The day is overcast and cool, but the weather is dry, and the forest is full of bird songs. The chittering of a bald eagle is easily recognizable as it sits out of sight in the forest canopy above. It’s a perfect day to walk the trails in Point Defiance Park, and Park Watch volunteer Pete Sluka is taking full advantage.
“It’s quiet today,” said Sluka. “I can’t believe we haven’t come across anyone else on the trails.”
The Park Watch program was founded by Sluka in 1997. While he had been spending time on the trails for years, the formation of a formal program was prompted by an opinion piece in The News Tribune. The author outlined several upsetting personal encounters, and many readers responded with their own.
The volunteers’ mission is to be educational stewards of park behavior, and extra eyes and ears to keep tabs on what’s happening. The Point Defiance volunteer group numbers 50 and 60 individuals at any given time. While similar groups for community parks are usually made up of immediate neighbors, volunteers at Point Defiance come from all over.
“It’s inspirational working with the volunteers,” said Community and Special Projects Coordinator Desiree Kennedy. “To know that people are so willing and caring, and that they love their parks and public spaces enough to give in this way and on their own time. They care for the people, the place, and the natural resources, and take on the commitment and responsibility to maintain it as the treasure that it is.”
Park Watch volunteers are asked to commit at least two hours a month, but Sluka regularly tops the leaderboard in time spent on the trails. He has more than 270 hours so far this year, and more than 3,000 since they started tracking in 2015. That doesn’t include the unofficial patrols that Sluka continued to help coordinate during the pandemic.
“I still came down to the park, believe it or not. I came down almost every day and walked Five Mile Drive,” Sluka said. Using text and email to coordinate with a small group of volunteers, the group continued during the shutdown.
“There was no volunteer formal Park Watch program during COVID,” Kennedy said. “They carried on because it meant so much to them and the mission was still a priority. They didn’t know if the volunteer program would come back, but they made it happen anyway.”
Park Watch volunteers aren’t enforcement. In fact, Sluka said, direct confrontation is discouraged and unhelpful. “There’s no point trying to get into a big fight with someone. Most of the time people understand and are willing to listen.”
The most common problems Sluka runs into are visitors who ignore the safety warnings and step past the safety fences along the cliffs. Off-leash dogs and smoking are close seconds.
Only once has he had to call 911 on the job. In September 2016, Sluka was walking the trail and had just emerged at the Narrows Viewpoint when a car with two elderly women drove through a fence and over the embankment.
“It was the loudest crash,” Sluka said. “The car was completely covered by the bushes. If I hadn’t been there, it might have just looked like someone hit the fence and drove off. I don’t know how long it would have been before somebody found them.”
Both women were rescued and survived the crash.
Most of what Sluka calls in, however, is less urgent. As he finished reminiscing about the cliffside rescue and moved down the trail, he discovered it had been blocked by a freshly fallen tree.
“This is new! The last time I was here this wasn’t here,” Sluka said. “I’ve got to report this. This is the exact kind of thing we do as volunteers. They’ll send someone out from maintenance to clear it.”
Sluka also keeps an eye out for others who might be interested in joining Park Watch and puts them in touch with Kennedy.
“Recruitment is important,” Kennedy said. “The more volunteers we have, the greater capacity we have to keep the parks safe and report things in real time.”
Kennedy suggests anyone interested in joining Park Watch drop in to one of the meetings. The Point Defiance group specifically meets the second Monday of each month, 6 p.m. at the Pagoda. A more in-depth training and orientation is also held twice annually.
“It’s the perfect opportunity for anyone who’s already spending time in the park,” Kennedy said. “Attend a meeting and get to know your fellow volunteers and discover if it’s the right fit for you.”
Especially as the weather gets warmer and burn bans go into effect. “Volunteers on the trails can smell smoke and report it before it turns into a larger problem,” Kennedy said.
Sluka plans to walk the trails at Point Defiance with Park Watch for as long as he can and wants the program to outlive him.
“Keeping the volunteer program going is the most important thing to me,” he said. “It’s good to have volunteers who can keep things safe, no matter where they are.”
Learn more about Park Watch and how to join: Park Watch – Metro Parks Tacoma
Peter Sluka is truly a steward of the earth.
Great American, great educator, selfless!