Echo Lake Neighborhood celebrates Earth Day with five events over three days

The Echo Lake Neighborhood Association (ELNA) is going all out for Earth Day. 

They have cancelled their usual 3rd Tuesday Zoom meeting this month.

Instead, for this year’s Earth Day weekend, ELNA is hosting five interactive events, each consisting of a featured speaker followed by a "Bioblitz" gathering.

A Bioblitz? What’s that?

A bioblitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible. The first BioBlitz was held in Washington, D.C. in 1996. Approximately 1000 species were identified at this first event.

Download the iNaturalist app (not the Seek option; 'Connect with Nature' on iPhone) to your phone (you can do that now) and set up an account if you do not already have one. Our local events are part of the "City Nature Challenge 2024 - Seattle-Tacoma" project. (There are helpful hints on the Registration page)

When you are in one of the parks choose a plant and take a photo, following instructions on the app. 

The schedule is as follows:

Friday, April 26, 11am, at Shoreline Park, 9030 1st Ave NE

Joy Wood of Green Shoreline Partnership,
"Forest Health and Ecological Restoration"

Saturday, April 27, 10am, at Densmore Pathway (188th between Ashworth and Densmore)

Marla Tullio, 

"Birds and plants of Shoreline's Densmore Pathway"

Saturday, April 27, 11am, at Echo Lake Park 19901 Ashworth Ave N

Ann Michel, 

“Flora, Fauna and Rainwater: the Future of Echo Lake”

Sunday, April 28, 10am, at Shoreline Park, 9030 1st Ave NE

Sara Cammeresi, 

"Native and Invasive Plants at Shoreline Park"

Sunday, April 28, 1:30pm at Midvale Gardens (southeast of 192nd & Midvale)

Derek Creisler,
"Workshop on Weeds - the Midvale Gardens project, its history, and where do we go from here"


In addition:

• Light refreshments will be available
• Rain - cancels / does not cancel please check each event listing for details in the link below
• Everyone is welcome

Benefits:

• An after-covid in-person community gathering with no covid threat due to it being held outdoors
• A reason to get outdoors, connect with nature, and connect with members of our local community
• Learn about plants and animals in our local community
• Work in pairs, in small groups, or individually to gather photos (a wonderful way for a family to spend time together)
• Differently-abled (wheelchair, walkers, etc.) individuals can participate as the activity is not athletic. All locations are near paved city trails and have paved trails within the site (Densmore Pathway has a gravel path).
• You will be helping to create records of the biodiversity in our area

Register and get more information here

We look forward to celebrating Earth Day weekend with our community at these events!