Craig Thompson mentions on the BAN and beaconhill lists that there will be a work party tomorrow, October 25, at Dr. Jose Rizal Park on the north end of the hill, starting at about 9:30 am. Craig’s email with much more information, including details about recent and future work in the area, is after the jump.

Craig’s email in its entirety:

EarthCorps will bring 80 City Year volunteers plus their own crew supervisors
tomorrow to Dr. Jose Rizal Park to continue mulching and removal of exotics.
This is in preparation for Jan. 19’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend
event, when 300 native plants will be planted in the woods.

EarthCorps will begin setting up around 8 AM, with the volunteers arriving for
orientation at 9:30. Work in the woods begins at 10 AM and last until 2 PM. It
would be great if a few neighbors could spare a couple of hours for a specific
pickup task while the volunteers prep the slopes.

This past Wednesday and Thursday, an EarthCorps crew of 7 staff (with a
supervisor on Wednesday) placed survival rings around 120 trees in the
forested area downhill from the South Judkins Street deadend. This means that
nearly 850 trees total have been saved from ivy and other invasives, and
combined with the forestry crew work in September, close to three acres have
been cleared of blackberries and ivy. Also, the apple orchard in the off-leash
area and other trees originally planted by Filipino community organizations
and the Downtown Rotary during the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust’s first
large volunteer event, have also been rescued.

As this will be the last large volunteer event of 2008 – saving possibly
another in December – I’d like to add that it has been a great year for this
wonderful park. Filipino community and professional organizations, neighbors,
local area businesses, school groups like Franklin High School’s Asian Club
and the UW Filipino-American Student Association, and EarthCorps’
international staff from Mongolia, Ghana, Russia, and the Philippines have
made what began as a public-safety project for many of us five years ago into
one of the most successful forest and park restoration projects in the city.
Yesterday, a young man from Brazil who’d worked both days in the woods told me
what a special spot it was. He and all who’ve pitched in have made it so.

What a fitting way to honor Dr. Rizal and our diverse community.

Hope to see some of you tomorrow – say around 9:30 or so at the overlook.

Thanks, Craig!