It was a busy Saturday Earth Day morning in Edmonds, as various groups of volunteers and officials pitched in at local parks and beaches to honor the earth by contributing their labor to give the environment a meaningful boost.

The morning began with U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen joining Snohomish County Parks Director Tom Teigen, other county officials, and citizen volunteers at Meadowdale Beach County Park to help expand the newly-created estuarine habitat area by making a dent in the jungle of blackberry, English ivy and other invasives that continue to encroach on the restored wetland, which Larsen had visited earlier this year.  Later that morning, the 2nd District congressman pitched in with a volunteer team at Southwest County Park, also clearing invasives in preparation for replanting with native species.

Before rolling up his sleeves, Larsen took the opportunity to speak about the recent action by NOAA under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that made more than $37 million available to help fund a variety of projects aimed at combatting climate change, restore habitat, reduce flooding, and create green jobs.

“Fourteen of these projects are in the state of Washington, and eight are in our district,” he added. “It’s very timely that we’re able to make this announcement of a significant investment in our environment the week of Earth Day.” (Learn more here)

Other Earth Day projects were held in various Edmonds city park locations, where volunteers planted trees, restored habitat and cleaned up beaches. The events were organized as a joint effort between the Edmonds Parks Department, the Edmonds Stewards, the Edmonds Tree Board, and Sound Salmon Solutions.

While some groups scoured Marina Beach and Brackett’s Landing North for trash, others formed a wheelbarrow caravan and shovel gang to spread more than 15 yards of mulch on newly replanted areas in Pine Ridge Park. Still another group of intrepid tree-planters put in more than 70 native trees along the banks of Shell Creek in Yost Park.

— By Larry Vogel