Last update: 04/29/2008

Campus updates

Tour Capitol Lake’s native plants on April 30
One of the best places in Thurston County to view ducks, eagles, hawks and other native songbirds is along Capitol Lake. A primary reason is the abundance of native plants, which provide food and cover for the birds. The importance of native plants will be the subject of an upcoming walking tour on April 30.

Perry Lund, shoreline specialist and botanist with the Department of Ecology, will lead a walking tour of the Heritage Park Wetland Mitigation area at Capitol Lake from noon to 12:45 p.m. April 30. General Administration and Ecology are co-sponsors of the tour.

Lund will explain what types of native plants can be found at the lake and what the state is doing to restore wildlife habitat there.

The tour is one of two local events that are part of a statewide celebration of native plants. Gov. Chris Gregoire has proclaimed April 27 through May 3 to be Native Plant Appreciation Week. The purpose is to promote education about the more than 3,000 native plants that inhabit deserts, rain forests, alpine meadows and even backyards throughout Washington.

Permitting for the construction of Heritage Park in the 1990s required the creation of some new wetland habitat along the lake. Ecology and General Administration finished constructing the artificial wetlands in 1999, near the southwest corner of the lake just off of Deschutes Parkway and the Capitol Lake Interpretive Center trail.

The wildlife habitat of this artificial wetland was further enhanced in March 2003 when more than 150 local citizens planted 6,000 native plants as part of a community event. This area now provides a unique recreational opportunity for viewing native plants and wildlife in an urban setting.

Learn more about Native Plant Appreciation Week at: http://www.wnps.org/npaw/announcement.html 

Parking garages set for sweeping in May
General Administration will sweep parking garages on the Capitol Campus over the next two weeks. The work will be done between 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Here is the schedule:

  • May 3: Garages at Department of Transportation, levels A and B, and Natural Resources Building, P1 level.
  • May 4: Natural Resources Building, levels P2 and P3, and Office Building 2, service level.
  • May 10: Plaza garage, levels A, B, C.
  • May 11: Plaza garage, levels D, E, F.

Capitol Campus project update: http://www.ga.wa.gov/Campus/update.html
General Administration: http://www.ga.wa.gov/