On October 2, volunteers gathered at the Woodland Off-Leash Area for a work party. Work parties are held at Woodland on the first Saturday of even months from 11 am to 1 pm.

Including droppers-by, 18 people participated in the October work party, and the weather cooperated for us as well. One volunteer was doing community service, and another is a master's student in environmental horticulture at the University of Washington who praised the Woodland OLA for the forward thinking in how this urban space is used.

The record shows that the Woodland OLA has come a long way in the past few years. Today, our maintenance program is stronger and our level of volunteerism is up. We have a cleaner grounds, fewer holes (thank you, everyone for filling in and stopping diggers!), and a more prompt response when something needs fixing. With the massive Parks budget cuts announced for the next year, which calls among other things for 10 furlough (unpaid required vacation) days, the Woodland OLA will depend more than ever on the daily and bi-monthly efforts of volunteers.

A major issue at Woodland due to the hilly terrain is water that collects in certain areas of the park during the rainy season. To combat that at the top of the hill, Seattle Parks and Recreation built a retaining wall of stones and filled it with gravel. This has made it possible to enjoy the top of the hill, mud-free, all year long. This gravel fill along with the logs and rocks placed along the east slope were part of a 2009-2010 improvement project.

With the gravel, the trade-off is that we must constantly shovel gravel back to the top of the hill. This is always a major task at the work parties, and as usual, volunteers cheerily stepped forward to shovel, rake and haul gravel.

Gravel Work

A volunteer tackles the task of shoveling and distributing gravel

Recently, the Parks Department brought us large stones to finish the retaining wall around the top of the hill. Acting as stone-masons, volunteers placed them at the tops of the stairways. It is hoped that this will stop a lot of the downward migration of gravel. This stone work completed the 2009-2010 improvement project.

Stone Work

Compacting the soil to ensure the stones stay in place on the east stairway	"Pardon the pun," quipped a lounging park user who asked that his name not be used, "but this stonework rocks!"

Going forward, we have a lot of work ahead of is. Because of the hilly terrain and heavy use, there is a high level of erosion, endangering many of the trees. A tree was recent felled because of poor health, and we have four other evergreens in the west area which have become badly de-needled. We at COLA are working with the Parks Department, hopeful that we can find a symbiotic solution to significantly reduce the wear and tear on the soil. The goal is a ecologically balanced space that dogs and their human associates can share with the resident trees and bushes.

A volunteer brings dirt from the fence line to the tree, mixing it with fallen leaves to protect the roots of this tree	As the work party comes to a close, human volunteers confab with their canine counterparts. Everyone agreed the park looked much better but that there was still a lot more work to do