The City of Bellingham hosted a volunteer work party at Fairhaven Park in celebration of Earth Day on Saturday.
The work party was organized to clean Padden Creek of common invasive plants in developed areas such as ivy, blackberries, English holly and laurel.
Volunteers also laid mulch to keep invasive species from growing back until they can plant native species to replace them. Padden Creek is home to many fish species including several types of salmon the city is trying to protect.
Analiese Burns, habitat and restoration manager for the City of Bellingham, said the city also plans on planting more native shade trees along the creek like Douglas fir, big leaf maple and western red cedar to shade the creek for the fish who need cooler water to survive.
Organizations like Whatcom Million Trees Project and Wild Whatcom were in attendance, helping organize efforts and educate volunteers. More people showed up to the work party than expected for the event, which had a capacity of 95 volunteers.
Michael Feerer, executive director at Whatcom Million Trees Project, said he was excited to make a change in city parks where volunteers could see the results of their work, feel good about environmental efforts and get involved with local conservation.
Mayor Seth Fleetwood also volunteered at the event and gave a speech promoting environmental cleanup efforts by the city and partner organizations.
To find out more information about local conservation efforts volunteer opportunities visit cob.org or whatcommilliontrees.org.
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the name of Analiese Burns. The story was updated to reflect this change on April 26, 2022 at 1:56 p.m. The Cascadia Daily News regrets the error.
