Topping the marquee for today/tonight – March’s West Seattle Art Walk! Here’s the list of venues:

The Art Walk website spotlights the receptions you’ll find tonight, most between 5 pm and 8 pm. Alki, Admiral, The Junction, and Morgan Junction are the areas where you’ll find most of the activity!

Also ahead today/tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (where you’ll find even more – thanks again to everyone who sends events for us to list!):

FREE PLAYSPACE: West Seattle Church of the Nazarene is hosting playspace today until noon. (42nd SW & SW Juneau)

GATHERING AT THE VOID: Escape your home office for a few hours! “Work, Game, Craft, or Chat! At The Void” hangout at The Void, 10 am-noon Thursdays. (5048 California SW)

WEST SEATTLE COMMUNITY RUN/WALK: Free, fun gathering, 10 am, starting from Lincoln Park parking lot #2 – so if you didn’t see it in our calendar in time, make a note on yours for next week! (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)

SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE GARDEN CENTER: Whether you’re planting or planning – the center is open Thursdays-Saturdays 10 am-3 pm – north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus. Sale today through Saturday!

TODDLER STORY TIME IN WESTWOOD: 10:30 pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW).

PRESCHOOL STORY TIME IN ADMIRAL: West Seattle Library story time (2306 42nd SW), 10:30 am.

FREE HEALTH WEBINAR: 12:30 pm online, Neighborhood Naturopathic (WSB sponsor) presents the free webinar “A Naturopathic Approach to Treating Acne” with Dr. Lauren Oldziej. Our calendar listing explains how to get the link and also how to find the recording if you can’t participate in real time.

WEST SEATTLE UKULELE PLAYERS: From newbie to pro, all levels welcome at this weekly 1 pm gathering. Email westseattleukuleleplayerswsup@gmail.com to see where they’re playing today. (Even if you just want to know so you can go listen!)

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE BOOTHS CONTINUE: Look for nearby booth locations and times here. (And scroll down for the time/location of one we’ve heard about directly, in Highland Park.)

DROP-IN CHESS: High Point Library‘s weekly event is on today, 4-5:30 pm for players under 18. (3411 SW Raymond)

HPCS FOOD-TRUCK VISIT: First of two Thursday night events at HPCS this week – every Thursday, 4-8 pm, Highland Park Corner Store (7789 Highland Park Way SW) gets a food-truck visit. Tonight it’s Spice on Curve .

WINE TASTING WITH CLARK: Another regular Thursday event at HPCS, 5-7:30 pm – info here.

DINE OUT FOR WSHS BASEBALL: 5-9 pm, West Wings (2329 California SW) hosts a dine-out benefit with part of the proceeds going to West Seattle High School Baseball.

WEST SEATTLE TOOL LIBRARY: Open 5-8 pm for your tool-borrowing needs. (4408 Delridge Way SW, northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center)

VISCON CELLARS: This West Seattle winery’s friendly tasting room/wine bar is open Thursdays, 5-9 pm (5910 California SW; WSB sponsor), for wine by the glass or bottle! Art tonight, too.

FREELANCE BEAVER DETECTIVE AT WORDS, WRITERS, SOUTHWEST STORIES: At 6 pm, Pamela Adams is the guest for this month’s online presentation by the Southwest Seattle Historical Society – you can get the link here.

POKEMON LEAGUE: 6 pm Thursdays at Fourth Emerald Games (4517 California SW, upstairs) – bring your own console.

WESTIES RUN CLUB: 6 pm, now starting from Good Society (California SW and SW Lander), you’re welcome to join the Westies Run Club‘s Thursday night community run!

WALKING FOR WELL-BEING: If you’d rather walk, meet at 6 pm at 47th/Fontanelle for tonight’s group walk – details in our calendar listing.

LIVE AT TIM’S: Doors 6, show 7 pm, with Eric Blue and the Soul Revue. no cover, all ages. (16th SW and SW 98th, White Center)

’90S TRIVIA: 7 pm at Admiral Pub (2306 California SW)

TRIVIA NIGHT AT THE VOID: Newest West Seattle trivia night! 7:30 pm, with prizes, at The Void (5048 California SW).

DJ NIGHT AT REVELRY ROOM: Spinning happens tonight at Revelry Room (4547 California SW), with DJ Supreme La Rock, starting at 8 pm. 21+.

Are you planning an event that should be on our calendar and in our daily preview lists? Please email info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

Southwest Seattle Historical Society

Words, Writers, Southwest Stories: “West Seattle Beavers: Living Their Best Life While Boosting Salmon & Bird Habitat” (Pamela Adams)

Thurs, Mar 12th 2026 at 6 pm on Zoom

Did you know that beaver dams are helping to reconnect historic floodplains?

Did you know that there are over thirty of these dams in your local urban watershed?

Explore Longfellow Creek through the lens of Pamela Adams, Seattle’s “freelance beaver detective” — a trained Beaver Corps practitioner working for human-beaver coexistence. For the past four years, she’s documented expanding beaver families in West Seattle using noninvasive cameras, uncovering how these “eco-engineers” survive pollution, habitat disruption, and limited food. Learn how their newly added dams help filter stormwater, boost coho salmon spawning, and bird populations, restoring ecological health like a furry probiotic — offering a hopeful model for how allowing a native keystone species to not only exist but thrive can improve our urban watersheds for many other species that depend on fresh water.

Words, Writers, Southwest Stories is a free monthly speaker series that highlights local authors, historians, and voices to foster a deeper understanding of our community and its people.

For more information, visit: loghousemuseum.org/blog/beavers/?mc_cid=3fc22aa97b

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Beavers are beneficial – not a nuisance.

That’s a big message carried on their behalf by “Freelance Beaver Detective” Pamela Adams, who was featured speaker at this afternoon’s weekly lunch meeting of the Rotary Club of West Seattle (WSB sponsor).

She gave attendees a crash course in beaver biology, first explaining how she happened into her intense interest in urban beavers – particularly in eastern West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek, where she says five beaver families, 30+ beavers, are currently living. “This is becoming quite a bit of research.” She’s also now the subject of a film (watch the trailer here).

She’s found all sorts of other wildlife, including salamanders, and says the beaver dams have helped increase the Longfellow Creek coho because the water is cleaner near their dams. Beavers are “like a probiotic in our watershed” – and they’re on the upswing, after they were all but eradicated over the centuries by humans who didn’t want them around.

They live in family groups and are monogamous – they’ll mate for life. Two of the local families live on the golf course. They also prefer to stay in the water; they are “not always destroyers of trees,” she reiterated. “Their flat scaly trail stores their fat – and that’s their imprints.” Their tails include “a little vertebrae.” They slap their tails to communicate. Their construction includes many different structures and challenges. “They don’t usually live in the dams,” she noted, Most of the construction work is done by the females.

Longfellow Creek was devoid of beavers 30+ years ago, according to a city biologist report that Adams found, but then one was sighted at a creek celebration on April 15, 2000. Flash forward to last May, when she helped a biologist release a baby beaver that needed a new family. A few hours later, an adult beaver showed up and took it to join the rest of the family. “When you see them in person … it’s like you’re seeing a kind of divinity.”

She says she’s trying to get city departments to work together to stop destroying/displacing the Longfellow dams, given their ecological benefit. Beavers benefit birds too, she agreed after a Rotarian brought that up during the Q&A sections. Find out more about Adams’ work (and see videos – our clip above is mostly a chance to hear her short talk, as the projection screen was partly blocked) on her website.

Also at the Rotary Club’s weekly meeting:

EARL CRUZEN SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS: Four students from the Automotive Technology program at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) took turns at the podium to thank Rotarians for the tool sets that are at the heart of the scholarship, which one recipient said was “everything that I needed to get started in the automotive industry.” (Here’s the story behind the scholarship’s namesake, who died nine years ago.)

GAMBRIELL SCHOLARSHIP: Applications are open now – here’s the link. April 1 is the application deadline.

NEXT WEEK: The meeting next Tuesday (February 17) will have two guests – artist Saya Moriyasu and, just confirmed during today’s meeting, U.S. House Rep. Pramila Jayapal (who is a West Seattle resident when not in D.C.).

The Rotary Club of West Seattle meets at noon Tuesdays most weeks at the West Seattle Golf Course. Guests can inquire about checking out meetings – find out how here.

February 10: PAMELA ADAMS, THE FREELANCE BEAVER DETECTIVE

Learn about the beavers of Longfellow Creek from Pamela Adams, a West Seattle-based urban wildlife researcher, educator, and self-appointed Freelance Beaver Detective! At our Feb. 10 club meeting, Pamela will take us on a guided journey through Longfellow Creek, home to five known beaver families, and share how beavers are reshaping this urban creek, the importance of thoughtful human stewardship, and a hopeful, science-grounded look at how cities and wildlife can thrive together.

(2023 photo by Kersti Muul)

One year after filling the room at a local community council meeting and explaining why people should be “less anxious” about beavers, Pamela Adams will talk to the Rotary Club of West Seattle‘s weekly lunch gathering this Tuesday (February 10). The self-styled “Beaver Detective” is expected, the WS Rotary (WSB sponsor) says, to give attendees “a guided journey through Longfellow Creek, home to five known beaver families, and share how beavers are reshaping this urban creek, the importance of thoughtful human stewardship, and a hopeful, science-grounded look at how cities and wildlife can thrive together.” The meeting starts at noon Tuesday at the West Seattle Golf Course (4470 35th SW); if you’re interested in attending, ws_rotary@yahoo.com is the email contact.

(Sunrise photo by Kent Rhodes)

First on our list, today’s marquee event:

ALKI ART FAIR: The three-day art and music festival begins at 2 pm today, in and around Alki Beach Bathhouse (2701 Alki SW) and the promenade that stretches westward from it. Today’s 2-8 pm schedule focuses on the artists (listed here); DJ Fishlure will spin but live music (listed here) doesn’t start until tomorrow. Our calendar listing has the festival overview.

Now – see what else is happening, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE GARDEN CENTER: The center is open for plant-shopping Thursdays-Saturdays 10 am-3 pm, north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus.

HIGHLAND PARK SPRAYPARK: The spraypark is open every day 11 am-8 pm. Free. (1100 SW Cloverdale)

WADING POOLS: Lincoln Park (noon-7 pm), Delridge, and Hiawatha (both noon-5:30 pm) will be open today.

COLMAN POOL CLOSED: The heated salt-water pool is; closed to the public today/tomorrow because of a swim meet.

SEATTLE TERIYAKI HISTORY: See this new exhibit at the Log House Museum (61st/Stevens) while the museum is open noon-4 pm today.

QI GONG AT VIVA ARTS: Fridays at 12:15 pm – info in our calendar listing. (4421 Fauntleroy Way SW)

DUBSEA FISH STICKS: 6:35 pm home game at Steve Cox Memorial Park vs. the Northwest Honkers – tickets here.

‘FREELANCE BEAVER DETECTIVE’: Premiere of film featuring Pamela Adams‘ work documenting the local beaver population 7 p at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW) – ticket info here.

OUTDOOR SHAKESPEARE: 7 pm, Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW), GreenStage presents “Richard III”, free.

AT THE SKYLARK: Doors at 7 pm, music at 8 pm, Darbi Dhufo, Wave Function, Jackie Tulsa, Spencer List at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW). 21+.

SUNSET REIKI SOUND BATH: 7:30 pm at Solstice Park (7400 Fauntleroy Way SW) with Inner Alchemy. Info and ticket link are in our calendar listing.

REVELRY ROOM DJ: 9 pm, DJ Lady Coco spins tonight! (4547 California SW)

MAKE IT LOUD: Skating with live music – tonight, featuring The Highsteppers, “Two sets of incredible music to skate and boogie down to!” – 9 pm at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW). 21+. $18 cover/$5 skates.

If you have something to showcase on our event lists or calendar, please email what/when/where/etc. info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

This busy summer month’s highlights aren’t all outdoors. This one is about the outdoors – happening inside. You’re invited to the premiere of the film about “beaver detective” Pamela Adams!

Take a journey into the ecosystem of West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek with first public premiere of the film “Freelance Beaver Detective – Tracking Urban Wildlife” on Friday, July 18, 7 PM -9 PM, @ Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

Learn about the local beaver population, and wild endangered coho salmon spawning, through the lens of local WS filmmaker Kay D. Ray, and featuring local beaver detective Pamela Adams, as well as photojournalist Tom Reese, who will be available for post film Q&A.
Tickets by donation. Kids under 18 are free.

We mentioned the film back in January when Adams spoke to the Highland Park Action Committee (WSB coverage here).

Take a journey into the ecosystem of West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek with first public premiere of the film “Freelance Beaver Detective-Tracking Urban Wildlife” on July 18 7 PM -9 PM @ Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

Learn about the local beaver population, and wild endangered Coho salmon spawning through the lens of local WS filmmaker. Kay D. Ray, and featuring local beaver detective Pamela Adams, as well as photojournalist Tom Reese, who will be available for post film Q&A.

Tickets by donation. Kids under 18 are free.
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/freelance-beaver-detective-west-seattle-premier-screening-tickets-1442426920749?aff=oddtdtcreator

Website for future screenings: https://freelancebeaverdetective.com

Thanks to Amy Do for sending the video of a beaver sauntering across Delridge Way. Amy reports:

A large adult beaver approximately 50-60 pounds was sighted crossing Delridge Way SW between Webster and Holden St at 11:30 pm on Sunday night. The beaver was spotted just in time for a Lyft driver to slam on the brakes to avoid collision. The passenger of the Lyft took a short video. The beaver successfully crossed the street into a small wooded area, and is suspected of living in the greenbelt surrounding Longfellow Creek.

The creek and its watershed are home to multiple beavers, as discussed during an HPAC meeting (with guest Pamela Adams of BeaverInsights) back in January (WSB coverage here).

P.S. Just as we were about to hit “publish” on the above and run out of HQ, we checked email and saw this had just come in, from Matthew – a second beaver-in-street sighting:

Matthew reported having to “shoo” that beaver off Highland Park Way last night around 10:30 pm

(The Alki Beaver reappeared this morning – photo by Mike Burns)

Here’s our list of what’s happening on your Wednesday, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:

WALKING FOR WELL-BEING: Wednesdays at 10 am, too! Meet at 47th/Fauntleroy.

TODDLER READING TIME AT PAPER BOAT: 10:30 am at the shop’s new location. (4522 California SW)

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE & COMMUNITY WALK-BY: After a noon Ash Wednesday service, Alki UCC‘s pastor will be outside the church 1-2 pm for community members to walk-by and participate in the ancient ritual of marking foreheads with ashes. (6115 SW Hinds)

AMERICAN MAH JONGG: All levels welcome, noon-4 pm at The Missing Piece (35th/Roxbury).

REJUVENATE YOGA: Weekly class at Viva Arts, 1:30 pm. Drop-in. $20. (4421 Fauntleroy Way SW)

TODDLER STORY TIME AT SW LIBRARY: 3 pm at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW).

EX-EPHESUS REOPENS AS EFESIS: Proprietor Hasan Ocak told us earlier this week that tonight would be reopening night for the Turkish restaurant at 5245 California SW, 4-10 pm.

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE BOOTHS: This year’s Girl Scout Cookie in-person sales continue today, after school! Go here to look for a cookie booth near you – multiple troops are selling at various spots, during various time slots, in West Seattle. (Is your troop out selling cookies? Send a pic – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!)

HOMEWORK HELP: 4-7:30 pm free drop-in help at High Point Library (3411 SW Raymond).

FIX-IT WORKSHOP: Fix it, don’t toss it! Weekly event, free (donations appreciated), 5:30-7:30 pm at West Seattle Tool Library (4408 Delridge Way SW, northeast side of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center).

YMCA ANNUAL FUND DRIVE DINNER: All community members are welcome to this free event at Fauntleroy Church Fellowship Hall (9140 California SW), 6-7:30 pm, as previewed here.

CLASSIC SF BOOK CLUB: Science-fiction fans, you’re welcome at the 6 pm meeting at Paper Boat Booksellers‘ new location (4522 California SW). Our calendar listing has this month’s book.

WEST SEATTLE URBANISM: Open invitation to the group’s weekly meetup, 6-8 pm at Great American Diner & Bar. (4752 California SW)

FREE GROUP RUN: All runners, all levels, are welcome to join the weekly West Seattle Runner (2743 California SW; WSB sponsor) group run – meet at the shop by 6:15 pm.

LIVE MUSIC AT THE LOCOL: 6:30 pm. 21+. Rotating performer slate. (7902 35th SW)

YOGA AND GONG BATH: 7 pm at Inner Alchemy Studio/Sanctuary (3618 SW Alaska).

TRIVIA x 3: Three Wednesday trivia locations on our West Seattle list: Larry’s Tavern (3405 California SW) hosts Wednesday-night trivia starting at 7:30 pm … Quiz Night begins at 8 pm at Beveridge Place Pub (6413 California SW) … and at 8:30 pm, trivia with Phil T at Talarico’s (4718 California SW), all ages until 10 pm.

MUSIC BINGO: Play at The Good Society (California/Lander), 7 pm.

SKYLARK OPEN MIC: Ready to take the mic and show your talents? 7:30 pm signups for West Seattle’s longest-running open mic. (3803 Delridge Way SW)

Planning an open house, reading, tour, fundraiser, sale, discussion, show, meeting, presentation, etc., that’s open to the community? Please send us info so we can add it to West Seattle’s only comprehensive event calendar! westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

If you want to pack the room for your next community meeting, put a wildlife presentation on the agenda.

HPAC invited Pamela Adams of BeaverInsights to come to its first 2025 meeting Wednesday night, and she enchanted the house with her observations about Longfellow Creek‘s beavers.

We’ll get to those shortly. But first, here’s how the meeting of the Highland Park, Riverview, and South Delridge community coalition – held in person at Delridge Library – began – facilitated by co-chair Kay Kirkpatrick, who observed that it’s great to have a sizable turnout about “positive things happening in the neighborhood.”

CARE DEPARTMENT UPDATE: Sean Blackwell from the city’s “third public safety department” spoke briefly, saying the CARE Community Crisis Response team is expected to expand into West Seattle in the second quarter of this year; by March 7, they hope to have 27 responders, as they staff up with the funding in this year’s budget.

MILLION GALLON STORAGE TANK PROJECT UPDATE & SURVEY: Daniel Arauz was there from King County Wastewater Treatment, with an update on the West Duwamish Wet Weather Storage combined-sewer-overflow-reduction project that’s about to be built near the 1st Avenue South Bridge. He began by explaining the problem it’s intended to solve – overflows of combined rainwater and wastewater in major storm situations. Currently when those overflows happen, the sewage/water goes into the Duwamish River from an outfall, “operating as intended, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve the system.” The “big storage tank” is one way to do it – it holds what would be overflow water until the storm subsides and it can be sent to a treatment plant. If the project works as designed, the annual average of “four or five” overflows will be cut to one. This will be a below-ground 1.25-million-gallon tank, “just an empty lot” right now, with only a small hint above ground – and landscaping – of what’s going on below. Arauz said a lot of “sustainability features” suggested by community members, such as raingardens and climate-friendly concrete, were incorporated, along with art panels planned for the facility’s side, explaining aspects of the river.

Construction of the $50 million project – which might actually hold up to 2 million gallons, Arauz noted – is expected to start this summer; it’ll go out to bid in the next month or so. Construction will involve some street closures and other traffic impacts, but the extent won’t be known until a contractor is chosen. He noted that KCWTD has just opened a survey, mostly about how their engagement/informational efforts have gone so far. You’re urged to participate – do that by going here.

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT POLICE: Next up, a brief appearance by Southwest Precinct police. Officer German Barreto introduced the two new officers who had been mentioned (but not in attendance) at last week’s community-coalition meetings, Officer Hoang and Officer Kepler. They didn’t speak to the group, but Officer Barreto presented a few crime stats, comparing 2024 to 2023 in the HPAC coverage area – thefts, robbery, and gunfire are all up year-to-year; motor-vehicle theft and aggravated assaults are down.

BEAVERS! Then came the guest almost everyone seemed to be waiting for, Pamela Adams. She is a beaver expert working in multiple areas, but the focus of her presentation was eastern West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek.

(2023 photo by Kersti Muul)

If you weren’t aware we had beavers, Adams explained they had a two-century history in the area until they were hunted pretty much out of existence locally – then they started reappearing on the creek around the turn of the millennium (Adams noted a 1992 city report on the watershed that found no sign of them). They’re continuing to make dams and she says that contrary to what some believe, that’s a good thing – the dams are filtering the creek’s water, holding back pollutants, and more fish are showing up, with coho spawners increasing in the past few years. Juvenile coho grow under some of the dams, she explained.

She showed video (“these are OUR beavers!” Adams exclaimed, to ensure attendees understood the video was from Longfellow Creek). She said she’s found evidence of at least 30 beavers and 28 dams. Longfellow Creek is undergrounded in some spots and she said they swim in and out of some of those pipes, such as the one that goes under Genesee to and from the golf course.

Then a mini-Beaver 101 – she said the species has a 7-million-year history, and a 5,000-year history co-evolving with salmon. They are a “keystone species,” she elaborated, meaning that if you remove them, other species will be affected. She showed examples of the biodiversity in the creek, such as crawfish.

Beavers’ resurgence locally followed a ban on “kill traps.” She explained that beavers mate for life and procreate annually, raising their young for one to two years. They are “100 percent herbivores” – no fish in their diet. Their incisor teeth are “self-sharpening chisels” with “an orange layer of iron enamel on the front, a softer layer of dentin on the back.” Their tails are flat, scaly, and act like flippers, kickstands, even “danger whistles.” They build not only dams, burrows/dens, and “bank lodges,” they also build “side channels” for foraging food, as well as “scent mounds” to communicate with other beavers. What they’re doing is “stuff we might not think an animal can do” – essentially, engineering! she said.

Adams noted certain spots along Longfellow Creek, such as what she called its widest part, the “Graham floodplain,” as well as detention ponds. The features of the watershed – whether natural, man-made, or beaver-made! – are intertwined, she explained, telling the story of how water levels were affected when High Point Pond was drained for maintenance.

Her presentation was full of video – of salmon and other wildlife as well as the beavers – and we don’t have that to share, only words (though there are some clips on her website). But she refuted more of the myths about beaver dams – she showed proof that salmon can leap over them, for example. And she urged everyone to “be a beaver detective … when you follow beavers, you follow a whole ecosystem.” An independent filmmaker is in fact making a film about Adams called “The Freelance Beaver Detective” – a bit of her video is in the trailer:

They’re adapting to our world, so we should adapt to theirs and live in harmony, she suggested, adding that “beavers are like a probiotic – a naturally occurring medicine for our sick and dehydrated urban waterways.” The beneficial effects of their presence include a “fish-friendly temperature” in water that they’ve dammed, she added, helping fight temperature rise in urban creeks.

In all, she says. people should “have less anxiety” about beavers.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR HPAC: The group meets fourth Wednesdays most months – start time depends on the venue; this one started earlier because the library closes at 8 pm and needs groups out by 7:45. Watch the HPAC website next month for info on the February 26th meeting.

That’s one of the resident beavers in West Seattle’s Longfellow Creek (video sent by Manuel in March). Want to know more about these wild neighbors? Here’s an advance look ahead to a one-of-a-kind event this weekend in West Seattle: Sunday afternoon, you can celebrate International Beaver Day with locally based Beavers Northwest at Ounces (3809 Delridge Way SW). Part of the proceeds will go to the nonprofit. And all of the fun goes to you! Arts and crafts, DIY beaver trivia, live music with Sue Quigley. Full details here; be there 2-5 pm Sunday (April 7); Sue performs at 3:30 pm. Ounces is all-ages.

Event: Int’l Beaver Day at Ounces
Arts n crafts, DIY beaver trivia, fundraiser for BeaversNorthwest

Date/Time: Sunday, April 7 2-5 pm

Live music with local: Sue Quigley at 3:30 pm

Link for more information :
beaverinsights.com/april-7-event-%40-ounces

When Mark saw that animal in his alley (2900 block of Alki Avenue SW) very early this morning, he thought it was an otter. It’s not unusual to see one of those cross the street – or your path. But he later found out it was a beaver!

Apparently it was disoriented and animal control came by to investigate, retrieve, and rehabilitate it.
Sometime between my early morning sighting and 11 am it had managed to get into the water drains covered by heavy iron grates in the alley. They had to have another Seattle services unit remove the grate and the animal control officer reached down to retrieve it. Needless to say it was a very exciting and interesting morning, most welcome on a quiet gray winter day…

Among the many options you have this weekend – the Log House Museum welcomes you to a special event Saturday afternoon – in case you haven’t seen this in our calendar, here’s the announcement:

This Saturday we celebrate Fall by celebrating the beaver families that live along Longfellow Creek – the subject of our ongoing exhibit t?awi: Creek of Hope! Stop by the Log House Museum from 12 – 4 for free, family-friendly crafts, complimentary cider, build your own dam, and enjoy an interactive display of a beaver lodge!!

The Log House Museum is at 61st and Stevens in Alki.

Family Day with Beaver Insights, Saturday, October 21 from 12-2 pm FREE, Drop In

Join SWSHS and the organizer behind Beaver Insights! to learn about the families of beavers who live along Longfellow Creek, create your own Beaver mask – just in time for Halloween!

Paths are cleared to get to the Senior Center of West Seattle door at 4217 SW Oregon, and once you’re inside, you’ll see tables ringing the main hall with items you won’t see anywhere else – like Denise LeBlanc‘s calendars featuring her Northwest-scenery paintings:

Jen Vanderhoof‘s underwater photography gives you an up-close perspective on sea life:

Jen also has “beaver stick” pencils – made from sticks left behind by beavers.

Also crafted from wood, the dulcimers that Norm Zemke is selling:

They’re challenging to make, he explains, requiring “steam bending.” Then there are some repurposed crafts – Tammy Majeski‘s wreaths are made from vintage Christmas ornaments:

Other vendors have handmade apparel, jewelry, and baked goods – you’ll even find “fidget spinners,” This is all happening until 4 pm, which is when The Junction’s festival starts, so go early and catch the bazaar too.

That’s a photo sent recently by John, showing a beaver along Longfellow Creek, which parallels much of Delridge Way. In some areas along the creek, beavers are just part of the ecosystem – but Seattle Public Utilities says their work is posing a potential problem in one area, and is pursuing this project, announced in a recent Land Use Information Bulletin (note that the same notice covers the West Seattle proposal and a similar one elsewhere in the city):

Beavers have recently constructed dams immediately upstream of the pedestrian footbridge over Longfellow Creek … and dams in SPU’s Meadowbrook Pond Stormwater Detention and Flood Control Facility in the Meadowbrook neighborhood.

The dams may lead to localized flooding of nearby residential properties during the rainy season. This proposal would deploy beaver dam management interventions at the dams at both sites. Specifically, the proposed work would install four pond levelers by notching the dams and then installing exclusion fences. The fencing would extend 16-feet upstream from the top of the dam. Notching assists in
preventing beavers from detecting stream flow through the dam and the fencing prevents them from effectively plugging the notch.

These interventions are intended to control water levels and flows in Longfellow and Thornton creeks and are preferred alternatives to relocating the beavers or removing or breaching an established beaver dam that maintains hydrology of a nearby wetland or pond. The proposed design provides unimpeded fish passage while preventing beavers from constructing effective dams at the pedestrian \ bridge at the Longfellow Creek site and in Meadowbrook Pond at the Thornton Creek site.

The Project includes the following major work elements:

1. Creating a notch in the beaver dam
2. Installation of metal t-posts and welded-wire fencing with a mesh size of 4 inches by 6 inches to create a box in the notch of the beaver dam.
3. Extend the wire fencing box 16-feet upstream from the beaver dam.

This is in/near the 2500 block of SW Graham [map], according to the city notice. What the city published, specifically, is a Determination of Non-Significance, meaning it doesn’t believe a formal environmental-impact study is needed for this. Here’s the full-length “checklist” document, below and here:

You can comment by June 3rd by emailing Kevin Buckley at SPU, kevin.buckley@seattle.gov; you can also formally appeal the Determination of Non-Significance, deadline June 10th, as explained in the notice.

Nature’s Builders: Beavers, Bees, and Bower Birds – July 27th 11:30 am – 12:30 pm. For ages 2-10.

Join Mikey Mike the Rad Scientist on an epic adventure to meet nature’s most amazing architects. Together, we will learn, sing, dance, and discover some of the incredible ways that animals help build a better world.

This program is part of the Library’s 2017 Summer of Learning program, Blast Off to Space! The Library is offering hundreds of free programs and activities for children and teens to keep youth engaged in reading and learning all summer long. Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required.

The 2017 Summer of Learning program, Blast Off to Space! is funded by generous donations from The Seattle Public Library Foundation and Tableau.
www.spl.org…
High Point Branch, 206-684-7454 or Ask a Librarian.

Space is limited at library events. Please come early to make sure you get a seat. Due to the fire code, we can’t exceed the maximum capacity for our rooms.

(Schmitz Park, in the center of pilot/photographer Long Bach Nguyen‘s 2012 image)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

This Saturday, you have a chance to help “save the giants” – joining Schmitz Park Restore leaders and volunteers as they work to remove more of the ivy that’s trying to choke the life out of the park’s old-growth trees.

More on that later. Ahead of the ivy-pulling event, we have an update on the longrunning restoration project publicly unveiled more than two years ago (WSB coverage here). Backstory and future plans were in the talk that Daniel Nye from Schmitz Park Restore gave to the Rotary Club of West Seattle (WSB sponsor) at this week’s lunch meeting. We recorded it all on video:

Hearing about Schmitz Park Restore’s intensive effort to help the park’s ecosystem dovetailed with the West Seattle Rotary’s launch of a sustainability committee, noted new president Stefanie Felix in introducing Nye. If you don’t have time to listen to his presentation, here are the highlights.

He began with backstory, detailing the effort’s founding with Brian Barilleaux (who was in attendance as were several supporters of note, including Vicki Schmitz Block on behalf of the family that donated the parkland long ago – she told the Rotarians that restoring the park “was a dream of the whole Schmitz family”). Schmitz Park Restore is now in its third year and has captivated people peninsula-wide (another introduced lunch guest was “freelance beaver detective” Pamela Adams, who expressed hope that restoring the park’s creek could bring back aquatic wildlife).

The vision, explained Nye, is for Schmitz Park to be held in hearts peninsula-wide as “a gem” – starting with the “native forest that was never logged,” gifted to the city in 1910, and continuing on to restoration of its creek, which currently unceremoniously dumps into a city outfall pipe that runs under Alki and empties, underwater, into Elliott Bay. The question of why it doesn’t flow openly all the way to Puget Sound inspired them to what became a “community-driven partnership with the city of Seattle … to revitalize Schmitz Preserve Park.” Though the original name of the effort focused on the creek, Nye said they realized that before restoring it, “we’ve got work to do” involving more of the park.

(Photo provided by Schmitz Park Restore)

That work has involved an increasing number of volunteers; the monthly ivy pulls, Nye said, lead them to “come together as a community … you never know who’s going to show up.” They’ve done their first planting of native species – 300 plants in the ground.

(2009 Schmitz Park sightings by the late photojournalist Matt Durham, trillium at upper left)

And under some of the ivy they’ve removed, he said, they’ve found plant species like trilliums, “waiting to come back.”

Nye also recounted the UW students’ design proposals shown off in December 2024 (WSB coverage here) – “that got a lot of attention.” And since then, they’ve secured grant funding to help advance studies. As they work on a true “private-public partnership,” he explained, they’re raising $150,000 in matching funds to pay for hydrology studies and other work needed to further advance the work toward envisioning “what route the creek might take” to get from the park to the sea.

He added that they’re talking with Seattle Public Schools about whether the former Schmitz Park Elementary campus could become part of the park and fit into environmental education – at least with “a dedicated trail.”

So many dreams and ideas – right now, all rooted in hands-on help for Schmitz Preserve Park. So if you want to get involved, you can join in this Saturday’s ivy pull, 10 am-noon, meet at Admiral Way and SW Stevens – also, watch for their monthly free guided tours; dates and RSVP links are here.

Join us Saturday, June 13th from 11 am to 5 pm for Mountain Fest at Camp Long! This is our annual celebration of all the things that make Camp Long the hidden gem it is! We will open many of our programming activities to the public for free including Schurman Rock and the High Ropes Course! We will also have many partners joining us to provide additional programming including The Falconer, Mountain Madness to do rappelling down the Glacier, SPR Naturalists, Scouts, The Beaver Detective, and more! Everything is free though some of the activities require signing up for time slots and filling out waivers such as the Rock Climbing and High Ropes Course. Slot signups will be released roughly an hour before each activity slot at the sign up booths on the field!

(WSB photo, February)

Back in February, we reported that Delphinium Delicatessen was on the way for 3902 California SW. We have an update tonight from proprietor Cindy Beaver:

My shop is an homage to a shop on Orcas Island that has since closed (the owners retired) called Roses. I will have fresh baked bread from Seawolf in Fremont/Wallingford, wine, cheese, charcuterie, a sandwich and soup of the day (vegetarian options always available) and kitchen goods/ other foodie items. I aim to carry items that aren’t readily available at Met Mkt, as well as some staples. I will be selling local goods (West Seattle) as well as national and international stuff. I’m currently waiting on plumbing to be completed and hope to get finished and open before June is over.

Once Delphinium is open, Cindy tells WSB, hours will be 11 am to 7 pm Tuesdays through Sundays (closed Mondays).

Duwamish Alive! Celebrate Earth Month by Caring for Our Duwamish River
Volunteer on Saturday, April 18, 10 am-2 pm

Join us in celebrating the 20th anniversary of Duwamish Alive! while caring for Seattle’s only RIVER — the Duwamish, as we work together to improve its health. Volunteers will be restoring native habitat on in multiple urban parks and open spaces from Seattle to Kent in the ongoing effort to keep our river alive and healthy for our communities, salmon and the Puget Sound. Proving that by working together, we can make a substantial difference in improving the health of our region. We be working at sites, from Kent to Seattle to restore and preserve our areas of native habitat in the river’s watershed.

The river’s watershed includes forested areas such as the Duwamish Greenbelt, one of the largest in the lower section of the river, provides important air and water filtration of pollution, especially storm runoff one of the major sources polluting our waters. Tree canopy cover also reduces our summer heat domes, unequally affecting low income, communities of color to a greater degree. The river’s ecosystem supports 5 salmon species including the threatened Chinook salmon which is a critical food source for our Southern Resident Orcas; along with wildlife that includes river otters, beavers, bald eagles, and blue herons. Each of our habitat sites supports this web of life while providing important environmental benefits to our communities – we are all connected.

We are honored to help steward these locations which are the ancestral lands and waters of the Duwamish Peoples who have been here for thousands of years. Join us in caring for these special places. Family friendly, ALL are welcome. Tools and instruction are provided.

To volunteer, visit DuwamishAlive.org to see the different volunteer opportunities and register for the site of your choice.