HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAG2022-349 - Other - King Conservation District 9 - Urban Natural Resources Management Program: Phase 1 - 12/11/2023 King Conservation District
Member Jurisdiction Grant Program
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King Conservation District Grant Agreement Close Out
[Recipient:
rant Summary Information
City of Kent-- - - ------------------- - -- . . _----- -roject Title: Urban Natural Resources Management Program -Phase 1
roject Description:As part of a multi-phase approach to improve degraded natural areas, Kent Parks is
seeking support to develop a natural resource management program, while maintaining limited ongoing
projects at priority sites and community engagement activities.
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Funding Source and Year: KCD Kent Member Jurisdiction Funds
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Start Date: 01/01/2022 End Date: 12/31/2022 Date Awarded: 07/06/2022
Grant Budget Summary Returned Funds: Payment Summary
Award $80,000.00 Amount $3,142.27 Amount Paid to $46,476.93
Amount: Returned: Date: (Paid $23,062.96 on
10/24/22 and paid
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$23,413.97 on 1/23/23j.
Amount $76,857.73 Date Goes back Final Payment:
Spent: Returned: to Kent MJ t $30,380.80
funds Date: (After KCD signs this
form
Amendment Request
Summary: Yes N/A Notes:
Scope of Work Revision: ❑
This Close out form documents actual expenditures compared to
Budget Revision: ® ❑ the grant award and the amount of funding that will go back to
KCD--Kent MJ funds.
Completion Date ® ❑ Extended to: 5/31/23
Extension:
Copies of Work Product(check box or describe below)
❑ Designs/Plans ❑ Brochures/Publications ❑ Curricula
® Photos ❑ Video ❑ Sign Mock-Ups
Other:
KCD Acknowledgement: Event promos (mostly Facebook and Peachjar) included the KCD logos. PDF'd
images are attached.
Site Visit Date: see attached photos in N/A: ❑
lieu of a site visit
Description:
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Planting Projects:
MJ &WRIA Forum Grant Program Grant Agreement Close-out Form . v. 1/8/16
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Maintenance/Monitoring Needs to be tracked: ❑ Ongoing by the city staff
Completed: ❑ N/A: ❑
Reporting Summary: Yes No Notes:
Progress Reports: ❑ ❑ See attached project activity detail
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Expense Reports: ® ❑
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Final Reports: ® ❑
Project Accomplishments and Successes
When Kent Parks, Recreation, and Community Services made the hard decision to pause Green Kent due
to lack of operational funding, there was significant internal concern about completely losing the
community connections and partnerships it had fostered. Having the KCD funding for 5 conservation
events a year allowed us to maintain those relationships while we made a case for re-launching a more
sustainable natural resources management team. This particular grant round, we had the benefit of one
natural areas-focused FTE position and unification between that position and a pre-existing but re-vamped
FTE arborist position in Kent Parks. The part time hours supported by this grant, and some project-
specific funds tied to the Mill Creek Canyon cleanup allowed us to create a PT team to support our
combined Natural Areas and Urban Forestry leads.
This meant that we were able to host our 5 annual events in 2022 and 2023 (with the exception of one
that got cancelled for smoke), support standalone litter pickups, support school groups doing service
learning planting events, support nonprofits accessing our parks for environmental education, work with
King County's Green Start Crew, design and test a vegetation monitoring protocol with field app data
collection, design a template for future site management plans, begin prioritizing our sites for future ramp
up in ecological restoration management, and submit a budget request that resulted in three new FTE
positions and the formation of an official natural resources management program in park operations. We
would never have been able to do all of that at the same time without the support of this grant.
Regional Benefits
We now have permanent FTE funding for a natural resources management team that includes a
Coordinator, 2 Specialist/Crew Leaders, and 2 Field Tech positions. In addition to more staff positions, we
were also able to leverage the data collected on our urban forest canopy into multi year funding to
address a tree management backlog; $250k over the next 3 years for contracted tree work to maintain our
natural areas and urban forest.
Kent Parks is responsible for over 600 acres of natural area and urban forestry canopy that covers over
1000 acres in urban/suburban south King County. Having staff time to plan, manage, collaborate with
other division of the city and regional partners, and leverage other funding for natural resources will create
significant benefits for the regional health, ecosystem functions, and access to nature.
Obstacles and Challenges
We learned some lessons this round on the importance of scheduling in back up event days for
cancellations for wind and smoke events. The time estimate we made for completing vegetation surveys
and site assessments was overly ambitious because we didn't fully understand the technological
groundwork our department needed to do to fully integrate with ESRI's apps. Having the staff time we did,
however, has allowed us to form a solid connection with a new GIS Analyst hired by Kent Parks in 2022.
We are also taking our time with re-launching site steward volunteers to ensure we are integrating with
staff and contractor site management and site plans.
M1 &WRIA Forum Grant Program Grant Agreement Close-out Form . v. 1/8/18
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Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Future Projects
Subsequent grant proposals (and Green Kent programming in general as we relaunch)will place more
emphasis on the importance of having clear site management plans/maps communicated across work
groups and partners before we prioritize hosting events.
We are examining the benefit of hosting more frequent, lower coordination volunteering events once we
have those suite plans (stewards, standing monthly work parties, coordinating with local NGOs and
schools that already have expertise in particular kinds of environmental education and engagement.
l certify that the project has been completed, all l certify that the project has been completed, all expenditures
expenditures have been paid, and the final report have been reported,and the final report has been completed and
has been received by the District submitted to the District.
Gra Recipient
District Representative Name;Name: Margaret Wagner
Dec l 1, 2023 Title: Park Operations - Natural Resources Coordinator
Date: Date:
MJ &WRIA Forum Grant Program Grant Agreement Close-out Form . v. 1/8/16