It takes a community to ensure invasive, non-native species don’t take over our generally pristine Salish Sea shoreline.
That’s the underlying belief of …
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It takes a community to ensure invasive, non-native species don’t take over our generally pristine Salish Sea shoreline.
That’s the underlying belief of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, which is again tackling the restoration of the shoreline through protecting native habitat for plants and animals. MLK Day is the third Monday of January, which falls on Jan. 20 this year.
The focus of the volunteer environmental effort this year is pulling out invasive beachgrass.
The annual community service event began in 2013. It represents a partnership between the Marine Science Center, the Friends of Fort Worden State Park, the Olympic Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, and the Washington Service Corps of AmeriCorps.
AmeriCorps member Kelly Kingdon, who serves as the Marine Science Center’s marine stewardship educator, explained that invasive species have been the main focus of such MSC cleanups in recent years, which have previously targeted English ivy and Himalayan blackberry.
“Fort Worden has been very helpful in helping to figure out the specifics,” Kingdon said.
Llast year’s restoration effort also centered on invasive beachgrass, but had to be canceled and rescheduled due to initially freezing temperatures that wouldn’t have allowed volunteers to dig into the ground deeply enough, said Carolyn Woods, education manager for the Marine Science Center.
“The problem with invasive beachgrass, like so many other invasive species, is that it crowds out the native species,” Woods said. “Invasive beachgrass changes the shape of sand dunes, in ways that impede the health of the native dune grass, which serves as food and habitat for any number of other species, including the sand-verbena moth.”
Since last year’s rescheduled Day of Service still managed to draw roughly 20 volunteers, Woods and Kingdon agreed that they’d love to see at least 40 volunteers show up for this year’s Day of Service, which will meet at the Marine Science Center’s museum portico at 502 Harbor Defense Way in Fort Worden at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
As of Jan. 10, Kingdon reported 20 volunteers had signed up, and she invited others to RSVP at bit.ly/MLK2025_RSVP online.
“We’re still working out exactly where we’ll be working during the day, but regardless of where we go, we’ll be meeting up at the museum portico at Fort Worden to start,” Kingdon said.
The Friends of Fort Worden plan to deliver a brief presentation about invasive beachgrass, and how to identify it, at the outset of that meeting, and from there, volunteers are welcome to stay and work for as long, or as little, as they like.
Event organizers emphasized that all ages of volunteers are welcome to the Day of Service, which includes free parking, with snacks and drinks provided, but while some tools are also provided, organizers still recommend that volunteers bring their own tools as well.
“Bring work gloves if you have them, and make sure to dress for the weather,” Kingdon said. “We have limited tools, so please bring your own shovels or pitchforks if you have them.”
The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is part of a series of events offered by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, which continues with its low-tide walks at night on Monday, Jan. 27, and Tuesday, Feb. 25, from 6:45-8 p.m. at North Beach County Park.
To join the guided low-tide walk, which will be led by Marine Science Center staff and volunteers, and to see what marine creatures get up to after dark, you must RSVP online at the MSC website at ptmsc.org.