Sammamish's Evans Creek Advances In National Parks Competition

SAMMAMISH, WA - Sammamish's Evans Creek Preserve has advanced to the sweet 16 round in a March Madness-style competition for a national parks and recreation award. And in this round, Sammamish is up against a major adversary.

Thanks to votes from Sammamish residents - and fans from cities like Kent and Duvall - Evans Creek beat a park in Ohio in the second round of the competition last week. Now Evans Creek is competing for votes against the El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach, Calif.

Long Beach is a big city with almost 500,000 residents, so Sammamish needs all the votes it can get to advance to the final four.

Sammamish is competing to win the Knope award, named for the main character in the show "Parks and Recreation." The award was created by the Engaging Local Government Leaders nonprofit to honor the best government places. In past years, ELGL has recognized the nation's best libraries and best city halls.

You can vote for Evans Creek Preserve to beat the El Dorado Nature Center here.