Category Overview
Local Parks grants help protect these symbols of vibrant communities, providing places for families to gather and play and promoting a healthy and active lifestyle in an era when people spend increasing amounts of their time inside. The WWRP is the largest source of local parks funding in Washington, helping communities fund the acquisition, development, and renovation of vital recreation areas and green spaces.
Project Highlights
Metro Parks Tacoma (MPT) will use this grant for acquisition of the Probst Property at Swan Creek Park. This property, located at 6009 East Roosevelt Avenue in Tacoma, WA will add 8.62 acres to the existing 373-acre Swan Creek Park, an urban park and wildlife area southeast of Interstate 5 in Tacoma’s Eastside. The acquisition fills in a gap along the western border of the park. Most of the property is wholly undeveloped with mature trees already growing. The eastern boundary of the property is severely sloped leading down to Swan Creek itself. The park features an upland forest, wooded canyon, and a creek identified as vital salmon habitat. Swan Creek Park is popular for bird watching, hiking, walking, picnicking and Tacoma’s first trail system for mountain bikes. The park is also used by Metro Parks and local schools for wildlife education programs based on empathy and care for wildlife and the environment. Protected species include several forest-dependent birds and the salmon in the creek. Acquiring these parcels will allow MPT to preserve tree canopy and wildlife habitat and help protect the headwaters of the stream from the impacts of future development. In this historically underserved community, the acquisition will also expand opportunity for youth and community members to experience the forest. Through these parcels the current trail will be extended to provide a system extending the near length of the park and adding access via Pipeline Trail at South 60th St.