The transmission ROW's total managed area is
approximately 60 acres (24 ha), but with most of it
zoned for manufacturing/heavy-industrial use, almost
half of the ROW consists of buildings, roads, and
other infrastructure. The remaining acreage offers
significant potential for habitat improvement, as
the ROW is heavily dominated by invasive, non-na-
tive species, including reed canary grass (Phalaris
arundinacea), Bohemian knotweed (Polygonum
x bohemicum), and Himalayan blackberry (Rubus
armeniacus). Seven project sites along the Creston-
Duwamish (CR-DU) 230kV Transmission ROW were
identified, totaling 32.5 acres (13 ha), predominantly
in the City of Tukwila (Seattle's southern neighbor).
An Environmental Protection Agency-funded study
by the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition found
that the Duwamish Valley (home to the CR-DU
ROW) is "a community with disproportionately
high environmental health burdens and risks and
fewer positive environmental benefits" than the
rest of the area. It sees higher rates of childhood
asthma hospitalization compared to more affluent
Seattle neighborhoods, and tree canopy coverage
hovers around 6 to 7 percent versus a Seattle-
wide 28 percent. The racial demographic around
the ROW is roughly 70 percent people of color
compared to the overall population of Tukwila
and Seattle, which is roughly 33 percent people
of color. This correlation between the high per-
centage of residents of color and the degraded
state of the local environment mirrors trends seen
throughout the metro Seattle area; they echo his-
torically racist zoning, land use, and residential
policies. A holistic approach to managing the ROW
would necessarily have to engage this reality.
Objectives and Partners
• To achieve the vision of a holistically maintained
ROW, the Green Line Strategy established a three-
year project plan with the following objectives:
• Engage external and internal stakeholders
• Develop a strategy to promote com-
munity-based habitat stewardship
• Collaborate and coordinate with other
efforts to improve habitat
• Evaluate the Green Line's habitat
or plant communities
• Conduct a habitat pilot study to establish
low-growing, diverse, native plant commu-
nities on a transmission line ROW
• Establish a baseline pollinator inventory
Local community-based organizations such as The
Common Acre, EarthCorps, and Alley-Cat Acres were
already established and working in the area. When
the work of these organizations proved capacity
and legal status (nonprofit) needed for the City to
partner with them, SCL sought to utilize their exper-
tise, committed work-force, and local focus. SCL
24 CityTREES
If we can
successfully
integrate the
Green Line into
a community's
shared values,
then what further
opportunities
and synergies
might arise?
