Throughout February, a five-person crew will remove ivy and other invasive plants from the hillsides above Heritage Park and in Centennial Park.

Both areas are owned by the state and maintained by the Department of Enterprise Services. The project is part of a multi-year effort by Enterprise Services to monitor and manage the stability of the west Capitol Campus hillsides above Heritage Park.

The Puget SoundCorps crew pulling the ivy is part of the Washington Conservation Corps program administered by state Department of Ecology. The Washington Conservation Corps is affiliated with the federal AmeriCorps program.

The purpose of this urban forestry restoration project is to protect water quality in Puget Sound by improving the health of trees and forested sites on the campus.

Healthy trees help reduce soil erosion – especially on steep slopes – and filter surface water runoff that often contains contaminants before the pollution enters Capitol Lake and Puget Sound, according to the Department of Natural Resources, which manages the Urban Forestry Restoration Project. Trees also provide habitat for native plant species and their pollinators.

English ivy, Himalayan blackberry and other non-native, invasive plants harm trees by competing for water and nutrients, sometimes killing the trees. Many of the undesirable plants grow in dense thickets that harbor rats and other pests, creating a public safety hazard.

The SoundCorps crew will start Feb. 2 at the north side of the Governor's Mansion parking lot on west Capitol Campus, removing invasive species that have encroached in a restoration area that the SoundCorps previous cleared in 2013.

Later in the month, the crew will remove English ivy and small tree saplings near the bottom of the Heritage Park switchback trail. They will then remove invasive species in Centennial Park, located on the south side of Union Avenue between Washington and Franklin streets, replanting the area with native plants.

For more information about the Urban Forestry Restoration Project, visit the Project online or contact Micki McNaughton, Urban Forestry Special Project Coordinator, at (360) 902-1637 or micki.mcnaughton@dnr.wa.gov.

Enterprise Services maintains the state's Capitol Campus, which covers more than 486 acres, and includes four parks and the 260-acre Capitol Lake.

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Learn more about visiting the state capitol at Visitor Services on Facebook.