden Works will recruit and pay a group of 10 homeless and underserved youth to enroll in a project co-produced with the Washington Park Arboretum. The youth will engage a hands-on curriculum that introduces them to environmental restoration and stewardship, including invasive plant removal, propagation, mulching and installation of native plants while giving them the skills to find employment.

Vashon Island School District – WaterWorks: $73,700
Washington state has mandated sustainability education in all its public schools, but has yet to provide a baseline for these changes. Vashon Island School District will use WaterWorks funds to design and deliver high school coursework and island-based internships that will result in “green collar” job skills, water quality enhancement, and improved stewardship.

Vashon-Maury Land Trust – WaterWorks: $37,000
This project includes constructing fencing to keep livestock from six acres of sensitive areas on private property, removing a graveled driveway and up to 11,000 square feet of blackberry, then re-vegetating nearly five acres along Judd Creek. Additionally, the Land Trust will formalize a small parking area and build a short salmon viewing trail to allow public access on the site.

White River Valley Museum – WaterWorks: $24,920
WaterWorks funding will enable continued restoration of the lower reaches of Olson Creek, a tributary of the Green River, and the surrounding riparian zone as an element of a comprehensive, multi-year preservation, restoration, and enhancement effort at the Mary Olson Farm in Auburn.

WILdLife on WetlandS (WILLOWS) – Wild Places in City Spaces: $2,000
WILLOWS members will remove invasive weeds and plant native plants in Berntsen Park in Issaquah. The restoration will become a demonstration riparian buffer zone to help streamside landowners care for their watershed.

YMCA of Greater Seattle– WaterWorks: $50,000
The YMCA Earth Service Corps will engage more than 450 students from a variety of local schools in environmental restoration and education activities that build community, engender long-term stewardship ethics, and foster the knowledge and leadership skills that can help prepare them for green collar jobs.

Related information

Grant Exchange

King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks