The ecological diversity of Southwest Washington’s landscape comes with many benefits for its residents. On Saturday, a few hundred of those residents kept those advantages in mind and decided reciprocate by volunteering for the Earth Day Fest at Salmon Creek Regional Park.
The event, hosted in partnership by Clark Public Utilities’ Stream Team and the Clark County Department of Environmental Services, brought together outdoors, environmental and stewardship groups and entertainers from around the area for a day of environmentally focused education and volunteering.
Saturday was the 17th incarnation of the Earth Day Celebration in Clark County and the sixth consecutive year the event was held at Salmon Creek Regional Park.
A strong turnout from the nearly 360 people who registered to volunteer planted small trees along the riparian areas of Salmon Creek. By midmorning, hundreds of volunteers dotted a field along Salmon Creek, all engaged in various stages of work among sentinel rows of saplings shrouded in plastic sleeves.
Organizers planned to meet last year’s figure of planting 1,100 trees before the day was done. Another 80 volunteers worked to removed garlic mustard, an invasive plant, from the landscape.
“We saw fewer garlic mustard plants up there compared to previous years,” said Kim Harless, an environmental programs technician with Clark County Solid Waste. “It’s nice to see some results.”
On the park lawn, tables featured environmentally focused, family-friendly booths of a wide variety. There was a live reptile demonstration, interactive stories, a live bird of prey demonstration and a wild salmon release. Last year more than 1,800 attendees flocked to the event according to a news release from Clark Public Utilities on the event.
Making it family-friendly enables the public agencies to “reach people we might not otherwise reach,” said Ashley King, Stream Team coordinator for Clark public Utilities.
Al Tu and his wife and children were among the crowd at the event. He said he appreciated all the different activities for kids and the different opportunities for them to learn about the environment.
“It’s awesome,” he said.
