There's more than one way to join in on the fun!

1) Buy your tickets. Attend the event in person or remotely!
3) Donate. Make your 2021 Conservation Contribution online today!
4) Place your bid. GPC's Online Auction will be live September 1st through the 10th.  

What will GPC's 2021 Conservation Celebration look like?  

• Enjoy a welcome address from GPC's executive director Nathan Daniel
• Celebrate this year's "Gary Allen Cunningham Conservation Award" winner Arthur Schick
• Get inspired by keynote speaker David Williams author of Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound
• Watch a hand-picked line-up of short films from the Wild and Scenic Film Festival 
• Take part in GPC's Online Auction scheduled to close at the end of the night! 

Featuring David Williams as Keynote Speaker

David B. Williams is an author, naturalist, and tour guide whose new book, Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound, is now available.  He is also the author of the  award-winning book  Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle’s Topography,  as well as  Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City  and  Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology.  Williams is a Curatorial Associate at the Burke Museum. Follow him on Twitter @geologywriterJoin us at GPC's Virtual Celebration on October 1st to hear about Mindy's experience working alongside amazing Puget Sound partners to make the vision of this book a reality!  

Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound

Focusing on the area south of Port Townsend and between the Cascade and Olympic mountains, author David Williams uncovers human and natural histories in, on, and around the Sound. In conversations with archaeologists, biologists, and tribal authorities, Williams traces how generations of humans have interacted with such species as geoducks, salmon, orcas, rockfish, and herring. He sheds light on how warfare shaped development and how people have moved across this maritime highway, in canoes, the mosquito fleet, and today’s ferry system. Witty, graceful, and deeply informed, Homewaters weaves history and science into a fascinating and hopeful narrative, one that will introduce newcomers to the astonishing life that inhabits the Sound and offers longtime residents new insight into and appreciation of the waters they call home.

Honoring Arthur Schick as the 2021 Gary Allen Cunningham Conservation Award recipient 

Retired forester and life-long conservationist Art Schick began serving on Great Peninsula Conservancy’s board of directors in 2010. Since then, he has contributed significantly to GPC’s work as board president (2014-2016), as a member of both the conservation and stewardship committees, and as a volunteer steward for multiple properties. In 2020, Art Schick went door to door seeking neighbor support for the preservation of what is now GPC’s Burke Bay Preserve. Art’s efforts are the reason why GPC was able to close the project having met its fundraising goal to support site stewardship in perpetuity! For more information about the Burke Bay project, read GPC’s blog here.

The Gary Allen Cunningham Conservation Award recognizes a partner or volunteer who has made a significant contribution to GPC’s mission. Past recipients include: Dorothy Lind (2014), Chris Dunagan (2015), Paul Dorn (2016), Gary Cunningham (2017), Kate Kuhlman (2018), Ken Shawcroft (2019), Nancy and Dick D’Archangel (2020), and most recently, Arthur Schick (2021).

An award worthy of Gary Allen Cunningham's name

In honor of GPC's 20th anniversary, GPC board and staff voted to rename the GPC Conservation Award after founding member Gary Allen Cunningham who passed away on August 9th, 2020. Gary had a long track record as a conservation advocate in Kitsap County. In 1969, he was a founding member of Hood Canal Environmental Council. In 1989, he became a founder of Kitsap Land Trust, which later merged with three other all-volunteer land trusts to form Great Peninsula Conservancy in 2000. Gary was Great Peninsula Conservancy’s first President, and he also served as Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. Gary served as a pro bono attorney for GPC for 15 years, helping with real estate transactions, negotiating and preparing conservation easements, and general nonprofit issues. Gary continued to serve on GPC’s Conservation Committee to assess potential projects up until he succumbed to his battle with ALS. Through all his work, Gary was instrumental in protecting thousands of acres of habitat, woodlands, farmlands, vistas, and miles of trails and streams. Though he will be greatly missed, Great Peninsula Conservancy looks forward to celebrating Gary's memory by continuing the important work that he started.   

Great Peninsula Conservancy (GPC) is an accredited nonprofit land trust protecting the natural habitats, rural landscapes, and open spaces of west Puget Sound. Great Peninsula Conservancy has helped protect more than 10,800 acres in Kitsap, Mason, and west Pierce County. Our mission is to conserve vibrant forests, streams, shorelines and community greenspaces for the next generation.