The Gig Harbor Land Conservation Fund announced this week that it has officially joined forces with Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC). The Fund was launched in January 2022 by a group of residents concerned about the loss of wildlife habitat and natural recreation areas in and around Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula.
Since its inception, the Fund has raised over $100,000 for land conservation. The group has contributed to Phase 3 of the txʷaalqəł Conservation Area (five acres in the Donkey/North Creek watershed), the 15-acre Key Peninsula Parks ‘Lavender Farm’ purchase (now part of Key Central Forest), and the 11.5-acre Phase 4 parcel of the txʷaalqəł Conservation Area. With these three projects, the Fund will have helped conserve over 30-acres in just two short years.
“As a group we’ve grown up fast,” says Dr. Michael Behrens, Professor of Biology at Pacific Lutheran University, a founding board member of the Fund and a recent addition to the GPC Board of Directors. “Our small group of volunteers has accomplished a lot thanks to the support of the community, and we are confident that by merging with the much larger and well-resourced GPC, we can save more land faster. With our local development pressure – saving land faster is critically important.” Through joining GPC as a special committee, Fund representatives noted that the group will now be called the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula Land Fund to better reflect the focused geography.
GPC, founded in 2000, is the product of four previous land trusts coming together in partnership to maximize resources and efficiency in land conservation. GPC conserves land throughout the Kitsap Peninsula, from the Tacoma Narrow Bridge in the south to the Hood Canal Bridge in the north. GPC believes strongly in partnerships and has worked with local Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula groups such as the City of Gig Harbor, Pen Met Parks, and Key Peninsula Parks. To date, GPC has conserved 1,290 acres of land in the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula area and 11,704 acres in total across the region.
“Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula are priority areas for GPC,” said Nathan Daniel, Executive Director of GPC. “These areas are experiencing heavy development pressure and rapid loss of wildlife habitat. We are thrilled to welcome aboard the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula Land Fund to help raise money to protect ecologically valuable lands in this specific area.”
Click to donate to the Gig Harbor and Key Peninsula Land Fund.