The Friends of Yesler Swamp has published a variety of posts regarding the history of Yesler Swamp, located in Laurelhurst, including history of the area from settlement, sawmill, town of Yesler, historic photos, videos, source notes and more, on their website.
Friends of Yesler Swamp and the UW Botanic Gardens have been working together for over a decade to restore the native plants of Yesler Swamp, located near the Center for Urban Horticulture and bordered by NE 41st Street and Surber Drive, as well as construct a handicapped-accessible natural wetland trail, which also serves to protect and conserve swamp wildlife and minimize human impact on the wetlands. The boardwalk was completed on October 16th of last year with a celebration.
The Seattle City Council approved a Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund award of $88,887 to restore Yesler Swamp and help with the cost of construction of the boardwalk.
And the King Conservation District provided a $31,940 grant for construction of a Viewing Platform and more.
Friends of Yesler Swamp said on their website that the trail "offers views of the wetlands, the beaver lodge and the lagoon, while protecting wildlife by directing human foot traffic away from these sensitive areas.
Here is one of Friends of Yesler Swamp's posts on the history of the area:
NEXT DOOR TO A LANDFILL
In 1933, people began dumping trash in the Union Bay marsh. Later, the city began using the area as a garbage dump and landfill. The fill material was household garbage, rubbish, ashes, stumps, lumber and rubble. Some 11 million cubic yards of trash, including debris from the construction of the I-5 freeway, were deposited on the marsh.[57]In the end, up to 40 feet (12.2 meters) of garbage and debris were dumped on the marsh.[58]
The idea was to “reclaim” the swamp land for building or other useful purposes. Walter L. Dunn, a professor of engineering at the University, conducted a study in 1966.
He noted:
When the work of recovery by means of refuse began in 1933, the swamp generally had the consistency of thick sludge, much of it over 60 feet deep. It has been built into a usable part of the campus.[59]
“Bulldozer at Montlake Landfill, University of Washington, August 17, 1958,” University of Washington Libraries Special Collections UW19075
Not everyone favored filling the swampland with garbage. In 1951, UW Professors Higman and Larrison published their evocative journal of their visits to the swamp, Union Bay: The Life of a City Marsh.
They wrote:
It is a unique place, this marsh. Man, by building the ship canal, lowered the water of the bay until its margins became a series of exposed flats. Man is therefore responsible for the marsh. If the present trend continues, man, by continued filling, drainage, and building, will some day destroy it.[60]
Fortunately, the “useable part of the campus” — the part of the marsh that was filled in by rubbish for over 30 years — did not extend as far as the east basin.Yesler Swamp, once again, was spared.
THE REBIRTH OF YESLER SWAMP
Following closure of the landfill, the University began planning for the future of the area. Fortunately, the Washington legislature in 1971 enacted the Shoreline Management Act, whose purpose was both to preserve the natural character of the shorelines of our state as well as to increase public access to the shores.[61]The University approved a master plan for the former landfill in 1974, designating the marshland around Yesler Swamp as “unmanaged wildlife.” The swamp at that time featured red alders, willow, a few cottonwoods and “thickets of Himalayan blackberry.”[62] In January 1978, the University decided to demolish Union Bay Village and move married student housing to other locations.[63] The natural area would instead be devoted to research and teaching. [64]
In 1993, the UW undertook a plan for the future of the Union Bay shoreline. A committee, which included Kern Ewing, was charged with preparing a management plan. The emphasis was on “the importance of preserving this freshwater wetland as a public heritage and . . . increasing concern on the part of the University faculty and students that this rare nearby habitat be available intact for future study and teaching.”[65]
The planners agreed that the entire landfill over the deep, spongy peat deposits of Union Bay was unsuitable for construction of buildings. Instead, the natural area should be reserved for teaching, wildlife habitat and recreation. A wetland study at the time characterized much of the area as “wetland.”[66] All of area encompassing Yesler Swamp was designated as open space.[67] Specifically, the marsh to the west of Yesler Swamp was designated as a Conservancy Preservation Shoreline area.[68]
The planners generally recommended removing invasive non-native plants and animals, adding native plants, maximizing biodiversity, and controlling human impacts.[69] The area would come to be known as the Union Bay Natural Area.
YESLER SWAMP TODAY
In 2000, for the first time, serious attention shifted to Yesler Swamp. In a series of Capstone Projects carried out by UW Restoration Ecology Network (U-REN), teams of students led by Kern Ewing and others began restoration of Yesler Swamp. The students dug out invasive blackberries and canary reed grass, planting willows and other native species to shade out the invaders, and mapped out a rough trail.
Students studied the history of restoration efforts in the natural area and the hydrology of the swamp, observing that the fluctuating lake water levels posed a challenge for constructing a permanent trail for access to the lagoon. They noted that when heavy rains fell, the trail was not navigable without rubber boots.
Taking into account the unusual hydrology of the area, in 2004 the students developed a detailed plan for a loop trail. The route forms the basis for the current loop trail design. Laura Davis, a member of the 2004 Capstone Team, later became a professional landscape designer and joined forces with Friends of Yesler Swamp to develop the current trail plan for Yesler Swamp.[70]
In 2010, Friends of Yesler Swamp, assisted by a grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Matching fund, retained SBA Landscape Associates to design an environmentally sensitive, all season trail and boardwalk to provide community access to Yesler Swamp. A professional design was prepared, and all environmental permits were obtained. The Department of Neighborhoods has promised additional funding to begin construction of the Yesler Swamp Trail.
Groups of environmental students at the UW continue to study the swamp and work towards its restoration. Friends of Yesler Swamp has partnered with U-REN students and hosts monthly work parties. Community members and students have devoted hundreds of hours to pulling ivy, chopping Himalayan blackberry, digging invasive grasses, and planting native species like willow and cedar.
(Photo by Carol Arnold)
At the same time, UW students and community groups like the Green Seattle Coalition are working to restore the headwaters of Yesler Creek.
Birders highly value Yesler Swamp for the variety of birds that inhabit the swamp. Over 100 species of birds have been spotted there, including Trumpeter swans and Barred Owl.
Friends of Yesler Swamp also sponsors popular children’s events to introduce kids to Yesler Swamp. Children have laughed with Swampy the Bear and learned the secrets of nature from experts in children's education.
- Photo by Jean Colley
Aldo Leopold, the famous author and master of environmental ethics has written:
The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants and animals, or collectively: the land. . . . A land ethic of course cannot prevent the alteration, management, and use of these ‘resources,’ but it does affirm their right to continued existence, and, at least in spots, their continued existence in a natural state. In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it.[71]
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