They may go by a different name now, but their commit to protecting the Hylebos Creek watershed remains the same.

The Friends of the Hylebos Wetlands has changed its name, ever so slightly, dropping the "wetlands" to become Friends of the Hylebos.

The new name reflects the organization's focus on conserving and restoring the entire Hylebos Creek Watershed.

The group also unveiled a new logo to accompany the name change.

"The Friends started out in 1983, focusing on protecting the West Hylebos Wetlands near St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way," explained Board President Eric Stavney.

"In 1999, however, we expanded our mission to the entire Hylebos Creek Watershed. In doing so, we evolved into a much more active and comprehensive conservation organization. With this, we're catching our name up with the work we do."

"In the past seven years, we've gone from an organization that focused on one very important wetlands, to a group that's working to protect wetland, stream and forest habitat, and indeed, community quality of life, across an entire watershed," said Friends Executive Director Chris Carrel.

The Hylebos Creek Watershed is 18 square miles in size and Hylebos Creek flows from Federal Way through Milton, Edgewood, Fife and Tacoma into Commencement Bay. Hylebos Creek was historically one of the most productive small salmon streams in the Central Puget Sound region.

Over the past seven years, the Friends of the Hylebos has preserved more than 145 acres of stream and wetland habitat, restored more than two acres of wetlands and planted more than 50,000 native trees and shrubs at restoration sites throughout the watershed.

Friends of the Hylebos Wetlands is a nonprofit conservation organization working to protect and restore the environmental quality of Hylebos Creek, the West Hylebos Wetlands and the surrounding watershed.

More information about the Friends and volunteer opportunities can be found at the group's website www.hylebos.org, or by calling 253.874.2005.