| | | | | | Hi Friend, September always feels like a season of reflection and renewal to me. I find myself thinking back to summer's adventures and beautiful views while looking forward to the slowness that comes with autumn rains. It's also the perfect time to reflect on what we've accomplished together in our conservation community. Our brand-new 2024 Annual Report just arrived, and I'm amazed by what we achieved: 660+ acres protected, 4,000+ people engaged, and the establishment of The Divide Community Forest. Every number tells the story of neighbors coming together to protect the places we love. This month brings fresh energy with new team members (welcome, Corryn!), exciting events (today's the last day for Camp Conservation Fundraiser tickets!), and fascinating projects like our expanding Listen Up Collaborative. I'm especially excited about our growing volunteer programs and the chance to hear what kinds of opportunities would inspire your participation. Conservation is most powerful when it reflects our entire community's diverse interests and skills. Here's to getting outside, | | | | | | | | 2024 Annual Report Now Available | | Our 2024 Annual Report has arrived in mailboxes and is now available online! Discover how your support helped us achieve another record-setting year – protecting over 660 acres, engaging more than 4,000 community members, and establishing The Divide Community Forest. Read about major conservation wins like the Johnson Creek Estuary Preserve, the expansion of our Listen Up Collaborative, and the launch of exciting new programs like Osprey Club. The report showcases the incredible impact we made together across our three program areas: Conservation, Stewardship, and Community Engagement. From our 7,187 trees planted to our 2,906 education program participants, every number tells the story of a community committed to protecting the places we love. Thank you for being part of this conservation success story. | | | | | | Meet Corryn Zylstra, GPC's New
Community Engagement Coordinator | | We're thrilled to introduce Corryn Zylstra, GPC's new Community Engagement Coordinator! While Corryn was born right here in Bellevue, her path to us has wound through Arizona and seven years in Colorado, where she's gathered an eclectic mix of experiences—from zookeeping to running environmental education programs to perfecting the art of crafting the perfect latte. What drives Corryn most? Connecting people with their passions. Whether she's helping volunteers interact with wildlife or uncover ecosystems in their backyards, she lights up when she sees that spark of connection happen. | | | | Now she's bringing that enthusiasm to the our community, creating new ways for all of us to roll up our sleeves for conservation—whether that means joining monthly trail work parties, helping with habitat restoration, or sharing your love of local wildlife with others through our new Creekside Guide program. From beaver ecology to forest stewardship, Corryn's excited to help you find your perfect way to connect with the landscapes we're protecting together. Keep an eye out for her at upcoming events—she can't wait to meet you! | | | | | | Why We Thin Forests: The Science Behind Helping Trees (and Wildlife) Thrive | | | | If you’ve heard about upcoming forest thinning work in our region, you might have question – or even concerns. We get it. When most people hear “cutting trees,” it can sound alarming, especially if you love our beautiful Pacific Northwest forests as much as we do. But here’s what might surprise you: sometimes the best way to help a forest become healthier and more wildlife-friendly is to carefully remove some trees. It’s not about logging for profit or unnecessary tree cutting – it’s about giving our forests the best chance to thrive for generations to come. Thinning is completely different from logging, where the primary goal is to maximize revenue. When forest landowners log for timber, they may clearcut a stand and harvest all the trees to sell wood products, often removing the biggest, most valuable trees. Thinning works differently. The primary goal of thinning is to improve forest health by strategically cutting select trees to give the remaining ones room to grow larger and healthier. Think of it like weeding a garden – you’re not trying to destroy the garden, you’re helping your best plants flourish by reducing competition. Read the rest of the article on our blog. | | | | | | | | Listen Up Collaborative Keeps Growing into 2025 and Beyond | | | | Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC) is growing – but this time, it’s not by acres protected. For the fourth consecutive year, Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Land Trust Bird Conservation Initiative has provided grant funds to improve habitat for western Washington’s forest birds. The funding couldn’t come at a more important time. Over half of western forest birds are showing significant declines due to a legacy of harmful land management practices. Cornell’s award of $50,000 has helped grow a two-member partnership into a seven-member collaborative. The Listen Up Collaborative now includes GPC, Jefferson Land Trust, Bainbridge Island Land Trust, Northwest Natural Resource Group, the Point No Point Treaty Council, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and Kitsap County Parks. The goals and objectives of Listen Up haven’t changed much since GPC received its first award from Cornell in 2022. Stewardship director, Adrian Wolf, states, “far too often, we conduct restoration work but fail to include efforts to understand the responses of wildlife.” By expanding the Collaborative, we’re hoping to make a larger and more lasting impact across the region. Visit our blog to learn more about the Listen Up Collaborative. | | | | | | | | Get Involved at Clear Creek Trail | |  | Get involved with your local urban trail, Clear Creek Trail! From a new, exciting education opportunity teaching the community about local conservation and wildlife to getting your hands dirty with stewardship, there's an event for everyone. You can volunteer regularly or jump in to one-time events to meet new people, build community, and give back to local conservation efforts. Join the Clear Creek Trail team to stay up to date on upcoming volunteer events and be the first to hear about new opportunities. | | | | | | | | | |  | Your voice matters! As GPC's volunteer program continues to grow, we want to make sure we're creating opportunities that truly serve our community's interests and availability. Whether you're a longtime volunteer or someone considering getting involved for the first time, we need your input to shape the future of our programs. This brief survey is your chance to help us understand what's working, what could be better, and what new directions might excite you. Your feedback will directly influence how we schedule events, design new programs, and support our amazing volunteer community. Please take a moment to fill out our survey by Wednesday, September 10th. Considering volunteering? We'd love to hear from you too – your perspective helps us create welcoming entry points for new community members. | | | | | | | | | | Camp Conservation Fundraiser After hearing from many of you, it’s clear that a summer weekend just isn’t ideal for a fundraising event in the Pacific Northwest! With that in mind, we’ve rescheduled our event at Camp Seymour to a more convenient time. Gig Harbor & Key Peninsula Land Fund and Great Peninsula Conservancy invite you to step away from your daily routine and into the carefree spirit of summer! Join us for a “Camp-tastic” Fundraiser filled with fun, fresh air, and a touch of nostalgia. Whether you’re reliving old memories or making new ones, this is your chance to enjoy a playful afternoon outdoors while supporting a lasting cause ~ protecting local forests, salmon streams, wildlife corridors, and open space in Gig Harbor and the Key Peninsula. When: Friday, September 12th, 5:00pm – 7:30pm Where: Gig Harbor, WA | | | | | | | | Clear Creek Trail Work Party Join us for the upcoming work party on the Clear Creek Trail! Together, we’ll tackle trail maintenance tasks like removing invasive species, repairing boardwalks, cleaning up litter, and more. It’s a great opportunity to connect with fellow trail lovers and help make the Clear Creek Trail even better. When: September 13th, 9:00am – 11:00am Where: Silverdale, WA | | | | | | | | Help Renovate the Red Barn Roll up your sleeves for the Red Barn Renovation on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 17th–18th, from 9am to 4pm at the Clear Creek Trail Sa’qad Interpretive Center! We're teaming up with our local Silverdale Home Depot to give the beloved Red Barn a fresh new look—and we need your help to make it happen! From painting and light carpentry to landscaping the grounds, there’s a job for every skill level. Lunch is on us, and good times are guaranteed. Help transform this community hub into a space that truly shines! When: September 17th & 18th, 9:00am – 4:00pm Where: Silverdale, WA | | | | | | | | Walk & Talk: Beaver Ecology Join GPC for a Walk and Talk exploring the ecology and management of one of nature’s ecosystem engineers, the American beaver. Using examples found along the Clear Creek Trail, we will interpret how beavers have shaped past and current landscapes, explore the rich biodiversity of the surrounding wetlands, and learn about conflicts that arise when beavers reestablish themselves in areas occupied by people. When: September 20th, 10:00am – 12:00pm Where: Silverdale, WA | | | | | | | | Stewardship Work Party: Planting Maintenance at Tahuya River Preserve Come out to Tahuya River Preserve for our September Work Party! With your help, we’ll care for recently planted trees by removing invasives and clearing the growing room these plants need. You can be a part of this ongoing project to improve the forest and river habitats that our wildlife relies on! We will be revisiting the trees planted by our partners at Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group in 2024, as part of a larger effort to restore this landscape. This preserve protects 183 acres along the Tahuya River, including essential salmon habitat and floodplain forests. By establishing healthier forests, we will increase shade, reduce erosion, and improve water quality – all essential factors for supporting salmon populations and other local wildlife. When: September 27th, 10:00am – 12:00pm Where: Tahuya, WA | | | | | | | | Silverdale REI Supports GPC's Accessibility Efforts | |  | In the fall of 2023, Great Peninsula Conservancy was the recipient of a two-year REI Cooperative Action Fund grant which allowed us to focus greater attention on DEI and accessibility efforts on GPC preserves, most notably our work to reinvigorate and improve Silverdale's Clear Creek Trail. In 2024, Executive Director Nathan Daniel and representatives of Kitsap County's Accessible Communities Advisory Committee (ACAC) marked sections of Clear Creek's unpaved trail that were the most challenging for wheelchair users to navigate. GPC staff took this information, gathered partners, planned, and with the support of hardworking volunteers lay more than two tons of gravel down along the most impacted sections of trail with special focus on the transitions between boardwalks and bridges. These trail improvements, along with trash clean-up efforts supported by Kitsap County's Clean Kitsap Program, improved the trail for the thousands of trail users that access the site each year, including ACAC members and wheelchair users. GPC is grateful for REI's Cooperative Action Fund, and for in-kind donations from Kitsap Quarry and McCallum Rock Products. While our grant is coming to an end, the project's momentum continues to grow! Check out GPC's upcoming events for more volunteer opportunities at Clear Creek Trail! | | | | | | | | Like what we're up to? Our work is made possible by generous donors like you. | | | |  | | | | | If this email was forwarded to you, you can join our e-news to receive your own copy in the future. | | | | | | | |
