(EDITOR’S NOTE: Tilden School fifth-graders have contributed to WSB from time to time. Here’s a report about their environmental education in action.)

By Tilden School’s Fifth-Grade Class
Special to West Seattle Blog

If you help the West Duwamish Greenbelt, you also help the Duwamish River and the world. A nonprofit organization called Nature Consortium led us, the Tilden fifth-graders, in the right direction to reforest the West Duwamish Greenbelt, which helps a lot more than just this West Seattle forest.

On October 7, we went to the West Duwamish Greenbelt to spend the day with environmental educators from Nature Consortium. We wanted to learn about the Greenbelt’s ecosystem and work toward improving its health. Our class removed invasive species like Himalayan blackberries, and planted native trees and shrubs.

Did you know that you can never step out of a watershed? Indeed, West Seattle is one big watershed. The point is, all watersheds affect the health of our waterways and oceans. Healthy green space in a watershed controls water yield, sediment levels, and water quality, providing cleaner runoff for nearby waterways. Thus, if more volunteers help reforest the Greenbelt, many unwanted pollutants will be removed.

Save the West Duwamish Greenbelt and get one step closer to saving the world. To volunteer for Nature Consortium, go to www.naturec.org.

WSB SIDE NOTE: One big event ahead for the Nature Consortium – its forest-restoration work party in the College Street Ravine in honor of King County Executive Dow Constantine’s birthday on November 15th from 10 am-2 pm. Volunteers can sign up by calling our office 206.923.0853, e-mailing volunteer@naturec.org or going online, here.