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Meet local conservationists at Creekside Community Gathering

Published 11:20 am Wednesday, April 22, 2026

By Ray Miller-Still

Free the Green is just one group of people cleaning up the Boise Creek banks by ripping out invasive species of plants and putting in native ones. The group is planning a May 16 “Creekside Community Gathering” at the Foothills Trail trailhead, but is also involved in a Prairie Appreciation Day (May 9, Glacial Heritage Preserve), Lake Kapowsin Days (May 30, Kale Kapowsin Boat Launch) and a Nature Festival (June 6, Flaming Geyser State Park). To learn more, head to freethegreen.org. Contributed photo

Free the Green is just one group of people cleaning up the Boise Creek banks by ripping out invasive species of plants and putting in native ones. The group is planning a May 16 “Creekside Community Gathering” at the Foothills Trail trailhead, but is also involved in a Prairie Appreciation Day (May 9, Glacial Heritage Preserve), Lake Kapowsin Days (May 30, Kale Kapowsin Boat Launch) and a Nature Festival (June 6, Flaming Geyser State Park). To learn more, head to freethegreen.org. Contributed photo

Residents looking to bust into the Plateau environmentalist scene should mark May 16 on their calendars.

King County, in partnership with Free the Green, the Enumclaw Plateau Community Association, the King Conservation District, and the Mid Sound Fisheries Enhancement Group is hosting a “Creekside Community Gathering” near the Foothills Trail trail head south of Enumclaw from 1 to 4 p.m. on that day.

The event promises free food, environmental activities for kids and families, and raffles and prizes — but organizer Bernie McKinney also hopes people will take the time to learn about how important Enumclaw’s waterways are important to salmon and other migratory fish.

One of the most significant local bodies of water (outside the Green and White Rivers, that is) is Boise Creek, which follows some of the Foothills Trail and flows into the White River.

“It used to be the home of the largest Spring Chinook Salmon run in the County,” McKinney said. But “[d]ue to many factors such as dredging, channelizing and lack of vegetation cover, the Chinook Salmon struggles to survive in this creek.”

He added that the Chinook salmon are the preferred food for resident orcas in the Puget Sound, so difficulties for the fish make their way downstream — and up the food chain.

McKinney has been working with various volunteer groups since 2018 to improve the Boise Creek habitat for the salmon by ripping out invasive species of plants and putting in native special that both provide the fish with shade (warm water can be lethal) and a better food source for the insects and other animals the fish eat on their way to their spawning grounds.

Groups include the Enumclaw Rotary, local Boy Scouts, Enumclaw School District Career and Technical Education students, and the newly-formed Free the Green nonprofit, among individual volunteers; additionally, the Enumclaw Garden Club, King County, and local contractor Wheeler Construction have either provided monetary donations, plant donations, or thousands of dollars of in-kind work to aid planting efforts.

“The restoration project has gained attention from [the] EPA, DOE, King County, Pierce County, WRIA10, Pierce Conservation, Mid Sound Fisheries, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, and the Muckleshoot Tribe,” McKinney said. “All have contributed financially to the effort to create a showcase along the Foothills Trail in Enumclaw.”

Outside of the Creekside Community Gathering event, volunteers continue to meet on the Foothills Trail every Wednesday, 9 a.m. to noon.

“We have extra shovels!” McKinney said.

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