Over the past few weeks, Great Peninsula Conservancy started a new tradition: meeting up on Fridays to introduce the new staff to community partners and members and visit the GPC preserves across our working region. Our new AmeriCorps members, Sierra Kross and Janessa Hollmaier, are getting out on the land to think about possible use…
GPC Land Labs
(Population biologist Tom Doty nets Curley Creek for signs of amphibian residents.) The Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC) Land Labs program will utilize local protected lands to enhance the quality of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in Bremerton, Washington schools. Hands-on science projects will support the vision of the Washington State Environmental and Sustainability Literacy Plan and meet the requirements of Washington State Science and…
North Kitsap Divide Block Community Forest: A Call to Action
Community Forest Program Grant Great Peninsula Conservancy, with the support of a coalition of community partners, is hoping to finalize the last project in the Kitsap Forest and Bay Community Campaign after more than a decade. A new grant opportunity would allow GPC to acquire the 487-acre North Kitsap Divide Block Community Forest. Funding for…
Great Peninsula Conservancy receives federal and state grants to protect Misery Point on Hood Canal
BREMERTON, WA (January 13, 2021) – A conservation partnership has protected the 20.7-acre Misery Point Preserve on Hood Canal near Seabeck. Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC), the regional land trust operating in Kitsap, north Mason, and west Pierce counties, received funding from the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program through partnership with the Washington State Department of…
A Farewell Letter from Kit
My first thought when I was invited to put something in the newsletter on ending my time as GPC’S president for two years and “terming off” the board was stage fright, but I realized I appreciate the chance to say how much I’ve missed being in contact with you all! The last item on the…
The Big and Small of Land Acquisition
As Conservation Project Manager, Brenna Thompson has helped oversee several of Great Peninsula Conservancy’s recent land transactions. In this month’s blog post, she identifies how GPC’s conservation team identifies projects to acquire, including working with partners on large-scale projects, prioritizing climate-resilient lands, and expanding existing preserves. She also addresses a common question we receive from…
Protecting Climate-Resilient Lands Through a New Initiative
The Pacific Northwest Resilient Landscapes Initiative is a partnership between community foundations in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, that the Land Trust Alliance launched with lead support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to conserve essential climate-resilient lands. Great Peninsula Conservancy received a technical assistance grant of $14,000 from the initiative to use the latest science…
Washington Has Received Big Money From Federal Wetlands Grants Program
WASHINGTON PROJECTS WITH 2020 FUNDING For the full list of approved projects nationwide, download the coastal wetlands grants project summaries (PDF 540 kb). Misery Point, $1 million Located near Seabeck on Hood Canal, this 21-acre property with 3,500 feet of shoreline includes a 1,600-foot-long sand spit sheltering a three-acre lagoon. A “feeder bluff” on Misery Point…
Behind the Scenes with Ali: Baseline Reports
In the weeks before the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, Great Peninsula Conservancy’s Stewardship Associate Ali Erskine completed a baseline report for The Trust for Public Land at the Dewatto Headwaters Forest on Hood Canal in Mason County. For four days she walked the boundary of this 2,154-acre property, always with a GPC colleague or…
Appreciating Nature in the Time of COVID-19
Dear GPC members and supporters, These are certainly difficult times we face as a community. And now, after more than two weeks under the stay-at-home order, the long-term ramifications brought on by COVID-19 are no doubt dawning on all of us. But while we are holed up in our homes trying to make the best of…