Media Advisory: Pearl Jam Kirkland Event

Media Advisory

Contact: Andrea Mojzak, Green Cities Project Coordinator
            206-905-6920
            amojzak@forterra.org

Who: Pearl Jam, Forterra, and Green Kirkland Partnership
What: Volunteer event to help mitigate the environmental impact of Pearl Jam’s 2009 tour
Where: Crestwoods Park, Kirkland
When: February 11, 10am-2pm

Kirkland, WA - Saturday, Feb. 11, volunteers will join the Green Kirkland Partnership at Crestwoods Park in Kirkland to help mitigate the impact of Pearl Jam’s 2009 world tour. Volunteers will plant hundreds of trees and remove invasive blackberry plants in an eight acre section of the park.

Pearl Jam fans are strongly encouraged to join this family-friendly event. There will be Pearl Jam trivia and volunteers can win cool swag donated by the band.

Pearl Jam approached Forterra (formerly Cascade Land Conservancy) in 2010 for help devising a plan to mitigate the full environmental impact of their 2009 world tour. Forterra and the band calculated the carbon emissions of their travel as well as their fans’ travel and the impact of running lights and sound at the concerts for a total of 5,474 metric tons of CO2 emissions. The band is funding the restoration of 33 acres of forested parklands in King County with the help of Forterra, and the Green Kirkland, Green Kent, Green Redmond and Green Seattle Partnerships.

“Our tours generate a lot of carbon. We see mitigating that as part of the cost of doing business,” said Stone Gossard, Pearl Jam guitarist and founder. “Forterra has been an excellent partner as they help us offset that impact and improve the region where we live.”

The effort kicked off in 2011 with two volunteer restoration events in Seattle and Redmond. There are three events planned for 2012 in Kent, Kirkland, and Redmond.

Forterra's Washington Conservation Corps crew spent over three weeks removing over 100,000 cubic yards of invasive Himalayan blackberry from the park to make room for the over 3,500 trees that will be planted there in the next couple of months.

“Working with such an environmentally conscious band is a win-win for this organization,” said Andrea Mojzak, Green Cities Project Coordinator. “Not only do we get to help them offset their impact, we get to further our own restoration goals around the region.”

Formed in 2005, the Green Kirkland Partnership is an alliance between the City of Kirkland, Forterra and the community working to conserve and sustain natural areas for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations. This Pearl Jam restoration event is part of the Partnership’s 20-year goal to restore 372 acres of natural areas in Kirkland parks.

Forterra is the state’s largest conservation and community building organization. For over 20 years, they have led efforts to conserve more than 173,000 acres of forests, farms, shorelines, parks and natural areas and restore critical landscapes. Restoration efforts such as this event are an important part of the Cascade Agenda, Forterra’s 100-year action plan for the environmental and economic health of the region.
For more information please see:

www.greenkirkland.org
www.forterra.org/events