Union Bay Natural Area
The Union Bay Natural Area , also known as Union Bay Marsh, is the restored remainder of the fllled former Union Bay and Union Bay Marsh after
University Village Shopping Center, the
University of Washington athletic facilities, buildings, and main parking area E. It is located at the east of the main UW campus in
Seattle, Washington, south of NE 45th Street and west of
Laurelhurst. Ravenna Creek is connected to University Slough , thence to Union Bay, and
Lake Washington.
Encyclopedia
The
Union Bay Natural Area , also known as Union Bay Marsh, is the restored remainder of the fllled former Union Bay and Union Bay Marsh after
University Village Shopping Center, the
University of Washington athletic facilities, buildings, and main parking area E. It is located at the east of the main UW campus in
Seattle, Washington, south of NE 45th Street and west of
Laurelhurst. Ravenna Creek is connected to University Slough , thence to Union Bay, and
Lake Washington. Drainage Canal is one of three or four areas of open water connected with
Lake Washington around Union Bay Marsh. The canal extends from NE 45th Street, between the
driving range and IMA Sports Field 1, south to the bay, ending southeast of the baseball grandstand . The Drainage Canal that carries Ravenna Creek past UBNA to Union Bay is locally sometimes called University
Slough, though that is something of a misnomer in that "
slough" is both used in the eastern and southeastern U.S. meaning, rather than the western U.S. meaning, and it is no longer a natural watercourse in that it is a canal that replaced bay and marsh, both now filled.
The little
grasslands, modest ponds, and lake shoreline of the UBNA is a sanctuary for birds ; turtles and frogs may be seen. The UBNA is notable for diverse habitats including a good-sized lake, small permanent ponds, seasonal ponds, woods, sample
prairie, and
marshland. The interfaces among these make the area particularly attractive for birdwatching, with more than 150 species of birds sighted. The canal or slough was part of a restoration of the
wetlands called Union Bay Marsh that had been drained by the opening of the
Montlake Cut of the
Lake Washington Ship Canal and much of Union Bay filled by the Montlake
Dump, . Formerly the Montlake Landfill or Ravenna Landfill, it was used by the City of Seattle for residential and industrial
solid waste from 1911 to 1966. It was fully closed five years later and overlaid with two feet of clean
soil. Most of the land has been built upon by University Village , UW athletic fields, buildings, and main parking lot E; the remainder comprises the UBNA, colloquially called "the fill".
Before the lowering of
Lake Washington during the early part of the
20th century , Ravenna and Yesler Creeks flowed into marshland north of where the canal now begins, and the land through which the canal would be cut lay under the waters of Union Bay. The
Burke-Gilman Trail follows the
Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad line along the original shoreline of Union Bay past the UW power plant and University Village. Construction was completed in 2006 on a project that reconnects partially daylighted Ravenna Creek to Union Bay by piping it underground to the canal, thus converting the upper reach from a relatively stagnant drainage to the outlet for one of Seattle's partially restored urban
creeks. Daylighting from southeast Ravenna Park to the UW and the UBNA has been blocked by the owners of University Village
Unlike a
commons in the U.K. and Ireland, the UBNA is owned by the State of Washington and held under the aegis of the University of Washington; access is controlled. Parts of the Area are open during park hours, access to other portions is discouraged, some portions seasonally, for habitat or species protection.
See also
Notes and references
Bibliography
- , Information Services, Seattle City Clerk's Office. Retrieved 21 April 2006. See heading, "Note about limitations of these data".
- Dolan, Maria & True, Kathryn . "Reclaiming Paradise: Union Bay Natural Area" and "Northeast Seattle: Lakes, Ponds, Springs, and Wetlands", in Nature in the city: Seattle, pp. 148–150 and p. 223. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-879-3 .
Particularly useful. - Gurriere, Joe . , Windermere Real Estate Company. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
- O'Neil, Kit, University Community Urban Center, . . Retrieved 21 April 2006.
- Parrish, Geov . , The Seattle Weekly. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
- P-I Staff . , The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 14 May 2006.
- . Center for Urban Horticulture, . Retrieved 21 April 2006.
- . Seattle City Clerk's Neighborhood Map Atlas , retrieved 21 April 2006. Note caveat in footer.
Sources for this atlas and the neighborhood names used in it include a 1980 neighborhood map produced by the Department of Community Development ,
Seattle Public Library indexes, a 1984-1986 Neighborhood Profiles feature series in the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, numerous parks, land use and transportation planning studies, and records in the .
[Maps "NN-1120S", "NN-1130S", "NN-1140S".Jpg [sic] dated 13 June 2002; "NN-1030S", "NN-1040S".jpg dated 17 June 2002.]
- Stein, Alan J. , HistoryLink. Retrieved 21 April 2006. Stein referenced Jack Broom, “The J.P. Generation,” Pacific Magazine, The Seattle Times, 4 April 1993, pp. 6-11,14-17;
Bill Cartmel, “Hi Ya, Patches Pals,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11April 1971, pp. 6-7;
Erik Lacitis, “Patches Understands – and Survivies,” The Seattle Times, 23 February 1978, p. A15;
[no titles], The East Side Journal, 31 May 1962, p. 3; Ibid. 14 May 1969, p. 19. - University of Washington Computing and Communications, Facilities Services . , UW Home > UWIN > About the UW > Campus Maps. Modified 18 May 2006, retrieved 21 May 2006.
- University of Washington Publication Services . "The University of Washington Campus & Vicinity" map. Compiled, designed, drafted in cooperation between Physical Plant and the Department of Geography, August 1971, revised Sherman . Seattle: University of Washington.
- UW Publication Services & UW Facility Services . "The University of Washington Campus & Vicinity" map. Seattle: University of Washington.
- Walter, Sunny & local Audubon chapters . . Retrieved 21 April 2006. Walter excerpted from Dolan, Maria & True, Kathryn . Nature in the city: Seattle. Seattle: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-879-3 .
[With additions by Sunny Walter and local Audubon chapters.]
On-line of the book, but only the viewing locations.
Further reading
- page, University of Washington
