Soos Creek Trail
The Soos Creek Trail Understory Restoration Project
A vital initiative aimed at revitalizing a 3,000 sq ft area along the Soos Creek Trail. This effort, located near the Soos Creek Shop Complex in King County, WA, addresses the ecological challenges posed by invasive species, altered landscapes, and aging vegetation. Through targeted restoration, the project seeks to restore native biodiversity and enhance habitat quality for wildlife and plant life alike.
The restoration site is nestled along Big Soos Creek, which supports chinook, chum, coho, and steelhead salmon populations. Dominated by red alders, the area lacks a diverse understory and faces challenges from wet soil conditions, reed canary grass (rcg), and Himalayan blackberry invasions. Notably, the area is home to Great Blue Herons, whose nesting sites (rookeries) will benefit significantly from this project.
5 total areas are the main focus for habitat restoration. The sites include Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Understory, and Prairie.
Alpha site is located right behind the South Trails King County Complex. Goals on the site are to increase species diversity and increase the Big Soos Creek Stream buffer.
Bravo is located further down the trail on the hill side with power lines going right over. Bravo site was sprayed with herbicide in spring 2024 by the King County Vegetation Management crew. The Himalayan Blackberry was targeted with over 90% mortality. Hundreds of shrubs were planted in the blackberries place.
Charlie site is right below in the grass area of Bravo. There are red flowering currants planted in a row, with flowers right below. The currant and flowers will be aesthetically pleasing for all trail users.
Understory is near Bravo and Charlie site, the main goal of the Understory is to get conifers in place of the red alders to keep the stream buffer. There are also blue heron rookeries nearby as well so the conifers will assist with heron habitat.
Drains from the Bravo site lead into the Understory, so filtering water with more conifers and shrubs will be done. The Prairie site is located on a hill near a wetland that drains to Bravo.
There are remnants of common camas, which is a flower that is found in prairies. Restoring the prairie will be tough as getting supplies up the hill will be a challenge.
Invasive control is a top priority for the prairie as we will scrape the grass area in 5x5 squares to seed. Invasive species may spread into the bare ground and compete with the flowers we are trying to grow. Another goal is to establish Garry oaks as they are essential for wildlife. Shrubs will be planted as well throughout the site. Butterflies used to be in that area a lot and their habitat has not been giving what butterflies need to survive.
