Continue along the gravel path, and pause at the bench on the hill. Take a look around from this viewpoint.
Today, joggers, naturalists, birders, the young and old enjoy this preserve. Yet it wasn’t always this way. Until about 1916, the entire area was covered with water. In 1916, with the construction of the Ballard Chittendon Locks, Lake Washington’s level dropped about nine feet, exposing an underwater delta (see Station 12), on which UBNA and some of the surrounding parking lots and athletic fields lay. The areas around began to vegetate, and Union Bay was used as a dump for construction debris, and eventually public dumping and a City of Seattle garbage landfill.
Montlake Dump, 1958 Photo courtesy of: http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/uwcampus&CISOPTR=150&CISOBOX=1&REC=1
Dumping stopped in 1964, and the area lay fallow for a few years. Faculty members from the University of Washington proposed that it become a part of the new Center for Urban Horticulture, and become a new research and restoration opportunity. The area was filled, graded and seeded, finishing in 1971. The methane content was so high that it had to be burned off for several years. The land continued to change; it was suggested that ponds and islands should be put in. Further documents stated that the lands would serve an educational purpose, and passive recreation would be put in, and the area would be lightly managed. Various trees and shrubs were planted. The land is managed by few staff; volunteers and classes are the main caretakers of the area. In fact, my first experience at UBNA was pulling the invasive Himalayan Blackberry from the shrubs. What was exposed through human engineering and dumped upon as a result of further projects is now a restoration area that provides habitat for many bird species and an educational resource for the University and community. Consider the history and human development of the area as you continue along the gravel path to the next station.
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