Seattle-Tacoma represent! More than 550 observers took part in this year’s City Nature Challenge spanning King and Pierce counties, including Everett, Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Snohomish and any place in between! Between April 30 and May 3, community scientists submitted more than 7,000 nature observations and identified more than 1,200 species showing the world the incredible biodiversity in the region’s home turf. That’s the region’s all-time record! “This year we had more observers participate, more observations made and more species identified in the Seattle-Tacoma area than we have since our region joined City Nature Challenge in 2017! We’ve also heard from participants that …

This year, National Arbor Day is celebrated on April 30. The day is all about celebrating trees! Below are a few ideas from Northwest Trek’s staff horticulturist of how you can celebrate Arbor Day this year. Enjoy the outdoors! Join the City Nature Challenge and help identify wildlife and nature as a citizen scientist! The global challenge asks ordinary folks to become nature scientists for an hour, a day, or however long you have. Just download the free iNaturalist app or access it on your computer, get outside and start recording what you see. It is a competition, too- can …

What a windstorm! Tuesday night’s strong gusts hit Northwest Trek hard. Fallen trees and branches covered nearly every road and pathway in the park and fences had to be rebuilt. But, with great team effort and the help of a few leaf blowers, the park will open just in time for the 3-day weekend ahead (it even has dry weather in the forecast!). It was all hands on deck this week, as employees from each department surveyed the forested paths, picking up branches while maintenance staff worked tirelessly to clear trees. “Thank you all for pitching in so we can …

Jake Pool had a problem most gardeners wouldn’t even imagine: His baby plants were getting ripped up by wolves. Gray wolves, to be precise. Because Pool is the horticulturalist here at Northwest Trek, and he doesn’t just have the usual Northwest garden challenges of slugs and deer. He’s got bigger animals to deal with. Luckily, he also has animal keepers to help find solutions. “Keepers design enrichment to give animals opportunities to express natural behavior,” says keeper Angela Gibson, who looks after the canines, bears and big cats at Northwest Trek. “For wolves these behaviors include territorial marking, caching, tracking …

Planting forest. Counting frogs. Healthy habitat makes for healthy wildlife, and that’s why it’s our goal at Northwest Trek to to improve and maintain wild habitat, both inside the park and in the broader community. Here’s what we’re doing right now – and how you can help. Habitat Restoration We strive to maintain quality habitat for wildlife both inside and outside of the wildlife park. On our five miles of nature trails we’ve cleared out pockets of diseased trees, replanting for a healthier and more diverse forest. We are restoring a large wetland on 100 acres of recently purchased land. We …