Bear Creek Basin grows by 28 acres

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MAP:   "A" marks center of the long, east-to-west rectangular forested parcel.  Bear Creek Golf Course is East.  Do you see Bear Creek meandering north towards the forested parcel?  Zoom in!

New Bear Creek Land Acquisitions

By Terry Lavender

Publically owned and protected property in the Bear Creek Basin has grown by 28 acres. Land is located  in one of the main spawning areas of Bear Creek. 

King County recently completed the purchase of some beautifully forested property south of the Tolt Pipeline Trail.  It adds to eleven acres already in public ownership directly adjacent to the trail. This is one of the largest, fully forested pieces in the upper area of Bear Creek.  Read More >>

Photos/video of Redmond storm of 12/3/07

Flooding Bear Creek is only 20 feet from SR 520; road widening is planned for here. Email Cathy Beam, city planning with your comments to re-route Bear Creek away from 520. cbeam@redmond.gov . Broken grass is high water mark of flood. (below)





Bear Creek flooding 20 feet from SR 520 (above right & left)


Bear Creek behind Safeway

Picture on right is of Willows Golf Course. Lots of waterfowl here. Three above pics are of Bear Creek behind Safeway along the paved trail (at Bear Creek shopping center). Not a good day to sit on the park bench! Two pictures at top are of Bear Creek by SR 520.



The two video clips above are of Bear Creek on 116th St. bridge by Juel Park -one clip is upstream & other is downstream (click on play > button)

Water Tenders is resurrected

Key Club members help to restore a Bear Creek tributary
My daughter Lexie is far left; she recruited the Key Club
members.

Water Tenders is a group of people who care about the wetlands and streams in the Bear Creek area and King county.

The torch of Water Tenders (WT) leadership was passed from President Eric Soshea to Susan Wilkins at the WT Annual Meeting last week.  Many of the of the original tenders were present, including a relative of the founder. Leader Terry Lavender and past president Dick Schaetzel were out of town. Gary Smith was present. Debbie Aftebro from Novelty Hill had never attended a WT meeting yet she collects and measures rainwater for Guy Baltzelle's program. She wanted to meet Guy but unfortunately he wasn't at the meeting.  Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was up front with Susan and Eric. Shirley was once President and is now the Treasurer, replacing John Reinke,who replaced Dick S.  One of the new board members, Heather Poe was president and secretary for WT in the Early 2000 - 2005 era (before Susan became a member.) Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was also once a president along with five others. 

In her presentation, (video) Susan held up a map of the entire Bear Creek watershed. She was re-directing and expanding our attention to the entire Bear Creek watershed.  She states:

Field tours of archaeological excavation conducted in Bear Creek Rehabilitation Project

On Saturday August 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Charlie Hodges, principal of Pacific Geoarchaeological Services (and formerly a principal of Northwest Archaeological Services) will lead short field tours on a half hourly basis of a current archaeological excavation being conducted in Redmond near Bear Creek Parkway during construction of the Bear Creek Rehabilitation Project.  Please feel free to invite anyone who might benefit from this learning opportunity.

Short term parking is available nearby at the Claim Jumper restaurant, 7210 164th Ave NE (between 73rd Way & Bear Creek Parkway). 

This City of Redmond project will rehabilitate the lower, channelized 3,000 feet of Bear Creek from the mouth a previously completed stream restoration project upstream.  The current project will relocate this mostly straight, channelized segment of Bear Creek into a meandering, reshaped, revegetated channel within existing open space.  The newly rehabbed channel will have vegetated stream buffers consistent with the Redmond’s CAO and allowance for WSDOT’s “Stage 3” widening of SR520 adjacent to Bear Creek.  An existing asphalt path is being relocated and augmented with a soft-surface parallel path and stream viewing areas along the newly restored channel.  The rehabilitated overbank areas will address flood conveyance issues as well as improve habitat.  Read More >>

Native American Settlement at Bear Creek Site -- An informational meeting.

Credit:  City of Redmond

WHEN:      February 25, 2017 – 11:00 am -1:00 pm

WHERE:    Western Most Overlook of the Lower Bear Creek Project

Join project director Dr. Robert Kopperl at the edge of the restoration area overlooking the site to find out more about the study and what we have learned from it, and about the broader picture of the past as seen in our archaeological heritage. 

On Saturday, February 25, 2017, Dr. Kopperl will be on-hand to informally provide information about the Bear Creek site, answer questions about the project, and any other questions you may have about Washington State’s shared archaeological heritage. He will be at the new overlook of the Lower Bear Creek habitat restoration area along the Bear Creek recreational trail (west of World Market) between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. Parking is available at the Redmond Town Center shopping mall lots across Bear Creek Parkway from the recreational trail and presentation location. 

Bear Creek School Constructs LEGO Model of New Building

 Bear Creek’s New Upper School and Fine & Performing Arts Center

 

Redmond, WA – On March 26, Dan Parker, a certified LEGO® professional, worked together with more than 100 Bear Creek students in grades 5 and 6 to construct a LEGO® model of our new Upper School and Fine & Performing Arts Center. The model is as part of the school’s REACH UP Campaign to raise $10 million to finance the construction of its new building.

Mr. Parker is one of 13 certified LEGO® professionals in the entire world and lives in the Puget Sound area.  The Experience Music Project is currently hosting an exhibit, “Block by Block: Inventing Amazing Architecture,” featuring 10 famous skyscrapers constructed from LEGOs® by Dan and his team. The exhibit will remain at the EMP through April 20.
 

To date Bear Creek has raised nearly $7.4 million for construction of the new Upper School and Fine & Performing Arts Center. The school is planning to raise the rest of the needed funds this spring, so that groundbreaking can occur in June.  Read More >>

The City hosts Archaeology Day at Lower Bear Creek

REDMOND, WA - The City hosts 2016 Archaeology Day, part of an annual global exploration of archeology, on Saturday, October 15, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Bear Creek project director Dr. Robert Kopperl will be presenting at the new overlook of the Lower Bear Creek habitat restoration area across form 164th Ave. NE along the Bear Creek recreational trail. Participants will have the opportunity to find out more about the Bear Creek study, new knowledge gleaned from the site, and the broader picture of the past as seen in our archaeological heritage.

The Bear Creek site, located in the heart of the City of Redmond, is the oldest excavated archaeological site with stone tools in Western Washington. It was first identified in 2008 during a routine environmental survey for a City habitat restoration project, and since then it has generated a wealth of information about Native American life from over 10,000 years ago near the outlet of Lake Sammamish.

Dr. Kopperl will be on-hand to informally provide information about the Bear Creek site and to answer questions about the project and Washington state’s shared archaeological heritage.

Learn more about the Bear Creek site here.

Bear Creek's Honor Society food drive collects 8980 pounds.

Bear Creek Food Drive collects 8980 pounds.

Bear Creek’s Chapter of the National Honor Society
Collects 8,980 Pounds of Food for Hopelink

During the week of October 29 – November 2, The Bear Creek School’s
chapter of the National Honor Society (NHS) sponsored a food drive for Hopelink. NHS
members posted signs and placed bins near all the classroom doors and then collected the
donations each day and delivered the food to Hopelink’s food bank in Redmond. The students
also organized a “Trick-or-Canning” event on the Sunday before Halloween and many Upper
School students went “Trick-or-Canning” on Halloween night as well, accepting cans of food
instead of candy. Additionally, students collected donations from shoppers at QFC in Redmond
Ridge. In order to encourage donations, the NHS sponsored a contest to see which class could
bring in the most cans per capita.

This year, Bear Creek students collected an amazing 8,980 pounds of food (valued at $13,470),
even more than the 8,809 pounds of food donated during last year’s food drive. The freshman
class collected an incredible 83 items per student!

About The Bear Creek School

The Bear Creek School, a leader in classical education for preschool through grade 12 in the
Pacific Northwest, offers a rigorous college preparatory curriculum from a Christian worldview.
The Bear Creek School challenges students to reach their intellectual, emotional, and spiritual
potential through academics, athletics, fine and performing arts, community service programs,
and many other educational and social activities.

UPDATED: Bear Creek advocates hold meeting

Credit/ Water Tender John Reinke 

Water Tenders is a group of people who care about the wetlands and streams in the Bear Creek area and King county.

The torch of Water Tenders (WT) leadership was passed from President Eric Soshea to Susan Wilkins at the WT Annual Meeting last week.  Many of the of the original tenders were present, including a relative of the founder. Leader Terry Lavender and past president Dick Schaetzel were out of town. Gary Smith was present. Debbie Aftebro from Novelty Hill had never attended a WT meeting yet she collects and measures rainwater for Guy Baltzelle's program. She wanted to meet Guy but unfortunately he wasn't at the meeting.  Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was up front with Susan and Eric. Shirley was once President and is now the Treasurer, replacing John Reinke,who replaced Dick S.  One of the new board members, Heather Poe was president and secretary for WT in the Early 2000 - 2005 era (before Susan became a member.) Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was also once a president along with five others. 

In her presentation, (video) Susan held up a map of the entire Bear Creek watershed. She was re-directing and expanding our attention to the entire Bear Creek watershed.  She states:

"The Bear Creek Basin is an exceptionally natural and healthy environment for our native salmon runs given that it is so close to a major metropolitan area.  We want to direct more community involvement into observing the stream habitat and collecting year-round data (such as rainfall, water temperature, stream flow) across the whole Bear Creek Basin.  We also want to carefully monitor land use planning by the local government jurisdictions to encourage preservation and protection of our land and water resources."

Five members who volunteered for the new Board met with Susan after the meeting.  The first order of business was to select officers.  Susan is the President, Mark Reynolds is the V.P. (he told a touching "avatar" story about the value of engaging children.)  Mark is a software engineer for Nordstrom and a "take charge" kind of guy.  He is working on a new website and very motivated for WT to make a difference for kids.  Me too.

Youth have been involved in WT over the years:

My daughter, Lexie Conley, was once a Youth Board member -- the first and last.  She wrote an article on the history of environmentalism that was published in the WT's 25th Anniversary Issue of the newsletter.  Terry recruited her to lead the Green Team in a Derby Day parade...and work the booth. Lexie recruited her Key Club members to help restore a forest in what is now the Redmond Bike Park site.  Notably, Dick S. attended that.  The Key Club also spent a day restoring a northern Bear Creek tributary -- an ongoing WT project.

Susan Wilkins actively engaged her children in the environment.  Her daughter was a docent for the annual WT salmon "SEEson" event.  In 2007 her children surveyed the Camwest Perrigo Heights preliminary plat's northern forest boundary ...in preparation for the citizen/council/mayor/Eric Campbell's woodland march to the proposed Steep Slope sewer location.

Colorful salmon cut-outs were made for children. (don't have the details.)  Kiosks were built to educate children and adults. Exhibits were held at REI.  Terry Lavender worked at the Redmond Medical Center from where the Derby Day Children's Parade started every year. She organized the kids and I think gave them a short education on salmon before they took off on their bikes. 

### 

A 5-minute YouTube of Susan Willkin's presentation at the Annual Meeting:  https://youtu.be/_SfMBTinhqg

A slide show of my daughter and her Key Club/ Bio-Chem classmates restoring the Bear Creek tributary.  

Witness the salmon journey through Redmond and Woodinville

Water Tenders educating children at Bear Creek in Woodinville on the Tolt Pipeline trail

Native salmon – sockeye, chinook, coho and chum – have begun their journey from the open ocean to their birthplaces in the streams and rivers that feed into Puget Sound. You may be able to witness their amazing journey at locations around King County.

Best viewing late September to mid-November (self-guided daily during KIS Farm hours)Bear Creek in Redmond, 12526 Avondale Rd. NE
For info on docent-led visits: Linda at 425-882-1846 or lyhussey@comcast.net 

Oct. 5 and 12 (3-6 p.m.); Oct. 8,9,15 and 16 (1-4 p.m.) Bear Creek in Woodinville, on the Tolt Pipeline trail 
More info: 206-437-8754
Sponsored by Water Tenders

Council passes the Bear Creek Parkway Extension construction project!

OPINION: Council conversations and the ensuing vote on the $23 million "Bear Creek Parkway Extension" construction project on 7/15 was interesting, yet challenging to follow. I had to contact the City Clerk to confirm the final 4-2 vote FOR the project.

All councilmembers (Mr. Vache was absent) wanted the construction project approved, but two councilmembers Allen & Cole were seriously upset with the proposed alignment. In the beginning Councilman Carson went along with Mr. Cole's original stance against the project. By the end of the debate only Carson and Allen voted against the project. Cole reluctantly voted for it.

Allen and Cole (Carson agreed) were serioulsy disappointed with the road route and the small number of trees that would have to be removed at the Saturday Market and Heron Rookery. (According to Planner Cathy Beam and a city consultant the herons have been scared away by crows and eagles and the nests aren't active). Most thought the route more costly than the other two options. After confusing conversations by most councilmembers Mr. Cole decided to change his vote at the last minute to favor the alignment. The construction project passed 4 -2.

Mayor John Marchione shared his opinion after the vote:

"Regarding the Bear Creek Parkway route decision, it was made more than
two years ago. [The below PHASE 1 and 2 aerial photos show the Bear
Creek Parkway alignment]. You can see that a few trees to the north of
the rookery and a few to the west of the Saturday Market are removed. The
option that was not selected was cutting through the open space to the west
of RTC (or extending 159th on the attached photo). In my judgment, this route damaged wetlands, reduced wildlife habitat and produced less traffic improvement. Reasonable people can disagree which route was better. Either way, it was a tough choice for Council, but it is time to more on."

I am excited the project passed owing to Ms. McCormick's firm statement, we would be in total gridlock without the extension. The city will have to plant new trees to replace those removed. When completed, the new Bear Creek Parkway extension will feature a street connection from Redmond Way through Leary Way to Redmond Town Center. This project is the first of several City projects to enhance transit, vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle movement in downtown Redmond.

The roadway will include one travel lane in each direction, a center turn lane, street parking, and bicycle lanes. Pedestrian features include a 14 foot wide sidewalk with street trees and
pedestrian plaza and lighting. Landscaping amenities will add connections to the wooded area south of 161st Street and at Redmond Town Center. A new bike/pedestrian trail through the wooded area will connect the 520 and Sammamish River trails to the 161st Street to the Park and Ride.

The project also includes the first segment of the new downtown sewer and an upgrade to the Leary Way storm treatment pond. The total $23M transportation and stormwater package will be funded from Capital (CIP) funds. Every year 5% of our General Operating Fund transfers to the Capital CIP fund. Thus, this expensive project will be paid by "today's dollars" for use by future citizens years from now. I recall Mr. Marchione (as councilman) once recommended borrowing as a tool available to fund the Extension & other big projects since costs would be spread out to future generations of users.

The economic vitality of Redmond's Downtown will be reinvigorated. Click on the links to see the November 2007 color, aerial photos of the proposed project layout, Phase 1 and Phase 1 and 2, for the Bear Creek Parkway extension.

Construction for the Bear Creek Parkway Extension will likely occur in phases. Click on the link to view the proposed schedule for the Bear Creek Parkway Extension construction timetable. With the passage of this project the "proposed schedule" needs to be updated and I hope will be posted on the front page on the city website.

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Additional Project Information:
Project information
Key environmental issues
State Environmental Policy Act

Letter: Mackey Creek and Juel Creek restoration

Tom Hardy
City of Redmond

Thanks for coming to the Mackey Creek project meeting last week. It’s always great to have interested members of the environmental community present at meetings.

The Willows Creek project you and John Reinke visited is doing well. There have been a few changes in recent years in the ravine where the streams flows; large trees have fallen over with some of the windstorms we’ve had. The trees have added wood to the stream channel helping to capture sediment (gravel, sand, etc.), dig pools and create a more complex channel. A lot of the native plants that the WCC crew planted have taken off as well, which has helped to improve the riparian buffer.

Juel Creek Restoration Project

During your walk last week, it sounds like you came upon portions of the Juel Creek project that was done over a few years; 2013-15. I’ve attached a map that shows the sequence and general locations of the project elements. The Juel Creek project removed four fish barriers, installed logs and planted the riparian. Although Juel Creek is starting to dry up, it provides great rearing habitat for juvenile salmon and trout (and other species), and is connected to Bear Creek.

Like Willows Creek, we were able to do most of the work with WCC crews and did not have to use many artificial anchors to anchor the logs. We did install a few anchors near the mouth of Bear Creek because of the possibility of the logs floating away during high water events.

I do not know the history of homesteaders in Juel Park. I believe the trees you saw on the bank of Bear Creek were alders. The concrete blocks and other debris was put there by the farmer, years ago, to armor the bank and prevent Bear Creek from migrating east at that location. The City has a project identified in the long term to remove the armoring (concrete blocks) and to install logs and allow the stream to act more naturally.

Thanks for your interest and talk with you later,

Tom Hardy

Stream & Habitat Planner | City of Redmond