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Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) enjoying a rainy April day.

 

April News
Celebrate Earth Day with GPC!

At GPC every day is Earth Day! We have stewardship events, Walk and Talks, the Conservation Celebration, and more, as ways to celebrate the planet we all share!

 

Don't forget to reserve seats at GPC's annual fundraiser!

 

 

Special Thanks to Conservation Sponsor Puget Sound to Pacific!

and to the 2023 Lead Sponsors!

Conservation Celebration Auction Items!

GPC has an exciting lineup of items to bid on during the Conservation Celebration! Learn about the ways you can support GPC and take home some beautiful art or go on a fabulous trip by clicking the link below.

 

Support

 

Credit: Ben Wymer, A Woods Walk Photography

Thank you to everyone who gave during Kitsap Great Give! - you raised $19,200, which was also matched! GPC is so grateful to be a part of this community!

Just in case you missed Kitsap Great Give, another community fundraising event is just around the corner. Give Big is May 2-3, an opportunity for you to impact local conservation, stewardship, and education. Early giving has already started, donate below!

 

Jake and Betsy Miller are passionate about educating the next wave of conservationists. So, in addition to Jake’s volunteering with GPC’s Land Labs program, they recently joined GPC’s Legacy Society Challenge. Excited to hear that each new legacy pledge is matched by $1,000, Jake and Betsy committed to leaving a portion of their estate to Great Peninsula Conservancy to ensure the preservation of our local lands, and the programs that connect our community and students to these lands, well into the future. Thank you, Jake and Betsy! 

 

Stewardship

 

Volunteer Land Stewards Relaunch

As an accredited land trust, GPC has an obligation to monitor each of our properties annually – that's over 130 site visits! Volunteer Land Stewards (VoLS) have helped with property monitoring in the past, and we've recently relaunched our program after a three-year hiatus. There was so much enthusiasm that our training this spring is already full! However, we're anticipating another round of training in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. Follow the link below to learn more and get on the waiting list!  

 

Monitoring Birds on GPC Properties 

A female rufous hummingbird nesting in Grovers Creek Preserve. Credit: Jaal Mann

Last summer GPC initiated an acoustic bird monitoring project at five properties. The focus of this project is to understand how GPC's conservation forestry practices relate to bird populations in GPC-owned forestlands. The Northwest Natural Resource Group, who advises our forestry work, wrote an excellent blog about the project that you can read in the link below.

 

Conservation

 

2022 Miller Bay Expansion

A map of the Miller Bay Expansion and nearby conservation lands.

GPC is busy conserving more land in 2023, but you might have missed some of the properties that were protected in 2022. Late in the year GPC acquired this small but vital section of shoreline at the mouth of Grovers Creek. Read about it below!

 

Events

 

There was so much demand for Earth Day stewardship that we've added another day!

Join GPC staff and the Port of Bremerton to get started on restoration efforts at Newberry Woods Community Forest on Saturday, April 22nd from 9am-12pm. The 200-acre community forest has major stands of Scotch broom and we need your help to start removing it! For more information and to sign up, follow the links below.

 

Join Great Peninsula Conservancy for Second Wednesday Work Parties! This May we will be working in Gig Harbor to manage invasive English ivy at Lay Wildrose Preserve. Come out with us for a morning with birds, plants, and some nature nerds! 

When: Wednesday, May 10th from 9am-11am   

Where: Lay Wildrose Preserve in the Rosedale community of Gig Harbor   

Questions? Email Beatrice at beatrice@greatpeninsula.org  

 

Join us on Saturday, April 29th from 9-12pm at Newberry Woods Community Forest for a Walk and Talk featuring GPC Stewardship Associate Ben Wymer. When he isn't out in the woods monitoring properties on behalf of GPC, Ben is a wildlife photographer and naturalist with plenty of experience identifying wildlife track and sign. You can check out Ben's phenomenal photography on his business page here: A Woods Walk Photography. Save your spot! Sign up today! 

 
 

Like what we're up to?

Membership contributions are vital to GPC's mission.

 
 

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Great Peninsula Conservancy

423 Pacific Avenue, Suite 300
Bremerton, WA 98337
membership@greatpeninsula.org
(360) 373-3500

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