Environment

Press release:

Please join us this weekend as we work together to improve the health of Puget Sound and the salmon in our local streams! Native plants along rivers and streams capture air and water pollution, soak up and slow down stormwater, and provide food and shelter to fish and other wildlife. Hope to see you there!

Walker Preserve Invasive Plant Removal
Date/Time: SUNDAY, April 22, 2012, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Stewardship Purpose: Improve habitat along the stream by removing non-native, invasive plants
Activities:
• Seek out English ivy and remove it from trees and pull roots out of the ground.
• Seek out Himalayan blackberry plants, cut them back, and then dig out the root balls.
Address: SW. 168th St. and 2nd Ave. SW., Normandy Park
This is up the road from Normandy Park City Hall, just off 1st Ave SW. If driving, your parking options include:
Three spaces in the small lot at SW 171st St. and Second Ave. S.W.
On the street along SW. 168th St.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There are no restrooms at this site.
What to bring:
• Your enthusiasm
• Clothing that will protect you from the rain or sun and blackberry thorns

There’s a couple garden plots left at Burien’s Community Garden.

The garden plots, open to Burien residents, are located just west of the Burien Community Center Annex at Southwest 144th St. and 4th Avenue Southwest.

To sign up for a plot or for more information, contact Burien Parks at 206-988-3700.

Press release:

Team up with friends and neighbors to make a difference by spiffing up Burien during the city’s annual Clean Sweep on Saturday, April 28 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

New this year, graffiti removal will join tasks such as sweeping sidewalks, trimming shrubs, planting flowers, picking up trash and more. Spearheaded by Daniel Keane of Serenza Salon, Makeover Burien will have a team on graffiti patrol, cleaning up graffiti around Burien. Makeover Burien is a new all-volunteer group whose mission is to help make over Burien, one business at a time.

The 2011 Clean Sweep boasted more than 400 people getting rid of 8.2 tons of garbage from Burien’s streets, parks and commercial areas.

In appreciation of their participation, volunteers will receive breakfast, lunch and a chance to win prizes. Clean Sweep is presented by the city of Burien and the Discover Burien Association. Waste Management is the primary sponsor.

Sustainable Burien press release:

Welcome to the fun and delicious world of urban foraging! Come join us at Seahurst Park on April 15th from 2-4 p.m. to learn how to identify some of the most common edible weeds and wild foods available to us in the city.

Weeds are an abundant source of nutritious food available for the picking. Many of our most common weeds hide huge nutrition in their tasty little leaves!

Master forager, Melany Vorass, will present information on gathering ethics, local rules and regulations, safety, and general information about how to cook with weeds.

Participants will learn about free and abundant superfoods like dandelion, plantain, catsear, nipplewort and shotweed and will receive a handy take-home brochure with field identification information and cooking tips.

After almost 25 years as an environmental policy analyst, Melany retired to pursue a combination of her three greatest loves: plants, food and writing.

Miller/Walker Creek Resource Protection Response Numbers

Please use the following information if there is a natural resource issue requiring an immediate response on Miller and Walker Creeks and in their watersheds.

Spills
Emergency: 911
Washington State Department of Ecology: 425-649-7000
U.S. Coast Guard (marine waters): 206-217-6232

Local Spill Hotlines and Drainage Investigation
Contact these numbers for questions about water quality, spills (oil, paint, soap, etc.), and localized flooding/drainage.
Burien – 206-439-3154
Normandy Park – 206-248-8249
SeaTac – 206-973-4770 (after hours: 206-296-8100)
King County (White Center) – 206-296-1900 or visit King County Drainage Services

Fish/Wildlife Kills
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife: 425-775-1311
Washington State Department of Ecology: 425-649-7000

Code Enforcement
Burien – Jim Bibby: 206-248-5507 (during weekends/holidays/non-business hours, contact the police non-emergency number: 206-296-3311)
Normandy Park – Chad Tibbits: 206-248-8249 (during weekends/holidays/non-business hours, contact the police non-emergency number: 206-248-7600)

Press release:

During the week of March 19th, Des Moines residents with curbside garbage collection service can place an additional 3 cans or bags of garbage out on the curb on your collection day.

Please place bags or cans next to your cart. Maximum limit is 96 gallons.

Have extra yard waste? You can always put out additional material on your collection day at no additional cost. Maximum limit is 192 gallons.

For more information, visit CleanScapes’ Des Moines website at: http://www.cleanscapes.com/des_moines or call the Des Moines Customer Service line at (206) 762-4900. The customer service center is open 7-days a week from 8am-5pm.

Press release:

Sustainable Burien Gathering
Sunday, February 12, 2012
A developing sustainable garden/farm (call 243-9366 for address)
2:00pm - 4:00pm

FIELD TRIP TO A DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE GARDEN
Rather than having our regular monthly meeting at the library on February 12th, we will be gathering at the private home of two of our members.

They have created many raised beds, planted berries and fruit trees, built a green house/chicken coop, and have been experimenting with beekeeping.

We will be learning pruning techniques with Bill Wanless of Brooke/Wanless Gardens. He will demonstrate how to prune new and old fruit trees and shrubs. We will also have a biochar stove demonstration. Come and see what you may be able to create in your own garden.

Bird Count – Feb 17-20. Some SuBu members will be participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count, and we invite others to join in the activity. It’s simple to do and only takes 15 minutes! Here’s a link: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/howto.html

Press release:

Due to weather, unsafe roads, and the condition of Seahurst Park, the Environmental Science Center regrets to cancel the Moonlight Beach Walk on Saturday, January 21st. We hope to reschedule the event in spring/summer. Please stay tuned.

Thank you for your understanding.

Press release:

Since 2008, volunteers in Walker Preserve have removed large amounts of invasive plants and planted many native trees and shrubs. Walker Preserve is in the City of Normandy Park, along Walker Creek. Walker Creek has spawning coho and chum salmon each fall. Restoring native vegetation along the creek benefits salmon and other wildlife.

Please join us this Saturday, Jan. 14, to continue this work! We also have several monthly community weeding projects scheduled through the winter to remove ivy and other invasive weeds, and plant native trees and shrubs along the trail and stream in Walker Preserve and other areas in the basin.

This stewardship project is a joint effort of the City of Normandy Park, and the Miller and Walker Creeks Stewardship program.
Address: SW. 168th St. and 2nd Ave. SW. in Normandy Park, up the road from Normandy Park City Hall.

If driving, your parking options include:
Three spaces in the small lot at SW 171st St. and Second Ave. S.W.
On the street along SW. 168th St.

Date/Time: Saturday, January 14, 2012, 9:30 a.m. – noon

Press release:

To protect residents from worsening air quality, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is issuing a Stage 1 burn ban for King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties, effective at 4:00 p.m. January 11, 2012, until further notice.

High pressure over the Puget Sound region will bring cold temperatures and calm winds, according to Clean Air Agency forecasters. Air quality is expected to deteriorate at least through Friday, especially in communities where residential wood burning is common.

Clean Air Agency staff follow a protocol set by state law to determine when and where to issue a burn ban, and when to lift a burn ban.

During a Stage 1 burn ban:

No burning is allowed in fireplaces or uncertified wood stoves. Residents should rely instead on their home’s other, cleaner source of heat (such as their furnace or electric baseboard heaters) for a few days until air quality improves, the public health risk diminishes and the ban is cancelled. The only exception is if a wood stove is a home’s only adequate source of heat.