Volunteers improve the Mountains to Sound Greenway
May 2010
Up to 150 volunteers from local home builder Quadrant Homes will join a Mountains to Sound Greenway volunteer event on Friday, May 21st at Lake Sammamish State Park.
“Organizations, like Mountains to Sound Greenway, are great partners for Quadrant Homes. They share our vision to create a vibrant economy that co-exists with forest preservation, open space for recreation, and a healthy environment, which, all make for a wonderful community. Quadrant supports their goals and we’re excited to offer our employees the chance to spend part of a workday restoring the natural areas around Lake Sammamish,” says Peter Orser, President of Quadrant Homes.
Lake Sammamish State Park has been degraded over time by invasive weeds and high levels of foot and boat traffic. To improve the ecological condition of the site, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust have undertaken a multi-year restoration project at the park, bringing volunteers to remove invasive weeds, especially Himalayan and Evergreen blackberry, from along the creeks and lakeshore. Volunteers return each fall to plant native trees and shrubs.
Lake Sammamish is important for several species of salmon, many birds and a wide variety of amphibians, insects and other wildlife, and is an entrance point for salmon headed upstream to spawn. Native trees are critical to the health of the Pacific Northwest. Trees improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gases, shade creeks and streams cooling water for threatened salmon, reduce erosion and filter pollutants, improve water quality, and provide important wildlife habitat.
ABOUT THE MOUNTAINS TO SOUND GREENWAY:
The Mountains to Sound Greenway connects natural areas, trails, working farms and forests, historic towns and communities, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities from Seattle across the Cascade Mountains to Central Washington. The Greenway provides easy access to recreation and nature for millions of people in the Northwest, key to the quality of life in this region.
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust leads and inspires action to conserve and enhance this landscape, ensuring a long-term balance between people and nature. Since 1991, the Greenway Trust has worked to promote public land acquisitions, connect a continuous regional trail system, teach people of all ages about the importance of conserving forests and wildlife, improve recreation access, create new parks and trails and mobilize thousands of volunteers.
About Quadrant Homes
More Washingtonians live in a Quadrant home than in one constructed by any other builder. Quadrant Homes, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company, is now in its 40th year of award-winning home building in the Puget Sound region. Quadrant’s “Built Your Way” approach encourages homebuyers to select the features that matter most to them. The company is currently building or developing new-home communities in King, Snohomish, Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, and Skagit counties. Quadrant was recognized with the 2010 Guildmaster Award for exceptional customer satisfaction, has been named a Builder of the Year by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties, and one of Washington’s Best Work Places by The Puget Sound Business Journal. Quadrant has also been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency as a qualified Energy Star® builder. For more information, visit the Quadrant Homes website, Quadrant Homes Twitter and Quadrant Homes Facebook
