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Eco Park cleanup on June 26 evening
Marysville Eco Park: Parking lot to paradise
Just over a decade ago, the Marysville Eco Park was a radically different environment. Providing parking for the Marysville Falls tourist attraction, the site was a flat, gravel lot extending right to the water’s edge. Stormwater runoff from the site further contributed to pollution from upstream sources, including the acid rock drainage that famously turned the creek orange.
As part of greater efforts to restore Mark Creek, Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook partnered with the City of Kimberley to transform the lot into a public greenspace in the early 2000s.
The team installed rockwork on the streambank to prevent erosion, excavated the lot to create varied topography, and landscaped the site with trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants native to the area. Today, the site is well on its way to becoming a riparian oasis, providing shade for stream temperature control and fish habitat values, stormwater filtration, even habitat for songbirds: over forty bird species were recorded on site this year at the Eco Park. Visitors to the falls will still find adequate parking on site, but the footprint has become significantly more “green.”
The contributions of Wildsight volunteers have been essential to the health and vibrancy of the Eco Park. Volunteer park cleanups have helped us tackle invasive weeds and voracious grasses, remove refuse, and mulch and tidy shrub-and-flowerbeds.
To help the park ultimately become a self-sustaining ecosystem bursting with native plant and wildlife species, Wildsight is seeking volunteers for our upcoming Spring Cleanup: Monday, June 26 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Our friends at the East Kootenay Invasive Species Council (EKISC) will be on site to educate participants on the identification and treatment of noxious weeds: a valuable takeaway for any gardener!
Unable to make this Eco Park Cleanup but interested in future events? Join the volunteer listing on our Marysville Eco Park program page.
Thank you to all the volunteers and donors who help this community greenspace thrive!
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