King County’s McGarvey Park Open Space forest stewardship plan is now available.

The county wants to share its freshly completed forest stewardship plan for McGarvey Park Open Space in Renton with the public in a meeting 7-8:30 p.m., March 28.

It is an opportunity to learn about the 400-acre forest restoration effort presented by the Department of Natural Resources and Parks.

The public meeting will be at Northwood Middle School, 17007 S.E. 184th St., Renton.

County staff will be on hand to discuss the forest stewardship plan’s management recommendations that will help guide long-term stewardship of the space, which is located between the Cedar River Trail and Petrovitsky Park.

The county will use a series of adaptive forest practices to enhance the land’s recreational opportunities, improve forest health and promote plant and animal bio-diversity.

The plan is available for review at the Fairwood Library and online and spells out numerous forest stewardship activities for McGarvey Park Open Space – many of which will be done later this year, including: restoring 75 acres of forest; harvesting dying and poor quality hardwoods, while retaining all existing conifers; creating wildlife habitat snags; replant areas with conifers; protecting streams and wetlands; and improving recreation trails.

To view the plan online, visit: http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/naturalresources/foreststewardship.aspx

For more information about the plan and the meeting, contact David Kimmett at 206-263-7159 or by e-mail at david.kimmett@kingcounty.gov.