Throughout the month of August, a team from Puget SoundCorps – part of the broader Washington Conservation Corps – will work with Pierce County Parks and Recreation and the Pierce Conservation District to help restore areas of Bresemann Forest and Spanaway Park.

The Urban Forestry Restoration Project is administered by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Urban and Community Forestry Program. It aims to help enhance the capacity of urban forests to manage stormwater and improve air and water quality by improving the health and functionality of trees.

Team members from Puget SoundCorps will remove English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, Japanese knotweed, and yellow flag iris from the areas. These invasive, non-native plants are a threat to healthy forests because they compete for water and nutrients, and in some cases even kill trees. Invasive species also clog waterways and reduce water flow in stream systems.

A similar project was completed two years ago at Swan Creek Park in Tacoma (see “Tacoma’s Swan Creek Park focus of urban forestry restoration project,” Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 13, 2013)

The Urban and Community Forestry Program is made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. The Washington Conservation Corps program is administered by the Washington State Department of Ecology and is supported through grant funding and education awards provided by AmeriCorps.

More information about the Urban Forestry Restoration Project is available online here.

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of Puget SoundCorps and Washington Conservation Corps, click on the following links:

• 75 trees to be planted along I-5 in Tacoma (Tacoma Daily Index, April 7, 2015)
• Julia’s Gulch volunteer work party Dec. 13 (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec, 2, 2014)
• Restoration work to begin on Pierce County urban forest (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 1, 2014)
• Washington Conservation Corps hiring 300 (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 3, 2012)
• Tacoma Daily Index Top Stories — Nov. 14 – Nov. 20 (Tacoma Daily Index, Nov. 21, 2011)
• Puget SoundCorps crews break ground at Port Of Tacoma wetland mitigation site (Tacoma Daily Index, Nov. 14, 2011)
• Environmental Services Division offering free environmental work (Tacoma Daily Index, Jan. 25, 2002)

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of Bresemann Forest and Spanaway Park, click on the following links:

• Restoration work to begin on Pierce County urban forest (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 1, 2014)
• Dept. of Ecology awards $6.2M for stormwater projects in Tacoma, Pierce County (Tacoma Daily Index, May 16, 2012)
• Pierce County will open largest fish-passage project (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 31, 2007)
• County parks receive sizable sum (Tacoma Daily Index, Feb. 16, 2006)
• State awards $1 million in recreation grants for county (Tacoma Daily Index, Nov. 29, 2005)
• Military Road section dedicated to late Parks and Recreation director (Tacoma Daily Index, May 20, 2005)

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of the City of Tacoma’s Urban Forest program, click on the following links:

• 75 trees to be planted along I-5 in Tacoma (Tacoma Daily Index, April 7, 2015)
• Schuster Slope: Public meeting April 30 to discuss management plan (Tacoma Daily Index, March 30, 2015)
• After ‘game-changing’ injuries, Tacoma’s urban forester resigns (Tacoma Daily Index, Feb. 11, 2015)
• 2 contractors bid on project to clean up Schuster Slope (Tacoma Daily Index, Sept. 23, 2014)
• Schuster Slope: Cleanup crew needed for 16-acre open space area (Tacoma Daily Index, Sept. 10, 2014)
• Tacoma City Council OKs state grant for urban forest program (Tacoma Daily Index, Oct. 9, 2013)
• Tacoma’s Hilltop Diversitree Project kicks off Oct. 11 (Tacoma Daily Index, Oct. 7, 2013)
• State grant could help grow Tacoma’s urban forest program (Tacoma Daily Index, Oct. 4, 2013)
• Anonymous donation aims to bring more street trees to Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 16, 2013)
• Tacoma’s Swan Creek Park focus of urban forestry restoration project (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 13, 2013)
• Work begins soon to preserve Schuster Slope’s urban forest (Tacoma Daily Index, July 30, 2012)
• Tree pruning planned along Ruston Way (Tacoma Daily Index, March 27, 2012)
• Tacoma Urban Forest messenger bags on sale (Tacoma Daily Index, Oct. 6, 2011)
• New UW tree canopy study shows Tacoma closer to goal (Tacoma Daily Index, July 28, 2011)
• Tacoma Urban Forest Project “upcycled” bags on sale June 15 (Tacoma Daily Index, June 13, 2011)
• Time running out to see Urban Forest Project banners on Pacific Avenue (Tacoma Daily Index, May 20, 2011)
• Tacoma moves closer to creating its heritage tree register (Tacoma Daily Index, April 21, 2011)
• Celebrate Arbor Day, Tacoma’s urban forest April 2 (Tacoma Daily Index, March 23, 2011)
• Tacoma’s Urban Forest Project deadline extended (Tacoma Daily Index, Feb. 9, 2011)
• Artists sought for downtown Tacoma urban forest project (Tacoma Daily Index, Jan. 11, 2011)
• 6 new signs mark Tacoma’s Tree City USA anniversary (Tacoma Daily Index, Jan. 5, 2010)
• Revised urban forestry plan could protect Tacoma’s heritage trees (Tacoma Daily Index, June 9, 2009)
• Tacoma plants record 803 free street trees (Tacoma Daily Index, Dec. 17, 2008)
• Preserving Tacoma’s Heritage Trees: An interview with Marshall McClintock (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 27, 2008)
• Saving Tacoma’s Urban Arbor: Will the city create a register of heritage trees? (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 26, 2008)