Little by little. Year by year. One at a time, but faster than the Scotch broom can recover. That’s how progress is being made at Hope Island, as a hard-working crew of volunteers cut, chopped, pulled, sawed or just grabbed the plants and got them out of the ground any way that they could this past Saturday.
This year we had 15 in all on a most fabulous and memorable day. The boat ride out and back is worth the price of the ticket (which is free, of course). But then the hike through an old growth forest that almost instantly changes to a dry, xeric salal and juniper environment is a bonus.
But then stepping out into the south meadow of Hope Island always takes my breath away and gives it back with renewed inspiration to see a symphony of wildflowers in bloom where there once was a forest of Scotch broom.
And to have the sun warming the meadows, sparkling off the waters of Skagit Bay, silhouetted by camas and death camas, sea blush and lomatia, makes this a great place to be marooned for a couple hours.
Even more inspiring is to see the difference from year to year. The flowers and grasses in the meadow are thriving where they once struggled to even survive. The vista as you first step into the meadow used to be of straggly broom. Now it is a colorful palette of pink and cream and yellow and purple and grass green, dropping down to the blues of the water below and the dark greens of the islands beyond.
It is true, there are more broom plants growing, waiting to once again devour the meadows. But each year we see a measurable difference in the number of weeds and the numbers of flowers.
As Deception Pass State Park’s only designated Natural Area Preserve, the restoration of this meadow is the right direction to be going for Hope Island.
Jack Hartt is Park Manager at Deception Pass State Park. This article is reprinted from the May 2013 issue of Current, published by Deception Pass State Park.