(WSB photos)

DNDA co-executive directors Mesha Florentino and Imani Sims welcomed Seattle Kraken and other companies’ staffers – including Kraken mascot Buoy – to a forest-restoration work party at West Seattle’s Camp Long this morning. A bit of snow remained on the ground, but considering most of this crew makes their living on the ice, it was no big deal:

DNDA says the volunteers helping out today are from not only the Kraken (whose players are on the road right now, so they couldn’t join in) but also Climate Pledge Arena, Kraken Community Iceplex, and Oak View Group.

They were doing what all good gardeners should be doing with spring almost here – planting native plants and removing invasives, now that the ground is beginning to warm (yes, even with the below-normal temperatures). But with a professional sports mascot in the midst of it all, there were photo ops, too:

DNDA coordinates many volunteer events in local parks and other greenspaces as part of its Urban Forest Restoration Program, and while this one wasn’t open to other community volunteers, most are – here’s how to join in.

ADDED MONDAY: According to a DNDA wrapup, “The volunteers first identified and dug up invasive plants from nearly 20,000 square feet (a little more than the area of an ice hockey rink) of forest, allowing them to plant native shrubs and trees across another 10,000 square feet of forest — a total of 250 plants.”