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Seward Park Environmental and Audubon Center

Where eagles soar and diversity flourishes

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TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES Where eagles soar and diversity flourishes.

Much ado at Seward Park: A student-created field guide to 300 acres of flora and fauna; an ethnic history of human neighbors, an aquatic field guide and a state-of-the-art environmental-education center in the works.

We chat with naturalist Jenni Conrad, who piloted programs for the newly founded Seward Park Environmental and Audubon Center. Its goal is to bring disadvantaged children and students of color to the outdoors to learn about nature.

Q: Why Seward Park?

A: It's the largest stand of old growth within a couple miles of an urban center in North America. You can see wetlands, Garry oak woodlands, deciduous and coniferous forest and lake-shore habitat.

We have two pairs of nesting bald eagles within 500 meters of each other, so that's pretty great. One pair has a baby. The other nests in the Heritage Tree, a Doug fir that's the oldest tree known in Seattle.

That tree has a cool tie to history because you can see fire scars on its trunk probably created by the Native Americans living in the area (the Duwamish tribe) who used fires to clear certain parts of the forest for farming. They'd plant Garry oaks to harvest the acorns, which are a good protein source, and camas, which are onions. Garry oaks are the only native oak in Washington state, and pretty endangered.

Q: What about animals?

A: The eagles are the animal star. I saw one swoop down in front of a car and grab a squirrel. The last time people saw deer here was in the 1950s. But there are over 100 native birds that either visit or reside in the park. There are amazing river otters. Beavers dam up at Genesee where a stream comes down into the lake. You can also see muskrats and mountain beavers, a large nocturnal rodent that's been around for 40 million years. They're vegetarian, eat bits of plants other animals don't eat, and they make lots of intricate tunnels. A lot of the creatures are small — moles, voles and mice — but they keep the ecosystem working.

Q: Other cool things in the park?

A: Honestly, I think the coolest thing is bringing the human-diversity element into outdoor environmental education.

The area around Seward Park has 73 different ethnic groups, and 34 percent of the residents speak a language other than English at home.