Photos and story by Sara Price, King County Noxious Weed Specialist

What if you could protect your community from flooding, enhance salmon and beaver habitats, and create new trails and spots to watch wildlife with your family—all at the same time? Throw in the possibility of free coffee and donuts, the chance to connect with like-minded neighbors, and a space to voice your opinions, would you be there? 

Well, that’s what you can expect at wetland stewardship events in your community like the ones hosted at Cemetery Pond. 

Since 2007, partners and residents have actively maintained and advocated for Cemetery Pond, a wetland in the May Valley area of Renton. Starting in 2022, volunteers from the “Community Alliance to Reach out and Engage” (C.A.R.E) and neighbors, along with several agency partners, officially broke ground. These groups have been working to restore the habitat here by removing invasive weeds and have big plans for the future that includes construction that is set to start in 2026. 

Our program, King County Noxious Weeds, first became involved with Cemetery Pond in 2019 through the Healthy Lands Project (HeLP). I had the privilege of attending several events led by Matthew McNair, where I saw a passionate community come together, rain or shine, to work toward a shared goal: restoring this open space into a thriving wetland. Oh, and to have fun while doing it! 

Cemetery ponds is more than a restoration site, but a place where community has come together to advocate for their needs and create a space for future generations to come.  

A little background on Cemetery Pond

What makes Cemetery Pond such an important place for the community and our partners to be advocating for? Many things, but two key aspects come to mind: the ecological significance of the wetland and the community that has built around it.

The Cemetery Pond Project is located in the East Renton Highlands on the Southeast corner of the intersection of 164th Ave SE and SE 128th St, if you’re more of a visual person, here it is on Google Maps.

Ecological significance

Cemetery pond sits at the top of May Creek, a stream that flows through the May Valley where Chinook salmon begin their lives and return to spawn. Because of its location, Cemetery Pond has a direct influence on water quality and habitat downstream. Puget Sound populations of Chinook salmon, also known as King salmon, are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, making their conservation especially important. 

May Valley, a natural floodplain, has historically experienced periodic flooding, made worse by years of development in the surrounding area. The Valleys vast stream and wetland habitats have been degraded via human disturbances including deforestation, draining, agricultural practices, buffer removal, and filling. Filling (literally adding soil and other materials into an environment to level it) is a particularly impactful issue for wetlands. Healthy wetlands are meant to retain water, filled wetlands increase stormwater and other harmful runoff, degrading habitats and increasing flood risk.  

Over time, approximately two acres of the Cemetery Pond wetland area was filled. One of the goals of this project is to remove this fill. 

A space by and for the community

What makes the Cemetery Pond restoration project truly special is how deeply it engages the community. A key part of the project’s development involved working closely with neighbors to design stormwater park amenities—like educational signs, benches, and waste bins—and to enhance public access. Many of the restoration ideas are being brought to life thanks to the proactive efforts of community members who showed up, shared their opinions, and helped shape the vision.

One idea the community strongly advocated for was creating a trail network through the wetland. Thanks to their input, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is now in the process of being signed, paving the way for these trails to become a reality.

At the last volunteer event, I remember someone suggesting a trail leading down to the pond, complete with a bench at the end where he and his kids could sit and watch the beavers. It sounded like a wonderful idea—and I couldn’t agree more.

A Collective Effort for Nature and Community 

Since 2022, groups like Latino Northwest Communications have been coming together as part of the restoration effort at volunteer events.

Mario Zavaleta, a volunteer and community member with Latino Northwest Communications beautifully wrote out some of his thoughts to share about the importance of this site (translated from Spanish).

“Preserving the wetland known as Cemetery Pond has become an act of shared love and responsibility; through volunteer events Cemetery Pond comes to life through the hands and hearts of local residents. Its name, a reference to the two nearby cemeteries, serves as a quiet echo of the connection between past and present, between what we have inherited and what we must preserve.

Renton is one of the most diverse cities in the United States, a melting pot of cultures and traditions. Its streets are home to Latinos, Pacific Islanders, Asians, and other immigrant groups, each bringing unique perspectives, ancestral knowledge, and valuable cultural practices. This human mosaic enriches the city’s life and offers innovative and profound approaches to wetland conservation.

By involving our communities in preservation efforts, we ensure more equitable participation and broaden our vision of what it means to care for the environment. Every act of restoration and story shared by the waters of Cemetery Pond remind us that nature knows no borders and that protecting it is a collective effort.

In Renton, conservation is not just an ecological duty but an expression of unity, diversity, and hope in action. Cemetery Pond is a refuge for the Chinook salmon and a symbol of what we can achieve when we come together for the greater good to preserve our natural heritage for future generations.“

-Mario Zavaleta, volunteer and community member with Latino Northwest Communications

Healthy Lands Project – Weed Control Work

So where does King County Noxious Weeds come into this story? Our Program became involved with the Cemetery Pond Wetland Restoration through our Healthy Lands Project (HeLP). The Project’s goal is to increase the success of conservation by significantly reducing the impact of noxious weeds. This is done by providing invasive weed control when it is most needed. The way it works is Noxious Weeds staff connect with potential restoration sites, and if the site qualifies¹ the team co-creates a weed control plan with land managers and other stakeholders. From there, the Healthy Lands Project funds a crew to implement the weed control work prescribed in the weed control plan.

At Cemetery Ponds, HeLP has been able to assist in speeding up the progress for construction to start by having the ability to contract out crews like Washington conservation corps to come in and provide additional assistance. We were also able to collaborate with KC stormwater, providing tools and our knowledge for noxious weed removal to create the ultimate duo at these volunteer events.

¹ How does a site qualify for help? Due to limited program capacity and grant funding limitations, the HeLP project must be intentional about site selection. We prioritize areas of King County with disproportionate poverty levels where people have limited access to open space and are subjected to higher levels of pollution that impact their health and well-being on both private and public lands. Sites are primarily on recently protected conservation lands and open space.

Read more about project HeLP on our Healthy Lands Project webpage.

Long Term Stewardship

As we celebrate the progress made at Cemetery Ponds, it’s important to recognize that long-term stewardship is crucial to sustaining the health of this ecosystem. This will come from the care and attention of neighbors and parks users, ongoing maintenance through Parks staff and volunteer events, support from various groups within King County’s Department of Natural Resources, and a little nudge from the Healthy Lands Project now and then to keep things going in the right direction. 

Through collaborative community stewardship, particularly in controlling invasive weeds, we can create a thriving habitat that supports native plant species and a resilient riparian environment. We invite everyone to join us in protecting, restoring, and maintaining this precious wetland gem.

GET INVOLVED (Stay in the Loop)

For information about getting involved/volunteering with C.A.R.E maintenance at the Cemetery Pond, contact highlands_neighbors@hotmail.com. Announcements for community work parties and design input sessions are also sent through email, to sign up for that email list contact Matthew McNair at mmcnair@kingcounty.gov.

Please note that there is a lot happening at cemetery pond that we didn’t fit into this blog post. For more info including agency partners, project plan details, maps, and links to provide comments, ideas, and feedback please visit: kingcounty.gov/cemeterypond.