Stewardship: Restoring Wildlife Habitat and Our Connection to Nature
Since 2016, the Friends of LBA Woods has worked with the City of Olympia Stewardship Program to host more than 50 work parties. These volunteer-fueled events focus on removing invasive plants (primarily holly, Himalayan blackberry, laurel, ivy, and archangel) and planting native trees and shrubs to help restore wildlife habitat and biodiversity. We have removed TONS of invasive plants and are already seeing our restoration efforts paying off as native plants and trees regain a foothold. Check the blog here or subscribe to our email list to join our next work party or guided walk! Everyone is welcome.
The work of the Friends of LBA Woods is guided by our 2022 Stewardship Master Plan prepared over multiple years by City of Olympia Parks Staff (Amy Stull, Claire Kerwin); interns with The Evergreen State College Masters of Environmental Studies program; and the Friends of LBA Woods. The LBA Wood Site Stewardship Plan can be downloaded here (PDF).
Work parties are held throughout the year and are open to all. The Friends of LBA Woods also hosts free guided nature walks throughout the year. These popular walks include Winter Twig Identification, Forest Therapy, Birding, Geology, Mosses and Lichens, and Plants of the Understory. These walks are lead by experts in these fields and are free and open to all. Check the blog here or subscribe to our email list for information about upcoming work parties, events, and other park updates. We’d love to hear your ideas for guided walks. Contact us at lbawoodsoly@gmail.com.
iNaturalist
In 2016, we launched a community project to document the biodiversity of the LBA Woods. Using the free iNaturalist phone app created by California Academy of Sciences, 70 members of our community have documented 139 species of plants and animals in the LBA Woods. Please join our project! We need all eyes and ears to inventory the richness of life in the woods.
Using the iNaturalist app is not only fun and educational but important conservation work! You don’t have to be a botanist or expert birder to participate. The app allows you to take photos of what you see on your rambles through the woods and get suggestions for the matching species. When you upload your photo to our LBA Woods project page, the suggested i.d. is confirmed by experts and becomes “research grade” data.
Set up an iNaturalist Account: Go to https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/about to read about how iNaturalist works. It may be easier to learn about the project on your laptop or computer screen than on your smartphone. When you are ready, select “Sign up” and follow the instructions to create a free iNaturalist account. Then under the “Projects” tab, search on “LBA Woods,” and click “join.”
Download the App to Your iPhone or Android. Sign to your account and head to the LBA Woods to start collecting data.
Here are a few tips for using the iNaturalist app:
- Be sure to turn on/enable “location” in your phone settings.
- Fully charge your phone. The iNaturalist app is battery and data hungry.
- Remember to check the “LBA Woods” project box at the bottom of your observation screen each time you record a new species.
