O’Dea High School, an all-boys Catholic school located on First Hill in Seattle, is celebrating its centennial year by working with Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Green Seattle Partnership to restore the natural areas around the sports fields at Genesee Park.

Temperatures have been steadily warming up, coaxing us to go out and enjoy the sun after a long winter. With the cherry blossoms and red flowering currants starting to add a pop of color to our local landscape, your impulse might be to start brushing away the dredges of winter foliage and restart anew for spring.

When you think of forests, your mind might go to a picturesque shot of your local National Park, or a touching scene from the Planet Earth docuseries. As impactful as these images might be, how often have you stopped to consider your local forests?

Wow, community! We had another big year in 2022. Thank you for your continued commitment to Seattle’s forests. Here’s the run down of what we accomplished together this last year.

Did you know that the Pacific Northwest is among one of the most naturally carbon rich eco-regions in the world, and our westside forests store more carbon and sequester it at higher rates than anywhere else in the United States? As we continue to face the damaging effects of climate change; conservationist, scientists, organizations, governments, […]

The 2nd Annual Seattle Forest Week was filled with celebratory events all about Seattle’s urban forest. Community organizations throughout the City of Seattle hosted free events for community members to get involved and connect in restoration activities that equally uplift our communities and the natural areas that surround them. In honor of the 17th year […]

Tree’s are our natural lifeline! These breath-giving beauties work to enhance the environment, provide shelter for wildlife, increase community well-being, and hold cultural significance, all the while reducing the harmful effects of climate change. In Washington State, our urban parks and remote forests are home to these powerful beings that gift us clean air, fresh […]

Fall is in the air, local coffee shops have ramped up their autumnal beverages, spooky season is in full force, and the days of a scorching hot summer have began to cool off. The official autumnal equinox took place on Thursday, September 22nd at 9:03 p.m. EDT – or 8:03 p.m. CDT, 7:03 p.m. MDT and 6:03 p.m. PDT. […]

Seattle is one of 12 cities across the U.S. that will study the cooling potential of forested parklands. In collaboration with the New York City-based nonprofit Natural Areas Conservancy, the results of this study will help cities prepare for climate change. Seattle, WA – 2021 was the hottest summer on record in the United States. […]

Disclaimer: the following article uses the word ‘queer’ as an inclusive term for the LGBTQ+ community. We acknowledge the complicated history of this word. This article was written by a queer staff member at GSP who uses it inclusively, not as a pejorative epithet. June is Pride Month, and we’ve been thinking about what that […]

Summer is approaching quickly, and that means young adults throughout Seattle are looking for opportunities to get outside and learn about potential careers! Many Green Seattle partners, including King County Parks, Rainier Beach Youth Stewards, and Student Conservation Association are offering paid opportunities for students this summer, including internships, crew positions, and more. Positions like these […]

This is an updated version of a post from 2018. It’s official: Spring is here! This means it’s time to close the door on our annual planting season, and to celebrate our season’s accomplishments. Each year, we officially kick-off the planting season with our Green Seattle Day celebrations in November, and continue to plant through the […]

March is Women’s History Month, so for the past month, we’ve been thinking about what this means for us at the Green Seattle Partnership. From Rachel Carson to Deb Haaland, women have made critical contributions to the conservation movement–but in this historically male-dominated field, women’s achievements are often overlooked. Conservation researchers in Colorado found that women in the conservation field […]

Irene Morales is a naturalist with the Seward Park Audubon Center and a Forest Steward at Seward Park. Since 2019, she has been engaging the community in restoration work at this beautiful park. We interviewed her to learn more about her work! We met Irene at the north end of Seward Park, and she asked […]

It’s easy to remember the not-so-great from 2021. But we’re here to celebrate for a moment or two, because we are so proud of the Green Seattle Partnership community and all we accomplished this last year. Staff at 25+ partner organizations and agencies came together with 177 paid participants and volunteers that donated 30,866 hours of […]

Attendance at habitat restoration events is typically dominated by people who are white, affluent, and/or retired. Although these events provide opportunities to connect with nature, there are a number of barriers for low-income and/or people of color to get involved — knowledge gaps, the opportunity cost of working a weekend job, and safety concerns, to […]

The following summarizes a recent workshop presented by Molly Duttry, Delridge Neighborhood Development Association (DNDA) Art Manager, who shared insights into how to bring accessible, community-based art activities to local parks and restoration events. You can find the full presentation here, and below. DNDA’s EcoArts program offers a unique interdisciplinary blend of arts and environmental education for youth and adults in King County. EcoArts classes foster […]

This fall, the Green Seattle Partnership hosted a workshop with Celeste Mari Williams and Lisa Fink to explore how the words we use impact our success with community-based restoration. Lisa is a PhD candidate in Environmental Sciences, Studies, and Policy with English as a focal department at the University of Oregon, where she is currently […]

Another year, another successful Green Seattle Day! This year also marks the first-ever Seattle Forest Week. We joined forces with Trees for Seattle to create Seattle Forest Week, a whole week dedicated to celebrating our urban forest in Seattle. We hosted restoration work parties in parks, as well as several other events to celebrate our […]

GSP is fortunate to have public funding and grants to support restoration crew work citywide. The sites where crews work is not always visible or easily accessible, so this post provides some insight on where to see these talented professionals in action. Crews are active in the “wilder” parts of Seattle’s forested natural areas in […]