Community Meeting: Longfellow Creek Headwaters at Roxhill Bog Restoration

Rescuing Roxhill Bog …. Why it matters, what has been accomplished so far.

The second public meeting for the community led restoration of Roxhill Bog will be held online November 17^th from 6:30 to 8:00pm, to provide an update on the hydrology study of why the wetland has been drying out and possible solutions along with the results of the community survey that was conducted.

Roxhill Bog is one of the last peat wetlands of the historical 26 within Seattle, dating back 10,000 years and home to a unique ecosystem of plants and animals.  It’s also the headwaters of Longfellow Creek and an important community asset where community members can experience and learn about nature.  Over the last couple decades, it has been drying out which has significantly degraded its ecosystem – with increased invasive plants, loss of wildlife and unsuitable usage of the area creating safety concerns.  As the peat dries, it also degrades over time loosing its ability to absorb and filter water, releasing its carbon into the atmosphere.   Hydrating the peat  will not only improve the wetland ecosystem but also help Longfellow Creek by providing filtered water with more even flows throughout the year, reducing erosion.

Community members, alarmed about the loss of this community treasure, created a collaborative partnership with the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association, Duwamish Alive Coalition, Roxhill Champions and American Rivers to help restore the bog wetland.  With help from Seattle Councilmember Lisa Herbold and King County Councilmember Joe McDermott the partnership was able to acquire funding for the hydrology and soil studies and the community studies, community survey which received over 260 responses and restoration design.

The November 17^th public meeting will review the results of the studies, and community survey and seek input on the restoration design.  This is an important opportunity for the community to provide comments about the project and their hopes for the wetlands’ future.