SLIDE SHOW: Preservation and restoration at Soos Creek Park

A group of volunteers gathered in the rain Saturday morning for some fun and hard work with a shovel at Soos Creek Park.

Members of the Sierra Club's South King County Group and Friends of Soos Creek met about 9 a.m. at the park along 148th Avenue South and Souteast 266th Street East to clear blackberry vines, English ivy, Scotch broom and other non-native plants.

Mark Johnston, a member of the Sierra Club, said the park restoration program is in its seventh year. The group of volunteers have been working on the park twice a year.

"We do this in cooperation with King County parks," Johnston said. "We let them know the day we plan to work and what we plan to do."

"Anthony Haapasaari, a park specialist with King County Park and Recreation and part of the volunteer group said, "The big problems are blackberries and English ivy. They are not native and they out compete any other plant. No native plants can thrive and animals don't eat them."

He pointed to a Douglas fir tree bend at 90 degrees from the weight of ivy on its trunk.

Haapasaari said blackberries are a class four weed, "that (usually) means we give up."

But not this group.

"We are trying to preserve a natural habitat," Johnston said. "We are trying to improve what we have and retain what we have. This will become a core of nature in the future with development all around."

Johnston said not only people from the Sierra Club and Friends of Soos Creek join the restoration effort, but young people, neighbors living near the park and people just walking or jogging by often stop and lend a hand.

Haapasaari also noted clearing the areas improves the safety in the park.

"It is very labor intensive to do this work," Haapasaari said. "And (King County parks) does not have the resources."

The group has cleared large areas of the park in previous years and for the effort Saturday a truck was full of ivy and blackberry vines by noon.

We are trying to set a foundation for 30 years down the road," Haapasaari said.

King County is sponsoring a restoration effort Oct. 3 to remove more blackberries at the park and plant 650 native plants.

Contact Covington Reporter Regional Editor Dennis Box at dbox@maplevalleyreporter.com or 425-432-1209 ext. 5050.

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